Vitamin B6 in Supplements and Energy Drinks May Cause Nerve Damage at High Doses
Nutrition

Vitamin B6 in Supplements and Energy Drinks May Cause Nerve Damage at High Doses

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Key Takeaways

  • Vitamin B6 toxicity is rare, but reported cases have increased by about 40% over the past decade.
  • High doses of B6 are often found in energy supplements and drinks.
  • Most people can meet their vitamin B6 needs through food and do not need a supplement.

Vitamin B6 poisoning is extremely rare, but cases have increased by about 40% in the last decade, according to reports from America’s Poison Centers. High doses of vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage and numbness.

This vitamin is present in foods such as nuts, chickpeas, fish, and fortified cereals, but it’s also an increasingly popular ingredient in supplements and energy drinks. In Australia, drug regulators have removed supplements with high levels of vitamin B6 from the market due to reports of toxicity.

High Doses of B6 in Supplements and Energy Drinks

Most adults need 1.3 to 1.7 mg of vitamin B6 per day to support metabolism and nerve function. Slightly higher doses are unlikely to cause harm, and it’s hard to reach toxic levels from food alone.

Vitamin B6 toxicity is rare unless someone consumes about 20 times the recommended daily amount consistently, said Kelly Krisna Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicologist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Many supplements and energy drinks market vitamin B6 as a way to boost energy and support the nervous system. Some B6 supplements may contain up to 100 mg of B6, while energy drinks often have as much as 40 mg per serving.

Too Much Vitamin B6 Can Damage Nerve Cells

Taking high doses of B6 may cause numbness, a pins-and-needles sensation, or pain in your legs, impairing your ability to walk.

“Basically, it’s toxic to nerve cells,” Johnson-Arbor said.

These symptoms are associated with more than 100 causes, not just vitamin B toxicity. If you do experience these symptoms, it is especially important to mention your B6 regimen to your healthcare provider because they might not initially think about B6 as the culprit, she added.

The treatment for B6 toxicity is to stop taking the high-dose supplements. However, these symptoms don’t always reverse right away.

“There are many reports of people whose symptoms have gotten better after they stopped taking the high doses of B6, but there’s also a phenomenon called ‘coasting,’ where people stop taking the B6 but then their symptoms actually keep getting worse for a couple of weeks, until they slowly start to get better,” Johnson-Arbor said.

Most People Can Get Enough B6 From Food Alone

Most people can get enough vitamin B6 through a balanced diet and do not need a supplement. However, if you take a multivitamin or a standalone B6 supplement, check the label to see how much vitamin B6 it contains so you can track your total daily intake.

If you consume “reasonable levels” of B6, you likely won’t have any issues besides some potential gastrointestinal upset, said Jamie Alan, RPh, PharmD, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University.

“If you are experiencing the [neurological] symptoms, talk to your healthcare provider right away to see if you are experiencing a [B6] overload that’s causing the symptoms,” Alan said. “Because this is so rare, exploring other reasons for those symptoms is equally important.”

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Mowry JB, Spyker DA, Brooks DE, McMillan N, Schauben JL. 2014 annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 32nd annual report. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2015;53(10):962-1147. doi:10.3109/15563650.2015.1102927

  2. Beuhler MC, Feldman R, Gummin DD, et al. 2024 annual report of the National Poison Data System® (NPDS) from America’s Poison Centers®: 42nd annual report. Clinical Toxicol (Phila). 2025;63(12):1029-1280. doi:10.1080/15563650.2025.2571299

  3. Muhamad R, Akrivaki A, Papagiannopoulou G, Zavridis P, Zis P. The role of vitamin B6 in peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review. Nutrients. 2023;15(13):2823. doi:10.3390/nu15132823

  4. National Institutes of Health. Vitamin B6 fact sheet for consumers.

  5. Merck Manual. Vitamin B6 excess.

  6. Harvard Health Publishing. Peripheral neuropathy: causes, symptoms, treatment, and prevention.

  7. MedlinePlus. Vitamin B6.

By Stephanie Brown

Brown is a nutrition writer who received her Didactic Program in Dietetics certification from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Previously, she worked as a nutrition educator and culinary instructor in New York City.

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