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1st Trimester
additional folic acid anyone?
DH and I will be ttc this spring so i've started taking some folic acid in addition to my multivitamin. I remember when I was PG with DD that the dr had me taking additional folic acid b/c I have absorption issues. He had me taking 4mg during my previous pregnancy but that was while I was pregnant. Not to mention the pills came in 400mcg tablets so I had to take 10 pills, which is kind of a lot of pills to take in one setting. Since we're still a few months away from ttc I want to take some extra folic acid but I'm not wanting to take the 4mgs now.
So my Q for you ladies is- if you've been told to take some additional folic acid how much has the dr said you, specifically, should take? Or how much you were told to take when you were TTC. I don't have an OB right now and am just taking random amounts of folic acid each day right now. So if you can tell me how much you're taking then I'm just going to guess on how much I will take right now until I meet with an OB later on and get his input.
TIA!
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Re: additional folic acid anyone?
I'm on 5mg a day because DS was born with Spina Bifida occulta (very mild.) Women who have babies with neural tube defects are told to take 5mg every day for pretty much the rest of their child-bearing years, so my doctor prescribed me the 5mg. My prescription comes in one tiny pill though, I can't imagine taking 10 pills a day for it! You should ask your doctor about getting a different prescription, mine is called Apo-folic 5mg tablets. If it were only one pill a day, there'd be no problem with starting even the recommended amount this many months in advance! Also, it's funny, but the pill I take is SO small, that it's a quarter of the size of the store-brand 1mg one!
I was dx homozygous MTHFR, and there is evidence that this disorder prevents the body from absorbing FA.
My RE put me on 4 mg FA and a 2.2 mg Folgard (a broken down B-12. B-6, FA suppliment) daily. I started this routine three months before TTC, and eliminated caffeine from my diet, as a precaution. Some docs think caffeine can mess around w/ FA absorption as well.
My previous OB doctor is at a different practice across the country right now so I don't have an OB to call
I will get a new OB when we start TTC and get their rec amount for me at that point- I just wanted to start taking the vitamins (multivit & folic acid) a few months before. I'm basically just trying to get out of taking a zillion pills if it's not totally necessary for me since I'm not PG yet. They didn't even have me start taking the 4mcg until I was already PG so I don't have a lot of info for how much to take before TTC. If I was really concerned and wanted to be 100% accurate I'd make a phone call to my primary doc but I'm not that concerned about it at this point. Thanks, though.
I was dx with MTHFR (which can cause a FA absorption issue) so I was on 4mg of FA right away after my last loss during TTC and continue this through pg. I have a Rx that come in 1mg pills, so I only have to take 4.
Your body will build up FA in your system, so my OB suggests all women in their child bearing years should take it, even if not TTC.
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