Pyridoxine
Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) is a B vitamin given by injection to treat pyridoxine deficiency caused by poor diet, certain medications, or inherited metabolic disorders.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 2 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
📖 Pyridoxine: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Pyridoxine — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) injection is used to correct vitamin B6 deficiency when oral supplementation isn't an option. Supported uses include:
- Pyridoxine deficiency from inadequate dietary intake
- Drug-induced pyridoxine deficiency — for example, caused by isoniazid (INH) or oral contraceptives
- Inborn errors of metabolism, including vitamin B6-dependent seizures (convulsions) and vitamin B6-responsive anemia
- Situations where oral administration is not feasible — such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, or before/after surgery
- Cases where the gastrointestinal tract cannot properly absorb nutrients
⚙️How it works▾
Pyridoxine is one form of vitamin B6 found in plants. Once in the body, it and related forms (pyridoxal and pyridoxamine) are converted into the active forms — pyridoxal phosphate and pyridoxamine phosphate — by an enzyme called pyridoxal kinase. These active forms work as coenzymes, helping enzymes carry out essential chemical reactions. Vitamin B6 is involved in breaking down proteins (including converting the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin or niacin), processing carbohydrates, metabolizing fats, and releasing stored glucose from glycogen. When B6 is deficient, all of these processes are impaired.
💊How it's taken▾
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Injection is given by a healthcare provider either into a muscle (intramuscularly) or directly into a vein (intravenously). The frequency and duration depend on the underlying reason for the deficiency — some situations require daily injections for several weeks, while others may call for long-term daily use. After injectable treatment for dietary deficiency, follow-up with an oral multivitamin containing pyridoxine is typically recommended.
- Always follow your prescriber's exact instructions — do not adjust the dose yourself
- Correcting poor dietary habits is an important part of treatment alongside the injection
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
Side effects reported with Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Injection include:
- Paresthesia — tingling, prickling, or numbness sensations
- Somnolence — unusual drowsiness or sleepiness
- Low folic acid levels in the blood
If you develop signs of nervous system changes, bone pain, or confusion — especially with long-term use and kidney problems — contact your healthcare provider right away, as these may signal aluminum toxicity.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Aluminum toxicity: This injection contains aluminum. With long-term use, aluminum can build up to toxic levels — particularly in people with kidney disease, whose kidneys cannot clear it efficiently. Toxic aluminum levels can harm the nervous system and bones.
- Premature newborns at highest risk: Premature babies have immature kidneys and often receive other solutions that also contain aluminum, making them especially vulnerable. The rate of aluminum accumulation needed to cause harm can be quite low in this group.
- Levodopa interaction: Pyridoxine can reduce the effectiveness of levodopa (used for Parkinson's disease) when levodopa is taken alone. Tell your doctor if you take levodopa.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Pyridoxine has one key drug interaction to be aware of:
- Levodopa (alone): Pyridoxine reduces how well levodopa works, so the two should not be used together. However, if you take a combination product containing both carbidopa and levodopa, pyridoxine can be used safely — carbidopa blocks this interaction.
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Do not use Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Injection if you are allergic to pyridoxine or any ingredient in the product
- Tell your doctor if you have kidney disease — aluminum in the injection can accumulate to harmful levels when kidneys aren't working well
- Premature newborns require especially careful monitoring due to immature kidneys and high risk of aluminum buildup
- Tell your doctor if you take levodopa alone (not as a carbidopa/levodopa combination) for Parkinson's disease
🚑If you take too much▾
In animal studies, very large amounts of pyridoxine caused seizures and death, though a much higher threshold was tolerated in humans in available data. If you suspect an overdose or accidental exposure to a very large amount, seek emergency medical care immediately. Contact the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or your healthcare provider to report any suspected adverse reactions.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Vitamin B6 functions as a coenzyme in the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. It is involved in amino acid reactions including decarboxylation, transamination, and the conversion of tryptophan to niacin or serotonin. It also plays a role in breaking down glycogen into glucose-1-phosphate for energy. The need for pyridoxine increases as protein intake rises, so higher-protein diets require more B6 to support normal metabolism.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
The total adult body store of pyridoxine is approximately 16 to 25 mg, with a half-life (the time for the body to reduce its level by half) of about 15 to 20 days. Pyridoxine is broken down (metabolized) in the liver to 4-pyridoxic acid, which is then cleared from the body through the urine. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is required for the conversion of one form of pyridoxine phosphate into the active pyridoxal phosphate form.
