Can anyone work this out? Folic acid.

[Pepper123123]

I recently found out I am almost 5 weeks pregnant.

I have Spina Bifida, so it is very important that I take a higher dose than normal of folic acid in the early stages of pregnancy.

My OH picked up some folic acid tabs in Tesco for me, but it doesn't tell me the amount of folic acid they contain. It recommends taking one a day, which isn't very helpful because I need more than the average dose.

Can anyone decipher the information chart on the pack?

(I can't get a doctors appointment until late next week and I need to be taking plenty of folic acid as early as possible)

Each tablet is 400ug which is the usual daily dose. My understanding is that pregnant women should take 800ug, so two tablets, but you say you may need more. What’s the dose you’re supposed to be taking?

Hi!
Congratulations! The recommendations are that people with your condition (and others) take 5 MILLIGRAM of folic acid daily. Your doctor can prescribe a 5mg folic acid table so you’ll only need to take one a day.

The tablets above do tell you how much they contain - they contain 400 MICROGRAMs of folic acid. 1 milligram = 1000 microgram. As you can see, you need 5mg, which is 5000micrograms I.e. a lot of those tablets as their very low strength!

You would need to take 12.5 of the above tablets to equal the dose he doctor would give you in a single dose - call your doctors tomorrow and they’ll arrange a script for you.

Good luck with the the rest of your pregnancy

(I’m a pharmacist by the way)

@Wiggler1 I should be taking 5mg of folic acid. I've never seen the unit on the label.

I was on a higher dose of folic acid for all my pregnancies. It was 5mg. I got it on prescription from the doctor. I went on holiday in the uk once and forgot them so i had to buy over the counter 400ug ones and take 12 and a half to get the right dose.
You should ring your GP first thing tomorrow and get a proper prescription for the higher dose tablets but taking 12.5 of those will be fine for today, its the same thing just a hell of a lot to swallow

X post with BrownBirds !

@BrownBirdsFly Thank you! I'll give them a ring tomorrow and explain the situation.

I didn't recognise the units on the label to look them up and convert them, so was very confused.

I'm sure if I ring my GP surgery and explain the higher risk they will be able to speak to a doctor and get something written up.

You can also get 5 mg folic acid tablets online from amazon. I take them because I have B12 deficiency and high dose folic acid enables the B12 injections to be utilised better but GPs don't/won't prescribe it for that.

So just so I'm sure, I should take 12 tablets?

As you can probably tell, I'm appalling with numbers.

Call up for a same-day urgent appointment - this is a genuinely urgent situation and every day counts, any delay could harm your baby, so yes this is an emergency even though it is the health of a future patient (your baby) rather than you yourself who is critically at-risk.

I'll echo what others have said op , I've had a spina bifida pregnancy so was given 5mg folic acid by my gp. Taking one tiny tablet is much easier than taking many.
Congratulations by the way.

Yep take 12 and cut one in half and take that too then call the GP ASAP tomorrow.

Thank you so much ladies!

I'll ring the GP surgery first thing Monday morning. I'm sure they'll understand the urgency and they'll see on my notes about my past pregnancies etc.

I'll take the 12.5 today so at least it's already getting to work.
I'll be rattling with all these until they give me a script 😂

To think I took one yesterday....wouldn't have touched the sides!