Pre natal vitamins. What's the difference?

[CoconutGal]

I currently take just folic acid 5mg. After almost a year TTC & on the folic acid we haven’t been lucky yet. Went for blood tests & ultrasound scan & both showed nothing was wrong. Perfectly healthy & they can’t understand why my periods are irregular & we haven’t conceived yet. I figured maybe I’m not getting enough of any other vitamin such as iron, B6 etc. So I picked up Seven Seas Preconception vitamins.

Having read the reviews on it on Boots, it appears to be quite popular, but what I want to know is, what’s the difference between just taking folic acid & taking preconception vitamins? Have they worked for you?

Folic acid is more to build up your reserves in case you get pregnant. Preconception vitamins are to improve your overall health so you can get pregnant in the first place - but it’s debatable whether they add any benefit if you have a decent diet in the first place

They are just a marketing con. The idea is that it helps make up for deficiencies in your diet but most people don't need vitamin supplementation even if they have a crap diet.

I mean, it's worth a shot if nothing else is working, it can't do any harm.

How irregular are you periods? What bloods did you have? If everything was fine, your periods would be regular... Did your partner have his semen tested?

With regards to nutrition, it’s about being healthy with a balanced diet but you can top up with a supplement just in case. Folic acid is for the prevention of spina bifida should you actually get pregnant.

@JoJoSM2 - put it this way, my last “period” was 3 days, very light, fast forward 2 weeks & I’m bleeding again but only for 1 day. That was just this month, last month I was 2 weeks late, the month before I had nothing, July I had a normal period. I had blood tests they came back normal, ultrasound & vaginal all normal. DH hasn’t been tested yet, I think that’s the next step.

I’m not sure what you’ve had tested but the only situation when a perfectly healthy woman has such irregular periods could be when approaching menopause or possibly shortly after coming of the pill (although I don’t think the latter would apply here as it’s been almost a year since you started trying). Otherwise, there’s a problem somewhere. It’d be worth checking what they tested for and what the results were. Things like FSH, LH, AMH, day 21 progesterone, estradiol, thyroid hormones etc.

@JoJoSM2 - thank you for your reply. I do have to go back to discuss all the results so I’m hoping they’ll give me more information than “everything looks normal”. 🤔

Good luck

The vitamins alone won't magically get you pregnant but I totally stand by them as being a positive step when TTC.
When I was TTC I took the seven seas and also took Omega 3 as I knew I was lacking - they did wonders for my skin, hair, nails and I can't recall the last time I had a cough or cold, even though I used to always pick them up, so they must have been doing something right!

I'm now pregnant and have now swapped to Pregnacare and all my levels are perfect at every blood test plus it just adds that piece of mind. Theres no harm in taking vitamins so I don't know why you wouldn't?

As others have said, it's worth pushing for more answers regarding your periods. Its taken me 3.5 years of TTC (and one miscarriage) to where I am now, and I was always being fobbed off by doctors and I never pushed which I strongly regret. Good luck!

Did you have your progesterone checked? It sounds like you are lacking if you're having very short cycles. I would also ask them to recheck your 21 day bloods as it also sounds like you might not be ovulating.

Re the vitamins. I take vit c and d to help with my luteal phase and overal health as well as folic acid. Nothing else. I'm not deficient in anything so technically I don't need to take them and they certainly won't magically help me to become pregnant unfortunately. 😢