How much Folic Acid or Folate are you taking?

nana+K · April 2015

Hi everyone, I was just curious how much Folic Acid or Folate you take per day? My midwife told me to take 1000mcg per day, this seems high to me especially as I've since been reading that Folic Acid could possibly be linked to various cancers. I get that in high risk pregnancies the recommended dose can be high but aside from my age being 35, I don't fall into this category.

I am also a bit unclear on whether I need to take this much throughout the whole pregnancy, I'd like to drop my dose down a little now I'm past the 10 week mark.

I was trying to conceive for over a year and taking it regularly then too so I'm beginning to feel like I may be overdoing it.

Am interested to hear your opinions/experience on this before I discuss it again at my next ObGyn visit.

dogsombrero · April 2015

I get 1200 mcg with 800 mcg in the prenatal and a 400 mcg supplement (twins).

Ceridwen77 · April 2015

My vitamin has 800mcg. Then I'm sure I'm getting a lot more through the food I eat.

helsbels222 · April 2015

My vitamin has 1 mg. Yes, I think that's high too.

Laurakat81 · April 2015

1000 mcg is not high, 1000mcg= 1mg. I would not take anything less than that.

ETA: for the record I take 2.8 mg or 2800 mcg. I have MTHFR and so does at least 40% of the population. It means we don't break down folic acid into it's usable form, methylfolate. Since we can't break it down we don't absorb it very well. I take the already broken down version of the pill. And will take a higher dose during pregnancy but 1mg daily for the rest of my life. Folic acid is in lots of natural foods like spinach....I've not heard of a link to cancer that had any merit.

helsbels222 · April 2015

Laurakat81 said:
1000 mcg is not high, 1000mcg= 1mg. I would not take anything less than that.

Thanks. Most over the counter vitamins have 600-800 mcg but my doctor said I should have more. Was worried it was too much but guess the doctor knows best.

lerusik30 · April 2015

I'm high risk and I take 5mg, but 1mg is the regular amount. My ob said that I can drop that to 1mg once I'm done the 1 trimester. Also, folic acid does not stay in your system, it washes out, hence why it is important to take it regularly. I also read about it being linked to cancer, but it seems like everything is linked to cancer these day. They however differentiated between folic acid and folate, folate being more natural or something, hence potentially causing less harm in terms of being linked to cancer. You are best to consult your doctor before you fiddle with your supplement intake.

nana+K · April 2015

Thanks ladies, good to know and I agree that you can drive yourself crazy looking at how everything is bad for you these days! I'll stick with the 1000mcg in that case.

ShianeNicole · April 2015

I take a 1mg prescription due to a hereditary blood condition and what's in my prenatal, I think 800mg but I really need it for my blood

gatormom73 · April 2015

4,000 mcg a day or 4 mg

savm11 · April 2015

My doctor advised me to take 2mg (2000 mcg) a day. I'm not high risk so I'm not sure why he recommended that. My prenatal has 1mg and then I take a 1mg supplement as well to reach my quota.

amandaejgreen · April 2015

I take 5mg=5000mcg a day due to high risk and multiple MC's prescribed by my doctor. I'm 11 weeks now.

collegebound08 · April 2015

My dr said to take 4-5mg because that has been the dose they find to protect against birth defects so I take 1Folgard in the morning and one at night

dinajackson11 · April 2015

My doc only recommends 400mcg, that's half of what's in my prenatal. That's concerning to me . . .

Laurakat81 · April 2015

dinajackson11 said:
My doc only recommends 400mcg, that's half of what's in my prenatal. That's concerning to me . . .

I would do your own research. It's soooo beneficial during pregnancy, particularly in the months before pregnancy. Not sure why your doctor says 409 mcg is all you need. Obviously, your doctor knows you best and I suppose there could be a reason for such a low recommendation but I'd research and ask about taking more. I think 800mcg is too low for most of the population. I'm no doctor and it's honestly been a couple years since I researched it in any depth but I'm pretty sure we should be getting more.

gypsywanderer · April 2015

I eat loads of leafy greens which is packed full of folate. If you're on a small dose of synthetic pills (ie you get your folate from a jar) top up with wholefoods! Salads, smoothies, steamed - eat leafy greens ☺️

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