Vitamin B6 Injections - Fast Build Up of B6 for Correcting Deficiencies

Disease-causing deficiencies of vitamin B6 are quite rare-and they are usually a side effect of medication.

A short list of drugs can deplete the body of so much vitamin B6 that there are chapped lips, swollen and crusty eyelids, unusual daytime sleepiness, and, in the worst cases anemia and seizures. B6 depletion most commonly occurs during treatment with:

• Isoniazid, a tuberculosis treatment that is chemically similar to the pyridoxine form of vitamin B6 and that competes with it in chemical reactions in the body, or
• Penicillamine, which is derived from penicillin but which has no antibiotic properties, and is used to treat certain kinds of heavy metal poisoning as well as rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases, such as scleroderma.

Because vitamin B6 deficiencies caused by these medications are well-known, the drugs are seldom used.

It's also possible for babies to become deficient in B6 if they are breast fed by mothers who are deficient in B6, and deficiencies also occur when there is chronic liver or kidney disease.

The advantage of an injection of vitamin B6 is that the vitamin bypasses the digestive tract and goes straight into the bloodstream. In many countries, you would only get vitamin B6 injections in the doctor's office. In the United States, however, you would probably be given a prescription for both injectable vitamin B6 and a box of syringes and told to give yourself shots at home.

Here is what everyone needs to know about painless injections:

• Always shake the vial before drawing out the medication. Just two or three gentle turnings of the vial up and down is enough.
• Draw the B6 by placing the needle end of the syringe into the stopper of the vial and turning the vial upside down to let the B6 flow into the syringe with the force of gravity. Don't try to rely on air pressure to fill the syringe-all you will get out is air. Look for changes in the color of the contents of the syringe to know it is full.
• When giving yourself (or someone else) an injection, don't just jab the needle into the skin. Depress the skin and let it come up to meet the needle as you press down.
• Never use the same syringe more than once. You will minimize the already-small chances of getting an infection from a used needle, and you will also only use syringes with sharp, and relatively painless, points.

The great thing about vitamin B6 injections is that they reliably replace depleted vitamin B6, and fast. Most people who need treatment for B6 deficiency are able to use vitamin B6 supplements by mouth after just a few days of treatment.

Written By Robert S. Rister

Robert Rister is the author of Healing without Medication and many other books that have been translated into eight languages. He is a chemist, a formulator of natural products, and a writer of consumer guides to getting the greatest value from natural health care.