Prenatal Vitamin Questions

[alzora]

My husband and I want to start trying to conceive our first next month. I've heard that women should begin taking prenatal vitamins before trying to conceive, so two days ago my husband and I went to a House of Nutrition and got what seem to be top-of-the-line prenatal vitamins. Yesterday I took my first two as per the directions on the bottle. I took them five minutes before eating breakfast, so the empty stomach didn't help. I felt sick to my stomach all day long, until going to bed at 11:30 last night. My mom said her prenatal vitamins also used to make her feel queasy, so she had to take hers at night and sleep through the effects. So, after that wonderful experience, my questions are:

Anybody else feel queasy from the vitamins?

What happens if I just don't take them?

Has anybody here NOT taken prenatal vitamins and still had a healthy child?

[aussiesteph]

It took me 3 different brands before I found one that I could stomach and, even now, I have to take them just before bed in order to sleep thru the worst of the queasiness. (When I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the loo, I am a bit nauseous.) The first that I tried was one of the most well-known brands and I had partial vision loss (!!!) after taking my 1st one for about 20 minutes & had to crawl from the kitchen to the couch and was SO sick to my stomach for a good 3 or 4 hours. I persisted, though & went to my doc for blood tests to find out what exactly i should be taking to try and make certain that, if i was going to feel unwell, it was for very good reason. While I was waiting to figure out what i could take, I just took kids gummy vitamins to get some iron into me.
Oh, the brand that I settled on was just the Walgreen's brand prenatal multi-vitamin (I am in Oz but my mom posts them to me from chicago every 6 months or so!). For some reason, I can handle them better than the others that i tried.
Also tried iron supplements & just folate but couldn't stomach either of those (birth control pills also made me VERY sick).
As far as not taking them, that is a question for your doc, I'd think...even though i still feel a bit queasy, giving my future baby the best start possible is really important to me and so i just put up with it!
Good Luck!

[kasie]

they make me sick, but I have found a brand that makes me less sick and I take them right before bed. Another think you can do is take a children's Flintstones vitamin with a folic acid capsule everyday, you'll get the same effect.

[tinabina]

Ya sometimes you may need to try a few and see what works, and sometimes it's just the time of day you take them. For 3 months prior to TTC I was taking folic acid and already taking Women's One A Day. The month we started TTC I also added 200mg B6. Once I got the positive I invested in a high quality organic prenatal, Garden of Life Raw Organic. I need to take 3 pills a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. They do not make me feel sick and I have not had nausea or morning sickness. I don't have a crazy appetite either, I really like them. They smell awful but if you can take it quickly, it's fine! I am now taking those, the B6 vitamins and Ocean Mom Prenatal DHA.

[pansy]

While we were trying to conceive, I took the gummi prenatals because I don't really care for swallowing pills. Never felt sick after taking them, even on an empty stomach. Once we found out I was pregnant, I switched to the pill form and haven't had any problems with feeling sick. I do always take them with a meal though, usually about halfway through whatever I'm eating. So my suggestion would be that before you switch vitamins, try taking them with food and see if that makes any difference. Also, I've read that if prenatals make you sick, you can take Flintstones vitamins instead.

[agirlinred]

Has anybody here NOT taken prenatal vitamins and still had a healthy child?

I am not trying to say you shouldn't take prenatal vitamins, as taking them certainly won't do any harm, but I wanted to point out that prenatal vitamins didn't exist for thousands of years. Yet somehow, miraculously, women still managed to give birth to healthy babies. I personally don't think prenatal vitamins are worth the stress they cause some women, especially those who find prenatal vitamins make them sick. You can get all of the folic acid, iron, etc you need through your diet without having to buy pricy supplements too.

[alzora]

You have all been extremely helpful. Thank you. Good to know I'm not the only one who can't stomach them, and good to know I'm not the only one thinking they may not necessarily be vital to a healthy pregnancy and baby.

[taz]

You should totally take prenatal vitamins. New chapter organics perfect prenatalworked for me.

[rachel_lessard]

I took New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal vitamins as well. They are awesome. Also, take them at night! That helps immensely. I'm nauseated pregnant or not by vitamins, and these didn't have any negative effect even in early pregnancy when I felt terrible.

[lyricmom]

You should absolutely take prenatal vitamins, both before and during pregnancy, as additional folic acid is critical in preventing certain birth defects. Any OB/GYN will tell you the same. You can take two Flintstones if the prescription ones make you sick. Your doctor can give you samples of different prescription brands to try. I like Vitafol One, which contains DHA. Most OBs recommend a DHA supplement in the second and third trimesters.