Vitamins

soulshine108 · October 2015

Hey! So my husband and I started talking about getting pregnant. Are there brands of pre natal vitamins that are better than others?

LitlePrety · October 2015

I think they are all pretty much the same. Some may vary of course but as long as you are getting 800 mcg of folic acid you should be good (correct me if I'm missing something here!)

The gummies tend to not have iron in them so if you are anemic you will need an iron supplement if you take those.

chanfa · October 2015

My OB had told me that any PNVs are okay (as @litleprety said). If you do have trouble doing #2 after taking vitamins, you can switch to a normal multivitamin until you get pregnant. PNVs have a high dosage of iron which can cause constipation

Skyjewell23 · October 2015

I take a gummy PNV with no iron. It does awful things to my stomach.

ska8471 · October 2015

They're all the same, generally (from my pharmacist friend). I take mine with a meal and make sure to drink a lot of water, haven't had any nausea/constipation issues. Definitely start taking them stat, it's recommended to take them a few months before even trying (although not crucial).

Lysta85 · October 2015

There are little differences between the brands in the amount of all the vitamins/minerals (one will have a little bit less vitamin D but a little bit more calcium, an other one will have a bit less calcium but more B6, etc.). I don't think there is really a brand that is a lot better. I just ended up buying one that was on sale. And it works fine for me. Like OP said, some can upset your stomach, but that doesn't mean it will do the same with yours. Mine has extra iron and I don't have any troubles with it. Pick one and when you get nausea/constipation issues, try to drink enough water like PP said if your not doing that already. And if that doesn't work for you, just try another one.

I'm already taking them while I'm not TTC yet. When I had to take extra vitamin D because of a shortage, I had to take this for 6 weeks every day before the doctor would check my vitamin D lvl again to see whether it was elevated to at least the correct lvl (also after getting an higher dose, still had to wait for 6 weeks before testing). So that's why I wanted to start early with the PNVs, to give my body time to elevate the lvl of vitamins/minerals before TTC.

Tennis11785 · October 2015

I've been taking Rainbow Light with no problems (no constipation, no nausea). I event take it on an empty stomach sometimes and am fine.

While I certainly didn't do a ton of research, but I randomly picked up a couple different bottles and looked at the amounts of each vitamin (in IUs), and it seemed to have higher IU values than the other bottles I picked up (I know, super scientific study).

The one thing it doesn't have is DHA - so if anyone has a DHA vitamin they recommend, that would be appreciated.

satuttle1014 · October 2015

LitlePrety said:
I think they are all pretty much the same. Some may vary of course but as long as you are getting 800 mcg of folic acid you should be good (correct me if I'm missing something here!)

The gummies tend to not have iron in them so if you are anemic you will need an iron supplement if you take those.

Make sure you have enough folic acid but I think they are almost the same. I just picked one out of the few that were at my grocery store. I ended up going with the one where I take 2 pills, one is folic acid and the other is the multi vitamin. Mine has made my stomach upset a couple of times because of the iron but that is only because I did not have enough food in my stomach.

1SweetT · November 2015

As I concur with the others, all prenatal vitamins are pretty much the same and depends on what you prefer. Like Lysta85 said, some will have more nutrients/minerals than others.

Since August 2015, I've been taking Garden of Life's Vitamin Code Raw Prenatal and haven't experienced any constipation or nausea. It's required to take three pills per day with/without food & the capsules can be opened to put in food/drinks. I personally swallow the pill & usually take all 3 at once; or 2 in the morning & 1 at lunch, but it varies tremendously because I usually can't remember at times, especially with hectic days. I have also taken it with/without food and don't experience any side effects. They don't have an after-taste, there isn't an odor, not a horse pill & is average sized (I think).

I personally like this brand because it has all natural ingredients and contains Folate instead of Folic Acid which is a synthetic form of Folate. Now, I'm no health buff but I prefer to have all natural. I spent about $32.

https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/garden-of-life-vitamin-code-raw-prenatal-90-capsules/gu-1123#.Vjoun7erSM8

GOOD LUCK TTC!!!!

SLou24 · November 2015

Like @amk1114 I take Rainbow Lite -- they were recommended to me by a friend. They are a plant based supplement I believe (i.e., natural ingredients), and I have had no issues with nausea, constipation, etc. while taking them. I've even taken them on an empty stomach a few times and have been fine, although they are HUGE for someone not used to taking a daily multi!

ska8471 · November 2015

amk1114 said:
I've been taking Rainbow Light with no problems (no constipation, no nausea). I event take it on an empty stomach sometimes and am fine.

While I certainly didn't do a ton of research, but I randomly picked up a couple different bottles and looked at the amounts of each vitamin (in IUs), and it seemed to have higher IU values than the other bottles I picked up (I know, super scientific study).

The one thing it doesn't have is DHA - so if anyone has a DHA vitamin they recommend, that would be appreciated.

I take Centrum prenatals. They come in a 2 bottle pack. One is DHA and the other the regular prenatal.

kockatoo · November 2015

Make sure to find vitamins that are tested by a third party. The FDA does not regulate supplements so you really don't know what are in them. I am not TTC yet but I will continue to use my Advocare vitamins, they are 3rd party tested and are backed by some amazing doctors.

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