Haven't been taking folic acid due to HG

[lab896]

So I have HG I'm now 11 + 3 now starting to feel better on some days but some days I am still being sick, I took folic acid for the first week and half then HG started and I haven't taken it since due to it, can someone please tell me it will be okay!

I didn’t take mine as religiously as I should because of HG (you really have my sympathies) and baby is growing absolutely fine. When you can eat try and eat greens and fortified cereals. I bought folic acid on its own, pregnacare made me super sick, and they were tiny little tablets that were quite easy to take.

Hope you start to feel better soon! Oh and MW said don’t worry baby will always take what they need from you.

@BloodyCreateUsername it's horrible, I thought I was over it last week and then started throwing up again at the weekend! I haven't been eating much and when I have it's been pasta as that's all I have fancied! Gonna try and take some folic acid today!

Goodness - please take your folic acid! I used to take it before bed, so I wouldn't throw up. A friend of mine has a child with spina bifida and he's had 28 operations in his 17 years of life. Please do anything to prevent this suffering if you can!

It's not as easy as just taking it when you have hg you often vomit any food/ tablet/ water straight back up again. You're doing the best you can OP. I managed small folic acid vitamins better than big pregnacare type tablets. I have had 2 hg pregnancies and they were big healthy babies, the midwives and doctors told me that baby takes what they need from you and just to eat what you can and try and stay hydrated.

I'd also recommend the separate folic acid tablets, I had the stronger strength ones which are tiny (about the size of the contraceptive pill) and very easy to swallow.

I've also had HG and I tried to time my folic acid for a time of day when I felt slightly less sick.

I mentioned to my midwife that I was worried I wasn't keeping the tablet down everyday and they said as I'd taken folic acid prior to getting pregnant I should have reserves of it and be ok.

Please ignore the very unhelpful reply from Justtickingboxes OP. A lot of people still have very little understanding of how bad HG actually is.

I didn't have HG but I did have very bad morning sickness so I struggled to keep any tablets down. I bought a folic acid spray which was a lot easier to deal with because you don't have to swallow anything and you have it in small doses throughout the day. I think I got mine off Amazon.

Hi OP, I have HG (11+1) and haven't been able to keep anything down, so you truly have my sympathies, there is nothing as dreadful. My doctors at the hospital told me that the baby will take all of my reserves and itll be me who suffers, and as I was taking HG for about a month before I got pregnant and up until around 6 weeks, the baby should be fine. They did prescribe me some tiny folic acid tablets to take when I can manage and also thiamine. Happy to say that on my new combination of antisickness medicine, I have been able to keep these down for the past couple of days xx

[quote lab896]@BloodyCreateUsername it's horrible, I thought I was over it last week and then started throwing up again at the weekend! I haven't been eating much and when I have it's been pasta as that's all I have fancied! Gonna try and take some folic acid today! [/quote]
It gets you like that! One minute you think it’s easing and then it’s back! I think whole meal might be fortified- please don’t let people make you feel bad I existed off of packet noodles for 8 weeks. We do what we can!

The important time for folic acid is 4-6 weeks pregnant (ie 2-4 weeks after conception) - after that the neural tube closes and it doesn't make so much difference (though still worth taking). If you were taking folic acid pre-conception and in those early days then you've covered the important part. Even if not, many pregnancies are unplanned and folic acid not taken, but neural tube defects are still very rare, so try not to worry.

(and I'd agree justtickingboxes comment was imo rather unhelpful and unkind in the circumstances)

I was so sick through both my pregnancies that i couldn't keep folic acid down past about week 3. I mentioned it to both my doctor and midwife as i was concerned, they both said whilst it's ideal to take it, a lot of women don't know they are pregnant until much further along, are too sick, can't afford it, even live in countries without access to it etc, and the poor outcomes based totally on this and nothing else are slim to none, especially with a healthy varied diet before pregnancy/sickness hits.

So whilst it's ideal to take it if you can, honestly don't worry yourself too much over it.

sorry - I didn't mean to come across badly, as I know pregnancy is a worrying time and I apologise for any offence caused. Perhaps the midwife/GP can recommend another way of taking the supplement. I just want to stress that folic acid is really important.

I had HG and my midwife was very sympathetic and just said to take it when I could. I managed about 10 weeks and then couldn't cope with it anymore. All you can do is try and don't be too hard on yourself.

Have you got antiemetics to help with the sickness?

Have you tried the pregnacare liquid or gummies? They are more expensive than the tablets but I found them easier to take due to my morning sickness... the big brown tablets made me gag at the sight of them let alone attempting to swallow one!!

I have HG and took folic acid when trying to conceive. Weeks 6 - 14 I was vomiting so much I maybe kept down two tablets a week. Had my 20 week scan and baby looks fine. 🤞🏻

www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/im-pregnant/ask-a-midwife/12-weeks-too-late-take-folic-acid

“ I haven't taken folic acid, will my baby be OK?
Try not to worry. It is unlikely that the lack of folic acid will have affected your baby’s development as the risk is small. But talk to your midwife or doctor if you’re worried.”

Try this. It helped me when I had HG. Like a PP I know someone with SB and if there's anything you can do to prevent it, do it.

www.amazon.co.uk/Biocare-Vitasorb-Folic-Acid-15ml/dp/B00187ZVLW/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?hvlocphy=9041122&hvnetw=g&keywords=folic+acid+spray&hvadid=259067413399&qid=1606847367&dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8Jf-BRB-EiwAWDtEGpJlkmf9skInwuImO36QrxhQyVkFzR7l9eWGUmuMJ4B4seN4C_yzJBoConMQAvD_BwE&hydadcr=7577_1760579&hvdev=m&hvqmt=e&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=kwd-350181149447&adgrpid=51928703663&hvrand=15471172106611539764&sr=8-4

It's v hard to overdose on folic acid, at worst it could mask a B12 deficiency, so you could add it to a few things daily.

A lot of breakfast cereals are fortified. When my HG was at its worst I lived on handfuls of dry Frosties!

Hmm, not good. I had HG but was so conscious about taking my folic acid. I found that the small folic acid tablets from Boots were so much easier to swallow than the larger Pregnacare ones. The potential consequences of not taking folic acid are dire. I know two babies born with Spina bifida, one of which had a mum who didn’t know she was pregnant until her second trimester.

Thanks everyone for their comments, I totally get I should have been taking them, but when your being sick 20 times a day and can't keep anything down it's hard. I took it from week 3 to 5 and half weeks, before my HG took hold. Today is the first time I have taken it since, I was so focused on trying to eat and keep it down that I forgot about my folic acid, anyway will take it from now on, I spoke to my midwife earlier and she said not to worry too much just to take it from now. I'm on 3 types of anti sickness atm!

I feel your pain, you can only do your best and not worry too much beyond that. I’ve found one of the very few things I can eat at the moment is marmite on toast - if that is something you can keep down it might be worth a try as it contains folic acid.

Hi OP

I’m so glad you created this thread. I’ve been worrying about this today too and it’s great to read other experiences.

The last few weeks have been totally awful with the sickness. I’m only 9 weeks tomorrow so I think I have a few good more weeks minimum of this.

Wishing you better soon and congrats xx

If you were taking it before you got pregnant and had HG then you should be ok. Like a pp said, the neural tube closes at 28 days after conception, which is when you need to have been taking folic acid.

(I took folic acid religiously for the entire time ttc and when pregnant and had a baby affected by spina bifida, so it's not an exact science anyway.)