Pyridoxine

What is it?

• Pyridoxine is a vitamin. It can be found in certain foods such as cereals, beans, vegetables, liver, meat, and eggs. It can also be made in a laboratory.
• Pyridoxine is used for preventing and treating low levels of pyridoxine (pyridoxine deficiency) and the “tired blood” (anemia) that may result. It is also used for heart disease; high cholesterol; reducing blood levels of homocysteine, a chemical that might be linked to heart disease; and helping clogged arteries stay open after a balloon procedure to unblock them (angioplasty).
• Women use pyridoxine for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and other menstruation problems, "morning sickness" (nausea and vomiting) in early pregnancy, stopping milk flow after childbirth, depression related to pregnancy or using birth control pills, and symptoms of menopause.
• Pyridoxine is also used for Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, autism, diabetes and related nerve pain, sickle cell anemia, migraine headaches, asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, night leg cramps, muscle cramps, arthritis, allergies, acne and various other skin conditions, and infertility. It is also used for dizziness, motion sickness, preventing the eye disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD), seizures, convulsions due to fever, and movement disorders (tardive dyskinesia, hyperkinesis, chorea), as well as for increasing appetite and helping people remember dreams. Some people use pyridoxine for boosting the immune system, eye infections, bladder infections, and preventing cancer and kidney stones.
• Pyridoxine is also used to overcome certain harmful side effects related to radiation treatment and treatment with medications such as mitomycin, procarbazine, cycloserine, fluorouracil, hydrazine, isoniazid, penicillamine, and vincristine. Pyridoxine is frequently used in combination with other B vitamins in vitamin B complex products.
• You may remember a prescription medication called Bendectin that was used for morning sickness in pregnancy. Bendectin contained pyridoxine and a sleep-inducing antihistamine called doxylamine. The makers of Bendectin took it off the market in 1983 because they were running up expensive legal bills in defense of their product. Opponents charged it might be responsible for birth defects. Meanwhile, a product called Diclectin that is similar to Bendectin remained available in Canada, and there was research showing that neither pyridoxine nor Bendectin seems to cause birth defects in animals. After Bendectin was removed from the market, there was no reduction in birth defects, but hospitalization rates for pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting doubled.

How effective is it?

Effective for

• Treatment and prevention of pyridoxine deficiency. 
• Treating a type of anemia called sideroblastic anemia. 
• Treating some types of seizures in infants when given intravenously (by IV).

Likely effective for

Possibly effective for

• Upset stomach and vomiting in pregnancy. Some research suggests pyridoxine does not improve symptoms of mild to moderate nausea as much as severe nausea. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology considers pyridoxine a first-line treatment for nausea and vomiting caused by pregnancy. Pyridoxine plus the medication doxylamine is recommended for women who don't get better when treated with just pyridoxine. 
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms such as breast pain and depression. The lowest effective dose should be used. Higher doses will increase the chance of side effects. 
• Kidney stones. There is some evidence that taking pyridoxine alone or combined with magnesium can decrease the risk of kidney stones in people with type I primary hyperoxaluria, a hereditary disorder. But, it doesn't appear to help people with other kinds of kidney stones. 
• Movement disorders (tardive dyskinesia) in people taking medicines for mental disorders. 
• Behavior disorders in children with low levels of a brain chemical called serotonin. 
• Reducing lung cancer risk in men who smoke. 
• Macular degeneration. Some research shows that taking pyridoxine with other vitamins including folic acid and vitamin B12 might help prevent getting the eye disease called macular degeneration.

Possibly ineffective for

• Autism. 
• Carpal tunnel syndrome. 
• Preventing another stroke. 
• Alzheimer's disease. 
• Improving thinking and memory in people aged 65 and older, when used in combination with folic acid and vitamin B12.

Insufficient evidence to rate effectiveness for

• Preventing re-blockage of blood vessels after angioplasty. 
• Boosting the immune system. 
• Muscle cramps. 
• Eye problems. 
• Kidney problems. 
• Night leg cramps. 
• Arthritis. 
• Allergies. 
• Asthma. 
• Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 
• Lyme disease. 
• Nerve problems caused by diabetes. 
• Nerve problems after treatment with vincristine. 
• Other conditions.