Vitamin B-6 and Autism

[tgrimes]

Here's one site:

http://www.autism.org/vitb6.html

[Mother's Heart]

something I learned from giving VitB-6 over several years:

My son was on 50-100mg for several years. Then, just as he was about to have surgery for something else we found that his liver values were way off with no explanation. AFter a month or so of detective work, our dr was advised by the metabolic consultant that prescribed the b-6 for our son that this was likely a problem resulting from the prolonged b-6 usage and that he thought we had discontinued using it. We dropped the vitB-6 and his liver function returned to normal.

Just a precautionary note, if you're giving b-6 be aware of this possibility.

[tgrimes]

Thanks, I'm really surprised to hear that, maybe this is not something to be done long term? Did you notice any behavioral changes either after you started or discontinued?
I was looking why the B6 supposedly works, something to do with helping in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, which would explain increase in neurotransmitter activity.

[andy1618]

I normally post in the 'Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency' and 'Epilepsy' forums. I have a very rare type of vitamin B6 Dependent epilepsy. In nearly 38 years of having seizures - I have never used any Antiepileptic Drugs to control my many different types of seizures, only B vitamins (mainly B6).

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/...ad.php?t=36549

[Mother's Heart]

tgrimes,
It's been a really long time. I did see improvement in behaviour with taking the b-6...but it was really hard at the time to separate issues, triggers and also things we did to try to help. I was never too clear what was helpoing and what wasn't.

We started the B-6 just as he had a major surgery. SInce that surgery and also diagnosis/treatment of some food allergies and the B-6 treatment all came about the same time it is hard to say what the allergy treatments and the b=6 had to do with his improvement. This was the turning point in his life though. The Nissen FUndo surgery I think was actually the key: no more free reflux, no more bleeding ulcer, intestines no longer twisted and in his chest equals elimination of pain, bowel issues resolved, amazing resolution of sleep issues, severe asthma practically vanishing....so it's no wonder his life changed for the better. Being comfortable and rested can't be beat when it comes to functioning. But still, I could see behavioural struggles whenever he would miss the B-6 and also when he would get allergenic foods.

I couldn't really tell the difference when he went off of the B-6...but wonder why. I cannot guarantee now by memory that I was giving it regularly..but think I was. 50=100 mgs a day. If it were really helping then I think that should have been highlighted by removing it from his regimen. I may have been crediting the B-6 with improvement that was comgin from another source.

I do remember when we started the B-6, the same well-respected metabolic consultant/geneticist/autism specialist was the one who suggested it. This was at a time when B-6 wasn't quite so widely accepted as helpful for Autism in traditional medical circles. He said at the time that IF this would work for anyone that DS was one who it would, because of his metabolic differences. I remember he drew me diagrammes on the exam table paper showing the metabolic processes involved and I understood a bit of it. I do remember he was talking about the cycle of Methylansomething??? metabolism. Something. (Man...i know this....I'll try to remember when I'm less sleep deprived. )
anyway....there's that bit.

[Mother's Heart]

Hi Andy,
yes, B-6 deficiency epilepsy is certainly not unheard of. and it's my understanding that b-6 supplementation usually solves the issue, whereas AED's generally don't in these instances. I'm glad you were able to find an accurate diagnosis...since not recognizing the Vit B deficiency has such devastating consequences.

Originally Posted by Andy

I normally post in the 'Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency' and 'Epilepsy' forums. I have a very rare type of vitamin B6 Dependent epilepsy. In nearly 38 years of having seizures - I have never used any Antiepileptic Drugs to control my many different types of seizures, only B vitamins (mainly B6).

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/...ad.php?t=36549

[mrsdoubtfyre]

I found a study a while back, about random testing of autistic patients, and
finding elevated B6 in the serum when NO supplements were being used.

J Altern Complement Med. 2006 Jan-Feb;12(1):59-63.Click here to read Links
Abnormally high plasma levels of vitamin B6 in children with autism not taking supplements compared to controls not taking supplements.
Adams JB, George F, Audhya T.

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6006, USA. jim.adams@asu.edu

BACKGROUND: There have been many studies of the effect of high-dose supplementation of vitamin B6 on children and adults with autism, with all but one reporting benefits. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the biochemical basis for vitamin B6 therapy by measuring the level of total vitamin B6 in the plasma of unsupplemented children with autism spectrum disorder compared to unsupplemented control subjects. PARTICIPANTS: Children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 35, age 3-9 years) and unrelated typical children (n = 11, age 6-9 years), all from Arizona, were studied. (This includes the data from 24 children with autism from our previous study.) METHODOLOGY: A microbiologic assay was used to measure the level of total vitamin B6 (including phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms), in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: Children with autism had a 75% higher level of total vitamin B6 than the controls (medians of 56 versus 32 ng/mL, respectively, p = 0.00002). Most of the autistic children (77%) had levels that were more than 2 standard deviations above the median value of the controls. The autistic girls (n = 5) also had elevated levels (mean of 54.6 ng/mL, median of 60 ng/mL). DISCUSSION: These results are consistent with previous studies that found that: (1) pyridoxal kinase had a very low activity in children with autism and (2) pyridoxal 5 phosphate (PLP) levels are unusually low in children with autism. Thus, it appears that the low conversion of pyridoxal and pyridoxine to PLP results in low levels of PLP, which is the active cofactor for 113 known enzymatic reactions, including the formation of many key neurotransmitters. CONCLUSIONS: Total vitamin B6 is abnormally high in autism, consistent with previous reports of an impaired pyridoxal kinase for the conversion of pyridoxine and pyridoxal to PLP. This may explain the many published studies of benefits of high-dose vitamin B6 supplementation in some children and adults with autism.

PMID: 16494569 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

If parents here want to supplement I suggest P5P, which is the activated form of pyridoxine. (It is what pyridoxal kinase converts to)

[andy1618]

"We report a 15-year-old boy with pyridoxine-dependent seizures, nonpyridoxine-dependent seizures, severe mental retardation, autistic disorder, aerophagia, breath holding, and self-injury."

Taken from the following URL:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11108513

"The full range of symptomatology is unknown; but can be associated with autism, breath holding and severe mental retardation, bilious vomiting, transient visual agnosia, severe articulatory apraxia, motor dyspraxia, microcephaly and intrauterine seizures."

Taken from the following URL:

http://www.indianpediatrics.net/july...ly-633-638.htm


DO NOT ALTER ANY MEDICATION WITHOUT YOUR DOCTOR'S CONSENT.

Regards

Andy

[tgrimes]

thought I would bump this thread since there are a lot of vitamin threads lately. Anyone else try the B6?

[peglem]

Allie gets mega B6 in her multivitamin. She does have liver enzymes drawn every 6 months and those have been normal and stable. When she was
@4yo, we tried just giving her B6. What we found out the hard way is that
B6 depletes magnesium...so you must supplement magnesium if you do B6. This is one of the reasons we use a multivitamin. B4 Grimes asks, I don't know if, in fact the vitamins are making a huge difference. Allie's diet sucks and she has a variable appetite + being on an AED (those are known to deplete B vitamins) so I think its best to make sure she's getting nutrition.