[pelorat]

Happened to me too. I had been consuming two energy drinks per day for a week or so and then my SO (who's addicted to vitamin supplements) gave me some multivitamins that I took just to be nice. Apparently that pushed me over the edge.

After one night and day of sweating profusely and feeling really bad, and me thinking I've cached a bug on my daily public commute, I didn't think about it any more, until days later when I began shedding the top layer of skin on my palms. Like, big flakes just started to fall off. Similar to what happens when you've had a severe sun burn.

Once that was over, any my palms were back to normal, it was then I noticed that compared to previously, my sense of touch wasn't what it used to be. Also, I noticed that I wasn't sweating as much any more. It was at this point I went to see my GP who confirmed elevated levels of B6 but didn't give any other diagnosis. This was two weeks later though and I was still sporadically consuming energy drinks, but it made me remember reading about B6 toxicity, so I began looking into it.

My own suspicion is that overconsumption of B6 damaged the nerve endings under my skin leading to a reduction in touch and the ability to sweat.

So now I live my life with about a 25 to 50% reduction (subjective) of my sense of touch. Plus I barely sweat any more (which has it's upsides). Before, I was an "easy sweater" and would begin to sweat if I walked a kilometer to the train station in the summer (20C or so), but now I can be out all day in 30+ weather (~90F) without as much as a drop of sweat.

I still sweat if I do actual prolonged physical exercise, like when I'm at the gym or exercise bike, but during daily life, not really any more. Also my hands are always dry and as a side effect quite slippery.

So yeah, stay clear of vitamin supplements and overconsumption of energy drink. I'm just happy it wasn't worse in the end, as I've read about many life changing cases of B6 toxicity.

[phoronixrly]

Before people start voluntarily causing themselves nerve damage, I'd like to point out that you need to take into account at least hydration when you make observations on perspiration.

And this is hard do to if you weren't intentionally controlling or at least logging your water intake among other factors.

[temp0826]

Thanks for this. I've been struggling with skin problems on my hands very similar to what you've described (which has happened to me before- this current flare up I've managed to save the skin from flaking off by using a lot of lotion, but my hands still feel pretty raw). Sure enough my multi has a pretty hefty amount of B6 so I'm going to take a break for a bit and hopefully haven't wrecked myself too bad. Definitely a sensitivity issue at the moment.

[AnthonBerg]

Interesting!, thanks! —and also: I’m sorry you had to go through that

Had an experience with a missed type 1 diabetes diagnosis causing neuropathy in a loved one. There is a surprising amount of actionable scientific literature out on neuropathy and all sorts of other issues commonly discussed as best-you-can-do-is-wait-and-see. Once you happen to dig in and start reading.

I remember reading papers on acetyl-L-carnitine helping with diabetic neuropathy, and it was our clear experience that it did help.

There were other supplements which helped with various similar repercussions of a severe and prolonged state of elevated blood sugar, which causes oxidation and tissue damage, and isn’t dissimilar to B6 toxicity as it seems. I don’t remember exactly which nutrients/OTC medications seemed to help neuropathy, but I’d suggest looking into alpha lipoic acid (ALA; more specifically Na-R-ALA), argine, maybe BCAAs in the context of mitochondrial function. Probably some other stuff that has results out on it too.

I’d also suggest reading the molecular biology and neuroimmunobiology on NMDA receptor antagonists and 5-HT2A receptor agonists, classes both of which are shown to be “profoundly immunomodulating” as one paper put it – reducing inflammation, including neuroinflammation – as well as encouraging neuroplasticity, which is also useful in peripheral nerves. The discussion of these known molecular-biological results and implication is unfortunately swamped by various social effects; the best-known NMDA receptor antagonist is called “Ketamine”, haha, and 5-HT2A agonists are usually known as psychedelics and, uh, yeah… molly. The partying and the “wheeee” factor isn’t interesting to me; the neuroimmunobiology of it is!! And I, yeah, I emphatically recommend reading the scientific literature on that.

And generally looking for recent papers on nutrients/supplements/OTC medications in the context of all kinds of similar issues. There are often results in one sub-specialization which are applicable to other things. You don’t need to limit yourself to randomized controlled trials, especially if considering supplementation of compounds known to be safe, rather than medication; Molecular biology is molecular biology, and it’s implausible to me that the placebo effect will reliably improve things like chronic neuropathy. Or insulin sensitivity. I’ve seen direct results on continuous glucose meters and all manner of labwork that confirm this view. —Don’t believe me; I deeply and emphatically recommend reading academic literature.

To paraphrase a nice-seeming guy,

Read papers. Mostly published. Not too slowly.

ps., Claude is unusually good at navigating the scientific landscape!

[gavinray]

That's so bizarre, do you take other medications, or have an usual diet?

I drink a zero-calorie energy drink every morning for the past 10 years and I've never had any issues.

[secondcoming]

Huh, so maybe Prince Andrew wasn't lying

[netdevphoenix]

> Plus I barely sweat any more (which has it's upsides)

Do you realise that sweating is the body's way of thermoregulating? Your body has partially lost the ability to thermoregulate as much as it used to.

Your conclusion of staying away from vit supplements (as opposed to energy drinks who are not health at all) is a very curious one. If you are anything like the average citizen, you are likely vitamin deficient in some form or another. Staying away from supplements while keeping energy drinks is not a great choice health wise.

[AlecSchueler]

> Do you realise that sweating is the body's way of thermoregulating?

I would assume that everyone on this site understands that. The fact that they explicitly noted that there were upsides shows that the downsides are quite obvious.