Multivitamins for TTC, Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

[Melbo]

Hi Ladies,

Just wanted to let you know that there is a \/ SPECIAL \/ at the moment on vitamins at a place called Chemist Warehouse. You can also shop online if you want. If anyone wants the link, please PM me.

Just an example:

Blackmores Pg and BF (Economy pack = 140 x capsules) $26.99

Cenovis Pg and BF - 60 pack $10.99

I went to the outlet in Fitzroy. They had Elevit as well but not on special. Still, it was cheaper than you can buy it in most pharmacies.

Cheers,

Mel

[Gemma]

I was told Folate should be taken at least one month prior to conceiveing and 14 weeks into the pg.

Before TTC last time, I went to a naturopath and took lots of vits and herbal things. We are now TTC # 2 and I am taking a multi, folate, iron, Vit E, fish oil and zinc (when I remember). My iron levels are always low.

I get my Zinc levels checked regularly as it is important when TTC. Some chemists do a zinc tally test for free - you just have to ask for it. I have read that it is important not to take too much folate and I think 800mg is the max. Also, no more than 10,000iu (I think that it is iu) of Vit A is the max and some people say 8,000. Some foods are rich in certain vits so that should be taken into consideration too.

I also got lots of good info from 'The Naural Way to Better Babies' book about Pre-conception care.

I started taking the Blackmores in September of 2004 for TTC in December which went out the window as we started earlier, but yeah it says on the bottle atleast 3 months before conception, so next time I will do that.

But I took the Blackmores throughout my pregnancy and everything was all good

[Baby~amore`]

thanks Fletch I got 2 boxes of 100 -half way through first box I think... I think they are great.

[Beckibee]

BMs made me feel worse during M/S stage so I swapped to Thompsons which is a well-known NZ brand. SO much better for me - I highly recommend them.

[Karina]

The links in the first post of this thread dont work. Well they dont work for me anyway... maybe its just me.

On the Vitamin A packets it says not to have more than 8000IU per day while pregnant or TTC. It also says the max you should have of it is 2500IU. I think I saw that on the Blackmores Vit A. I dont use it - I just use folate and Iron.

Can someone tell me what Elevit is, what it has in it (i see ads about it in the pharmacy all the time) Is it more or less the same as the Blackmores Pregnancy and Breastfeeding ones?

[BellyBelly]

The links are from the old forums so we'll find the new ones and re-link them soon.

[Jennifer13]

I've been taking Fabfol since I was first pg. The best thing I've found is no side effects in the way of constipation. I've had other iron/folate combinations briefly and I didn't like what they did to my bowels (messed up enough with pg anyway). I'm going to keep taking it as long as I bf and DP says I might as well take it beyond then depending on when we TTC#2.

[Janie]

We will be ttc in about 6 weeks. Since my mc I have continued taking my pg multivitamin, but it only contains 400mcg of Folate per day. I have read that that amount may not be enough for pre-conception/pg. I have also read that you need MASSIVE doses of Folate before overdosing. As I'm really not sure, I was just wondering if anyone knew if it's alright to have a 500mcg folate supplement along with my multi? Might be a dumb question, sorry!!!!

Hey Sez!

After my D&C I stopped taking my pg multi-vitamin and started taking 500mg of folate a day. I think that's about the minimum you should be taking so if you are taking your pg multi-vitamin on top of that, you should have it more than covered

Love
Belle
-xxxooo-

Hi Sez! My IVF clinic told me that the guidelines have changed, now it's 1000mg of folate per day recommended. The mainstream hasn't caught up yet. So given I was told to take 1000mg by a leading fertility specialist, I'm sure it would be fine for you!

[Bron81]

I bought the 500mcg folate and then the multivitamins with 200mcg but you are supposed to take 2 times a day. so all up i'm taking 900mcg a day. My dr said that was good. She was rapped that i'd been doing that for about 2 mths before going off the OCP

[Janie]

Thanks so much everyone, I'll continue to take the 900mcg a day then!

[LisaL]

Hello Sez,

I take one multi which has 800mcg per day...my ob said that was in enough so the
900mcg should be just about right!

[rayray]

Yes, its sounds fine. I took elevit, which was 800 or 900g I think.
I don't know of any issues with taking too much folate, except that it can mask a b12 deficiency, but haven't heard any baby/pregnancy related reasons why there would be an upper limit.

[Lucy]

There is no upper limit........folate is a water soluable nutrient so if your body gets "too much" or more than it needs, it just expels it in urine....with no noticable impact on you at all, so you can pretty much take as much as you like!

[Inanna]

I agree Lucy. It is always prudent to take B12 with folate. The only known downside of high dosage of folate is the maskinhg of a B12 deficiency. B12 is also thought to assist the absorption of folate.

I am on 5000mcgs. So Sez what you are taking is fine. In some European countries the recommended dosage has been at least 800mcgs. The Australian Government has upped the recommended daily intake for preconception and for the 3 months after conception to 500mcgs. You will probably notice the latest Blackmores Pregnancy and Breastfeeding formula has increased its folate content to 250mcgs from a previous 200mcgs (recommended dosage is x2 tabs daily) so this is in keeping with government recommendations.

I don't believe that 500mcgs is enough. That is my opinion only. As Sal says many specialists recommend at least 800mcgs- (in Sal's case 1000mcgs) Many women who experience recurrent miscarriage are advised high dosage of folate. This is the reason I am on such a large dose. Folate does more than help prevent neural tube defects. Folate is a traditional pregnancy support, it has been shown to correct dna and recent studies are suggesting it could help protect against some chromosomal defects.
I believe after much research that male partners should also consume folate.
If anyone is interested in the transcript of a show on this I would be happy to post it.
Have a good weekend!

[Keen]

Deb, that sounds really interesting what you said about recurrent m/c and folate. If you could post the transcript of that show I would really be interested in reading it....

Sez - with 900 you will be fine. Like Sal, my fertility specialist advises 1000 a day and has said it would be virtually impossible to o'dose on. Good Luck with the TTC journey