Too much folic acid?

[AussieMum28]

My doctor has prescribed me folic acid tablets to take during my pregnancy but I also have folic acid in my pregnancy vitamin. Can I be taking too much and should I swap my pregnancy vitamins for vitamin B tablets??

Only take 1 supplements, the amount in your vitamins is probably the maximum you should take. I take pregnacare vitamins and it's 100% folic acid taking more can be very dangerous

Extra folic acid isn’t ‘very dangerous’. You’ll just wee out any folic acid that is surplus to requirements. Has your GP prescribed folic acid because you need a higher dose? Save your money on pregnacate and Just buy a cheap vitamin D tablet and eat a balanced diet.

It defiantly can be very dangerous ! No one needs a double dose of it because it's in foods as well. Pregnacare has everything you need in them so at least you know your covered and that your getting all the essential vitamins you need.

It's been prescribed by my doctors because I'm overweight. My diet isn't exactly balanced at the moment because I've got bad morning sickness so I'm only eating what I can keep down which is dry/bland foods! Should I just be taking a normal multivitamin then?

It's not dangerous,some women who are at a higher risk of neural tube defects are prescribed a much higher dose than normal. A normal dose is 400 micrograms the higher dose is 5 milligrams so it can't be dangerous.

Unfortunately Amy you're talking out of your arse. Many women get prescribed high strength folic acid in early pregnancy and this is a much higher dose than is in pregnacare. OP, i was prescribed high strength folic acid and asked the pharmacist the same question, you don't need to take pregnacare on top of what you have been prescribed, the only other supplement I was advised to take was vitamin d. After 12 weeks your prescription should run out then you can switch to pregnacare. I'm not a Dr though, this is just my experience and things change over time. I'd ask the pharmacist when you pick up your prescription just to make sure (or give you're midwife a call to double check)

She hasn't said that she needs a high strength ? It says online too much can cause problems and unless you have been told you need more than 1 dose than don't do it. If you have been told to take 2 doses then obviously do it but otherwise don't.

When your first pregnant most people get prescribed just folic acid. So personally if you don't have the best diet your best off taking a multivitamin that has folic acid in as well as iron, vitamin B,D etc as that will be more beneficial to you & your diet

Midwife just told me just take folic acid prescribed til 12 weeks and pregnacare after. Prescribed dose is more important

If you have a BMI of over 30, you do need more folic acid than the standard amount that is recommended. Perhaps that’s why they prescribed you as your normal supplements aren’t giving you enough?

Link here with info:

bigbirthas.co.uk/pre-pregnancy/folic-acid/

Amy, Op has said she was prescribed the higher dose because she's overweight.

Amy are you sure you're talking about folic acid? I've only read that about vitamin D.

@Amy1996 I'm sorry but don't tell her to stop talking her supplement! If you have a higher BMI the dr will prescribe a folic acid supplement to take alongside a pre natal vitamin as people with higher BMIs need more than what's in the prenatal vitamin. Telling her to disregard her drs advice without the full information into her situation isn't great. And getting the correct dose of folic acid in pregnancy is obviously an urgent matter to avoid deformities, so you're potentially endangering her baby's life 🙄

She hasn't said that she needs a high strength

OP says it's because she is overweight, if your bmi is over 30 at booking in you get prescribed high strength folic acid. Even if this wasn't the case, I'm not sure the best advice can be 'don't take the thing you've been prescribed, best to do a Google instead'

My dr (and various midwives in both my pregnancies) specifically told me to take my folic acid supplement alongside pregnacare so I'll be listening to him rather than some know it all on the internet 🙄

I’ve been prescribed the higher dose of folic acid and asked my GP this question. She said it was fine to take the prescription folic acid alongside pregnacare or any other pregnancy vitamin but to make sure whichever I did take had sufficient vitamin D. I’ve been taking the Superdrug pregnancy vitamins which seem to have pretty much the same stuff as Pregnacare but are much more affordable.

OP, if you're unsure, pop into a pharmacist and have a word, they will happily give you some advice.

I thought you couldn't take a regular vitamin as too much Vitamin A wasn't good in pregnancy.

I think this is a question you need to ask your GP, who knows your actual medical situation. I don't think it is dangerous, as I was given double strength folic acid tablets when I was pregnant, however I am not medically trained, like most others on this thread at a guess. Call the doctors surgery, and ask their advice.

*multivitamin

I've heard that folic acid (rather than folate, which naturally occurs in foods) has a correlation to tongue tie in babies. I really don't know how true or accurate that is, but it might be worth learning more about it, OP? Tongue tie is incredibly common and many HCPs don't know how best to sort it.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I didn't realized she had been told to take more I'm on about the average person because my gp gave me folic acid but my multivitamin had the same dose so I didn't bother with just the folic acid. Pregnancy multivatims don't contain vit A

Amy do you live in the UK? Most people are not prescribed folic acid, generally only those who need the 5mg dose (which is 12.5 x the standard 400microgram dose that most people are advised to take)

My midwife told me you just wee out whatever you or your baby dosnt use/need