So I've always been slightly annoyed at having to pay more for anything labelled 'pregnancy' on vitamins so what's happened over the last month hasn't helped....
I bought Pregnacare Omega 3 in boots because:
- It was on a 3 for 2 deal (Ooooo)
- I am scared with all this Omega 3 talk that I am not providing enough for baby (25 weeks pregnant)
- I've always had low iron generally so I'm conscious that I need to keep topped up
- Sometimes I don't feel like eating/cooking and on certain days my diet isn't great so, yes, multivits are sometimes what I need.
I didn't really want to do this at all. I have a soy allergy that has a big impact on how I feel, if taken regularly over time, and every single pregnancy Omega 3 supplement I looked at had a vitamin E element which, yes, contains soy. I bought pregnacare because it's a separate pill, which means I have slightly more control over what I"m ingesting.
I have also since developed what seems to be a lactose/dairy reaction: I'm getting eczema really badly all over my legs and it seems to respond well to cutting out dairy. However, I'm so paranoid about low calcium: since coming off dairy my nails are brittle, I have terribly dry skin, white marks on my nails etc. I've tried to go on a calcium rich diet (drink supplemented rice milk and as much broccoli/bok choi I can feasibly eat in one day) but I don't think I'm getting enough. So I look at the pregnacare packet and find that, no, not a drop of calcium in it.
Off I toddle to Boots, looking for a calcium supplement. [Turns out, the new pregnacare plus or whatever it's bloody called DOES have calcium but there's no way I'm buying another packet of multivitamins just for one bloody mineral, after paying £30 for the bloody privilege of buying them in the first place] I just need calcium. So I pick out a calcium supplement and made my way to the counter, where the person behind the till REFUSED to sell them to me because they weren't pregnancy branded and I was pregnant.
It would be really nice not to be treated like an idiot or a child: I am a reasonably intelligent person, I'm not out to poison myself or my child. It would be nice to be given product information on a RANGE of products so I can make an informed choice about what is necessary/good for my body at any particular ime, rather than popping pregnacare/read other pregnancy branded multivits which are way more expensive and which I might not want. (btw - my GP was no good with advice 'just take the ones for pregnancy').
It would be really good to have a range of supplement options, you know: For me, I would choose a omega 3 without soy, I'd like to take Vit D3 separately to be honest because I digest it better in liquid, iron too for that matter....and I'd like a separate multivitamin (without these ingredients) which I then could take as and when.
It's driving me nuts!!! Is anyone else annoyed by this.