MTHFR and trying for a baby

[Claire78564]

Hey hope you are all well. I wonder if I can get some advice on this matter. So I did the thing we are alllll supposed to not do and read up on some things on the net.... I know silly thing to do but couldn’t help myself! So I had a miscarriage back in January at 5 weeks. We are back to trying again but are very scared it will happen again. Now I have a b12 deficiency which is treated with injections every three months. As far as I’m aware my thyroid is normal and I don’t have any other issues. I found this thing called MTHFR which is a mutant gene that causes a reduction in the amount of folic acid you absorb. A symptom is b12 deficiency and I’m so worried this is me :( I was never given a reason for why I have this deficiency and now I’ve got my head upside down! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks xx

No experience, but maybe ask your doctor and perhaps they’ll give you a higher dosage of folic acid?

I think around 50+% of people have the MTHFR gene and most have no symptoms at all.
Looking into it too much is a bit "woo" and I would recommend to stop reading these sorts of things on the internet! Speak to your doctor about your B12 in pregnancy and take normal folic acid.
(Doctor)

Obviously disagreeing with a doctor means that what I say is something you should treat more as an opinion than actual fact, but when I looked into it it seemed that the main thing which a person with the MTHFR mutation would want to do is to take a form of folic acid which could more readily be metabolised by the body, and that if a person didn’t have this mutation but took the special folic acid thingy they wouldn’t be at any kind of disadvantage (except perhaps a slight financial one). If they did have problems metabolising actual folic acid, though, and just took it anyway, they were at risk of miscarriage.

As we had such difficulty conceiving, and I have what could anecdotally be said to be some of the risk factors, I decided just to take methylfolate instead of folic acid. Some sources say you can take it as well, while some (possibly less reputable) say that folic acid blocks the receptors which the methylfolate needs to use to be absorbed. So, knowing that I was probably being over-cautious (but mindful that the cost of cutting out folic acid was low, but the potential cost of losing my baby was very high), I chose a prenatal supplement which contained methylfolate but not folic acid.

This was very organic, and formulated by people who mostly seemed to think that more is more when it came to vitamins. Some of the doses were double what I wanted to be taking. But the dosage was two tablets per day, so I just took one. This meant I was only getting 200 micro grams of methylfolate per day, so I added a 400 microgram supplement of methylfolate. Also, the prenatal I have tastes and smells dreadful. But I’m getting what I need, and it was the best compromise I could find with my research. Let me know if you want to know what it is (after I gave such a glowing recommendation!) and I’ll let you know about it when I get home again.

So, to summarise, it may all be a load of nonsense, but it’s made me feel better about the whole thing. And yes, I am a scientist of sorts, and understand that I am not necessarily using the most unbiased of reasoning. But really, is doing a thing which may be safer and certainly shouldn’t be more harmful to get some peace of mind a particularly stupid thing to do?

Hi thanks for the responses. Which supplement were you taking Spargle? I take the pregnacare conception and cod liver oil tablets. I know they the max strength pregnacare contains two types of folate. I am seeing s gynaecologist on Tuesday do May has them what their opinion is.
Hiphopopotamous, when you say take normal folic acid would this be okay if I have this issue? Would I not struggle to absorb the folic acid? Thanks xx

Hi, please don't worry about this. I was under a miscarriage specialist who told me I had this and all I had to do was take 5mg of folic acid on top of my pregnacare vitamins (it was not the cause of my miscarriages btw) . A GP can give you a prescription for it.

As the previous person who is a doctor commented, I don't think it's regarded as having significant importance. In fact a lot of doctors I've spoken to have never heard of it!

Hi,

I have the MTHFR mutation and also Factor V Leiden which is a clotting disorder. I was just prescribed high dose folic acid during pregnancy for the MTHFR x

I’m taking the Cytoplan Pregna-plan supplements.

Fish oil might stand you better than cod liver oil as it has too much vit A and rich oil has more omegas, which is better for brain development. Check it out anyway...

Thanks lovelies 👍 we just can’t wait to be parents and fingers crossed the next one works out. With regards to the cod liver oil, I got mixed up! It actually the fish oil tablets. I will go to my docs to see if I can have a prescription for the folic acid. Means a lot just hearing people talk about it. Can I just ask how your pregnancies went if that’s okay? xx

I am also B12 deficient and have 12 weekly injections

My son was born with several midline defects (mild hypospadias, laryngomalacia & lip tie) and midline defects are linked to MTHFR

I plan to take methylfolate when TTC number 2 since I've read it's more easily absorbed than folic acid

Oh! The methylfolate supplement I took on its own was the Solgar one. They seem to be a reputable company, and I found their tablets easy to swallow.

I’m not sure I’d bother with a prescription for folic acid, because it is extremely cheap to buy, and prescriptions are quite expensive. But if you do decide just to take folic acid, it’s definitely worth getting medical advice about how much to take. Because I am coeliac, I think I would be recommended to take 500 micrograms anyway.

My pregnancy seems to be going well so far. I’m at 23 weeks, and baby passed all of the scan tests apart from the “being cooperative” one (he wanted to hide and to be left alone both times). Fingers crossed he’s staying in for the next 16 weeks or so, and coming out healthy!

You know what, though? I’d like to encourage you to take the methylfolate instead of the folic acid supplements. It might do nothing to help, but if it does help then the benefits could be massive. PM me if you’d like me to find links to the actual supplements that I bought (although googling them is how I found them, and you should be able to find them that way, too. The multivitamins were on a 3 for 2 offer at the time...).

I am just a stranger on the Internet, though, and won’t judge you if you decide just to go with high dose folic acid. At the end of the day, you just have to go with the information you have, and see which seems the most trustworthy to you!

Hi! I have the mthfr mutation and I am going through IVF.

I would recommend you just get the blood test to check if you do have this or not so that you can be sure of treatment.

To me it has been a cause for my miscarriages. Every ivf cycle I have to take 1000 of folate (Solgar) and I have to inject Clexane every day to prevent clotting therefore prevent another miscarriage.