Taken off prenatal vitamin

Gwen Cooper

Hi all,

Quick question for you!

First of all I want to say that I'll be talking to my doctor about this, but she's not in until tomorrow, so I'm just asking here to see if anyone has a similar experience.

When I told my GP that I'm planning to get pregnant, she told me to start taking folic acid. After a trip to the pharmacy I decided for Pregnacare conception which has other nutriets as well as folic acid. I said to my GP that I'm taking these and she told me that it's great. I asked her if I need to get a higher dose of folic acid, she said I'm ok with the normal dose.

Fast forward to now. I'm 6+1 pregnant. Once I had a positive test, I bought Pregnacare vitamins that can be taken throughout the pregnancy and would help me to get all the important things to the baby, just in case I'm missing something in my diet. It's one tablet + 1 tablet of 3 Omega oils a day.

I saw a GP last Wednesday when I went to tell them that I'm pregnant. My usual GP in on holidays, so I spoke to another doctor in the clinic. She told me that she will prescribe me a higher dose of folic acid due to my weight. She told me to stop taking Pregnacare, just to take the folic acid and the Omega oil tablet.

I understand that if I kept taking both the vitamins and the folic acid, the folic acid dose would be too high and could harm the baby.

I'm just not sure about the other vitamins that I would be getting from Pregnacare. I'm trying to eat healthy and to make sure that I give our baby everything he/she needs, but it was good to know that the baby will get stuff from the vitamins in case I miss something.

My GP is back from holidays tomorrow so I'll call her about that, I'm just posting here to see if anyone can try to calm me down about this or if anyone has more knowledge than myself?

I'm just worried that my baby will be missing out on important things, especially when it's still in very early days.

Thanks!

Minnie2017

My GP has always been happy with the switch to pregnacare max once we have a positive. Is there a reason why that’s not enough? Seems odd doesn’t it?

You’re dead right to ask your own GP and get it checked

Gwen Cooper

Minnie2017 wrote: »

My GP has always been happy with the switch to pregnacare max once we have a positive. Is there a reason why that’s not enough? Seems odd doesn’t it?

You’re dead right to ask your own GP and get it checked

It's really puzzling to me how my own GP would say that I don't need more folic acid and pregnacare is ok, and then once I actually get pregnant I'm told by another doctor to ditch pregnacare and take folic acid.

I understand that I might need a higher dose of folic acid because I'm really overweight, so I'm happy to take a more of it.

At the same time I believe that I might not be getting enough from my diet and should be taking other things as well.

Baffled!

mirrorwall14

New policy for anyone carrying weight is additional folic acid according to the Coombe anyways, they were surprised I hadn’t been put on it by my GP. I found a standard multivitamin that had no folic acid and paired them up

Gwen Cooper

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

New policy for anyone carrying weight is additional folic acid according to the Coombe anyways, they were surprised I hadn’t been put on it by my GP. I found a standard multivitamin that had no folic acid and paired them up

Can you please tell me the name of the vitamin if you still have it around somewhere?

That would be really helpful!

EDIT: oh standard multivitamin. I see it now

catrionanic

I didn't take any prenatal vitamins on my last pregnancy as they made me more sick. Just try to eat as well as you can but don't worry too much - the baby will take whatever it needs from your own resources... It's just your own body which will lack the vitamins because the baby robs them!

Gwen Cooper

catrionanic wrote: »

I didn't take any prenatal vitamins on my last pregnancy as they made me more sick. Just try to eat as well as you can but don't worry too much - the baby will take whatever it needs from your own resources... It's just your own body which will lack the vitamins because the baby robs them!

That's strangely reassuring, thanks!

Peppery

I was prescribed a higher dose of folic acid - I can’t remember the exact dose but it was exponentially higher than the recommended normal amount in pregnancy. This was due to a history of neural tube defects in the family. I was also taking a supplement which had the normal recommended amount and I was told it was fine to take both. The extra prescribed folic acid was stopped once I left the first trimester. Now obviously ask your doctor but My experience was that I was told I couldn’t overdose folic acid.

Loveinapril

Congratulations! It's very peculiar that you were told to stop taking Pregnacare considering it is specifically made for pregnancy. Any midwives/ doctors who asked me about medication during my pregnancy agreed that it was good to continue taking. Not one person mentioned increased folic acid and I only found out after I had my baby that I should have been on a higher dose. Some medical professionals are not au fait with vitamins, dosages etc. Most people don't bother with pregnancy vitamins so you are already doing great. And as Caitriona says, you will suffer if you aren't getting enough nutrients- your little parasite foetus will be grand

Wesser

catrionanic wrote: »

I didn't take any prenatal vitamins on my last pregnancy as they made me more sick. Just try to eat as well as you can but don't worry too much - the baby will take whatever it needs from your own resources... It's just your own body which will lack the vitamins because the baby robs them!

Actually there is good evidence that shows that folic acid lowers the risk.of neural tube defects so folic acid is important.
Although by 6 weeks the neural tube is essentially already formed.
I have not ever heard of harm due to too much folic acid but am happy to stand corrected

__oc__

Wesser wrote: »

Actually there is good evidence that shows that folic acid lowers the risk.of neural tube defects so folic acid is important.
Although by 6 weeks the neural tube is essentially already formed.
I have not ever heard of harm due to too much folic acid but am happy to stand corrected

When I went for my 12 week scan I was told to stop taking folic acid because of the higher incidences of tongue tie. I couldn’t find a standard multi vitamin without folic acid in it so tried to work on my diet better.

Gwen Cooper

Thank you all for your responses, I'll post an update here once I speak to my GP this afternoon!

catrionanic

Wesser wrote: »

Actually there is good evidence that shows that folic acid lowers the risk.of neural tube defects so folic acid is important.
Although by 6 weeks the neural tube is essentially already formed.
I have not ever heard of harm due to too much folic acid but am happy to stand corrected

Of course. I meant the additional prenatal vitamins. I always took folic acid. Should have been more clear.

shesty

Maybe medically the folic acid is more essential than the vitamins.I know it is necessary to help prevent neural tube defects.I believe it used to be added to foods like bread etc way more, but it's not now which is why they want us to take it as a separate tablet.I have taken pregnacare but I get the impression they aren't a necessity, it's always the folic acid they focus on.

Gwen Cooper

I spoke to my GP a few minutes ago.

She said I can go back to taking Pregnacare along with the folic acid tablet, as you can't have too much folic acid, so I'm going back to my vitamins starting tomorrow.

She also told me that my blood results came and that my HCG count is quite low... on the day of the test I would be approx. 5+3, and the HCG was at 150. So now I have a new thing to worry about.

She told me it's not really a reason to worry, but I heard so many stories of low HCG being a sign of miscarriage. I'm sick to my stomach.

If anyone has any experience with that, I would be grateful for any advice.

Minnie2017

Glad the vitamins are sorted Gwen, and hopefully the HCG will be fine too! This pregnancy malarkey is just one rollercoaster after the next! Can you get the doc to refer you to your early pregnancy unit even just for peace of mind?