Folic Acid - How Much?

[Doitnicelyplease]

My local drs are recommending all women take 5 mg of folic acid daily for the first trimester. Anyone else get this advice. Seems like a lot to me.

I have previously been taking a single tablet of 1mg daily and now I am taking an ante-natal vitamin which also contains 1mg. Should I now be popping 4 extra pills on top of that?

How much is everyone else taking?

I was told to take the standard 400µg a day.

I was told 1mg. 5mg seems a lot unless there is a special reason. Can you ask why? Has a new study come out or something?

Are you diabetic? I was told to take the 5mg ones when pg as I have type 2 diabetes.

400µg-600µg a day.
Based on the pregnancy vitamins that I was prescribed though, it seems you can't "overdo" it. They had 1500µg in them

people on certain medications - antiepileptics etc are recommeneded to take the higher 5mg dose as they are at greater risk of neural tube defects

That is a lot and is only usually available on prescription (unless you feel like popping 10 ordinary pills a day).

I had to take 5mg because I'd had lost a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect and I had a friend on the same because she is an epliectics and so was on antiepileptics drugs which lowers your absorption of folic acid.

I've never come across the 5mg advice being given to the general population. Possibly they have a larger than average percentage of diabetics/eplietics/families with NTDs on their lists?

most folic acid tablets have 400microgrammes, 5g is an awful lot.

unless you have a probelm getting it elsewhere.

I'm pretty sure you can't overdose on it, though.