📦How to store it▾
PROTECT FROM LIGHT. Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) .
📄 Written from Pyridoxine’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Pyridoxine — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
Why am I getting a pyridoxine injection instead of just taking a vitamin pill? ▾
My doctor put me on this because I take isoniazid for tuberculosis. Why does that drug cause a B6 deficiency? ▾
I take levodopa for Parkinson's. Is it safe to also take pyridoxine? ▾
What side effects should I watch out for? ▾
Is there anything special to know if this is being given to a premature baby? ▾
How long will I need to take pyridoxine injections? ▾
Is Pyridoxine available over the counter? ▾
When was Pyridoxine first available? ▾
Who makes Pyridoxine? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Pyridoxine’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Pyridoxine comes
Pyridoxine is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- Treats pyridoxine deficiency from inadequate dietary intake
- Treats drug-induced pyridoxine deficiency, such as from isoniazid (INH) or oral contraceptives
- Treats inborn errors of metabolism, including vitamin B6-dependent seizures and vitamin B6-responsive anemia
- Used when oral pyridoxine is not feasible due to nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, surgery, or impaired gut absorption
- Pyridoxine Hci and Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Injection may be given into a muscle (intramuscularly) or into a vein (intravenously)
- Inspect the solution visually for particles or discoloration before administering
- After a course of injectable treatment for dietary deficiency, follow-up with an oral multivitamin containing pyridoxine is recommended
- Correct poor dietary habits and maintain a balanced diet alongside treatment
📊 Pyridoxine across the U.S. market
How Pyridoxine appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Powder (12) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Pyridoxine is used
A general measure of how commonly Pyridoxine is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Pyridoxine is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Pyridoxine prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Pyridoxine ranks #1,009 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 37% of them.
Utilization by Pyridoxine product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
pyridoxine hydrochloride 100 MG/ML Injectable Solution
Summed across the 1 of 6 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 312736
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Pyridoxine, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 1 of 6 listed Pyridoxine NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Pyridoxine products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Pyridoxine — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 100 mg/mL | Intramuscular, Intravenous | Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intramuscular; Intravenous | Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intramuscular, Intravenous | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intramuscular; Intravenous | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Bulk drug substance | ||||
| 1 kg/kg | — | DSM Nutritional Products LLC × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Honour Lab Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Jiangxi Tianxin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Olon, SpA | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 0.333 kg/kg | — | Particle Dynamics International, LLC | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Professional Compounding Centers of America | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Qingdao Tida Biotek Co.,ltd | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 g/g | — | Spectrum Laboratory Products, Inc. × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 35 kg/35 kg | — | Sthree Chemicals Private Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Willow Birch Pharma, LLC | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
Showing 17 of 17 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 17 Pyridoxine NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Pyridoxine — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Pyridoxine in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Pyridoxine went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 684879 2 dose forms · 2 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injectable Solution RxCUI 1804722In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) hydrochloride 100 MG/MLRxCUI 312736 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 1100456No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) hydrochloride 25 MGRxCUI 1100457
Look up RxCUI 684879 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Pyridoxine is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
RxNorm drug class
Pyridoxine belongs to the Vitamin B6 Analog class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 2 FDA-filed SPL label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
For canonical ingredient pages, bounded product-attributed indication and administration excerpts may be added to the AI evidence, and the generator is instructed to preserve available product, brand, route, and form qualifiers instead of treating one label as universal. Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.