New to TTC Folic Acid Question

[Strawberrythief87]

Hello!
Me and DH are just about to start TTC once this period is over as I had my non-hormonal coil removed last week.
I started taking Folic acid from Superdrug last Thursday and by Saturday had come up in a rash all over my body. I went to see a dr who said it could be the Folic Acid or it could be some antibiotics I'd finished a few days earlier but either way to stop the Folic Acid for now. Has anyone else had this kind of reaction with Folic Acid? Is it worth trying a different brand? Is there anyway I could get the recommended amount from food alone? Any help would be great, thanks!

I think you'd be best off taking a prenatal vitamin that had the recommended amount of folic acid along with everything else you should be optimizing.

I think it's unlikely that you're allergic to folic acid itself as it's commonly added to foods like bread, at least in the US.

In theory you probably could get enough from foods, but that will skew your diet towards those foods and you'll never be completely certain if you've gotten the recommended levels. A multivitamin specifically approved for pregnancy is really your best choice.

Haven't heard of a reaction to folic acid but agree with PP about taking a pregnancy multivit instead as you will need Vit D too. Pregnacare are good and you can also get ones that come with omega tablets which are recommended for 2nd and 3rd trimester!

Folic acid and vit d are all you need. It was probably a reaction to the antibiotics. It’s important you take the folic acid at least 3 months prior to TTC ideally.

Folic acid and vit d are all you need

And iodine, iron, calcium, etc.

Vitamins needed during pregnancy

NHS recommends only folic acid and vit d during TTC. Everything else should be covered under a healthy balanced diet.

And the problems with that are that not everyone eats a healthy, balanced diet all of the time, you can get pregnant and not realize it for a time and there is absolutely no downside to starting the prenatal vitamins while TTC.

Thats great, thank you I'll get myself a pregnancy multi vit this evening and hope I don't get a reaction, the last rash has only just fully disappeared!

You might have just had a reaction to the particular binder that was used in the folic acid tablets you tried. The prenatals are used by millions of women and I've never heard of anyone having an allergic reaction to them.

If you're going to get the rash from the prenatals you'll get it within a day and you can discontinue, but I think it's quite unlikely you'll have a problem.

Good luck TTC!