Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Pre-natal vitamins
Anyone have advice or other information on taking/not taking prenatal vitamins, when to start and stop, what they should have in them, or what brands are good? It seems like there is a lot of contradicting information out there. The only thing I know is that you should take folic acid before getting pregnant and at least for the first few months.
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My 2 cents...I've almost always taken prenatal vitamins, long before getting pregnant. I'm not sure what brand is best, but I take the prenatal multi-vitamin/mineral from Trader Joes, and I've felt fine.
The only thing I would caution against is taking megadoses. In my current prenatal, the highest % of the RDA is 600 (for vitamin B6). The rest (non- B vitamins) are close to 100% of the RDA for pregnant/lactating women. Actually, I think my body might be actually using all those B vitamins at this point in my pregnancy. Pre-preg, the would B vitamins make my urine BRIGHT yellow. Now, it has no effect.
Anyway, my one bad experience with vitamins was taking _extra_ B6 and magnesium. About a year ago when we were trying to get pregnant, I read (in Marilyn Shannon's Fertility Cycles and Nutrition) that this combo could help with irregular periods. The table on p. 33 recommends 500-1000mg per day for Mg and 25-100mg per day for B6. The trouble is, my current multivitamin only has 15 mg of B6, and this is already 600% of the RDA. When I was on the 100mg of B6, after about a week I started experiencing numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, which was kind of scary (but nowhere near as scary as what you just went through). Once I stopped the B6, it took about 2 weeks for the tingling to completely go away.
After that I've just stuck to the prenatal multivitamin and I've been doing great.
I just take Flintstones. I take two per day so that I get enough iron and 800 g of folic acid. From my reading, I can't see any reason to shell out the bucks on "natural" vitamins... Anyways, it is easy to remember to take Flintstones because they taste good but hard to remember to take expensive vitamins because they usually are icky smelling and require you to take up to six per day. I got a huge container at Costco - three months worth for about $12. Do pay for Flintstones, though, some generic (and some health food kiddo vitamins) don't have iron.
Early on, I was taking only one Flintstone a day and an additional folic-acid-only supplement, but started feeling like I'd been run over by a truck any day I wasn't extremely diligent about eating TONS of protein. My midwife thought I could be iron deficient and suggested going to two Flintstones. The next day I felt great and have actually had a ton more energy this pregnancy than last pregnancy when I was paying $30/month for prenatals.
Well, thats a tough act to follow! On the flip side of things, I had a hard time taking my viatmins since they were enormous, and if they didn't go down on the first swallow they tasted so bad that I gagged and well it wasn't fun. I ended up not taking them very faithfully, which I know seems ludicrous, but I learned that many vitamin supplements are barely useful because the concentration of one mineral can inhibit the absorbtion of (or even destroy) another in the same pill. So in many cases our multivitamins are not really delivering to our bodies what they say they will.
I did take a Folic acid supplement. It's important to start now before you're pregnant because it's the amount you consume in the months before pregnancy that really makes the difference in the all important first trimester. So take that now and as long as you plan to be having kids. (FYI: you can get %100 RDA in Total cereal, and the Total with Strawberries is REALLY good! I also read that many grains are fortified with it anyway, probably as a gov't conspiracy to make healthy babies :) ). Iron and Calcium are the other things they say you need a lot of, and I preferred to get those from natural sources. It's a little more work to make sure you're getting enough, but I figure you're more likely to get all the vitamins/minerals you need without the interaction problems I mentioned by doing it the natural way. Eat a balanced diet. Afterall, women have done it for centuries without the multivitamin.
But all that being said, I have heard that GNC vitamins are balanced to make sure you get what you pay for, so though I'm sure they're more expensive than other brands, you can have more peace of mind. I have also heard that those in particular don't upset the stomach much.
Whatever you decide to do, just don't worry. Contrary to what American medicine and drug maufacturers would have us believe, God made our bodies to support babies. We are His children, and as we trust Him, He isn't going to cause/allow anything in our lives that isn't for good.
Or yeah, take Flinstones. Fun and chewable! What could be better?
:)
Before I got pregnant, I just took a regular multivitamin b/c it was cheaper! After pregnancy, I had to switch to a "prenatal" because I was anemic and needed the extra iron, but otherwise you can even just take regular multivitamins during pregnancy, as long as you're getting the folic acid and iron and calcium.
I hated most brands of pre-natals (I tried a bunch of samples); they made me burp and tasted awful and so I puked, not b/c of morning sickness, but because of the nasty taste from the vitamins! I'm now taking a brand that has no bad side effects, Citracal, which also has an algae-based omega-3 acid supplement (good for baby's brain)
Emily - Did you know that Flinstones have aspartame?? I can't imagine why a children's vitamin would have that in it! I got a bottle at Costco and got it home and noticed (it was NOT in an obvious place!). I suppose there can't be much in a vitamin, but that's the stuff my mom is alergic to and I've read you're not supposed to eat much of that when you're pregnant... Phooey. Now to look for a different chewable vitamin with most of what you need in it. (Normal ones often make my stomach hurt.)
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