Taking Vitamin B2 - but urine colour unchanged

[jko]

My friend and I take a 'Mega' brand Nat B supplement which contains high concentrations of different B Vitamins, including 50 mg of Vitamin B2 which is 2941% of the Thai RDI.

 

This normally turns our pee bright yellow, but in her case this has now stopped, whilst my yellow colour continues as before. She now has no energy, has to lie down every two hours or so, cannot concentrate on small tasks, and says she just feels "quite ill" This has gone on for about 2 weeks now, every day the same.

 

She has no rashes, no pain, headache, weight or appetite loss, no bruising, no enlarged lymph nodes, bladder and bowel movements all normal. Already did a 'no doctor consulted' blood analysis - thyroid, liver function, glucose all OK. CBC normal, except RBC low at 4.31 (but Hb OK) neutrophils a little low at 48% and lymphocytes a bit high at 44%.

 

Obviously she needs further checks, but if anyone has experienced this, and discovered the cause, it might save us a lot of consultations and investigations, so any help will be very much appreciated.

[Sheryl]

First of all, she should immediately stop the supplement. You don't mention the content of the other B vitamins but if the riboflavin is that high, likely so are the others. Excessive dosages of B6 can defininitely cause toxicity, see http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-b6/safety/hrb-20058788

 

Extreme fatigue and mental fogginess are prominent features of B6 toxicity

 

While there are no clear reports of B2 toxicity in human, animal studies suggest possible long term harmful effect from excessive dosages.

 

And she will need to see a doctor, being sure to tell the doctor about the supplement she was taking. Are you in Bangkok?

 

If the problem is B6 toxicity, the only treatment is to stop the B6 (the supplement and also any foods supplemented with B6 such as fortified commercial cereals) and it will take at least 2-3 weeks to see any improvement, longer to fully resolve.

 

BTW WBC differential (% lymphocyte etc) has no clinical significance if the total WBC count is normal. And while individual reference labs vary,  an RBC of 4.31 would usually be considered  normal for a woman (normal range differs by sex)

 

 

 

 

[jko]

17 hours ago, Sheryl said:

First of all, she should immediately stop the supplement. You don't mention the content of the other B vitamins but if the riboflavin is that high, likely so are the others. Excessive dosages of B6 can defininitely cause toxicity, see http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-b6/safety/hrb-20058788

 

Extreme fatigue and mental fogginess are prominent features of B6 toxicity

 

While there are no clear reports of B2 toxicity in human, animal studies suggest possible long term harmful effect from excessive dosages.

 

And she will need to see a doctor, being sure to tell the doctor about the supplement she was taking. Are you in Bangkok?

 

If the problem is B6 toxicity, the only treatment is to stop the B6 (the supplement and also any foods supplemented with B6 such as fortified commercial cereals) and it will take at least 2-3 weeks to see any improvement, longer to fully resolve.

 

BTW WBC differential (% lymphocyte etc) has no clinical significance if the total WBC count is normal. And while individual reference labs vary,  an RBC of 4.31 would usually be considered  normal for a woman (normal range differs by sex)

 

Thank you very much Sheryl for this detailed advice!

Will advise of any further developments.