Fit For Future Families - October 2011

Question for all you ladies: I know prenatal vitamins are super important especially in early pregnancy, so I went ahead and bought some this past week to start getting myself into the habit of taking them. I have been taking Folic acid since july but I wanted to up the ante I was worried about getting constipated cause I heard all the Iron can do that but so far I feel fine.

Anyway, does brand matter? I bought a large bottle of pills (200-300) at Walmart for $8. Do you really get what you pay for when it comes to vitamins or is a vitamin a vitamin?

Question for all you ladies: I know prenatal vitamins are super important especially in early pregnancy, so I went ahead and bought some this past week to start getting myself into the habit of taking them. I have been taking Folic acid since july but I wanted to up the ante I was worried about getting constipated cause I heard all the Iron can do that but so far I feel fine.

Anyway, does brand matter? I bought a large bottle of pills (200-300) at Walmart for $8. Do you really get what you pay for when it comes to vitamins or is a vitamin a vitamin?

I do think especially with the multis you need to figure out what you want, because not only does the quality of the vitamin matter (but very very hard to evaluate without medical assistance), but the quantity of the vitamin matters. Here's an example. My husband went on Fertiliblend for Men back in June. The bottle was around $50 for the month and he needed to take it for about 3 months before we saw any benefits. We took it to the fertility specialist and she pulled out another brand, which was about double the price with a completely different formulation, most of the volumes were much higher and she suggested that at the Fertility Blend rates we would see minimal results once we factored in travel to the US for the FB and they are surprisingly similar in cost and both help with MFI.

I know that some prenatals have less iron than others, so if you are taking an iron supplement, you don't need the full prenatal. Right now, I'm actually taking a generic multivitamin, iron supplement, chromium supplement, folate supplement & B12 shots. The iron supplement and B12 shots are prescribed by my doctor and she recommended I not take a prenatal because I was already going to be getting enough iron and they're all pretty loaded - I'm not even taking a multi for woman because they have too much iron. So I added in the chromium (which helps with blood sugar) and folate as well to make sure that I was meeting my specific needs as recommended by my doctor. Basically, I guess, I'm suggesting that you get the formulations and work with your doctor to make sure you're taking the right one if you're not sure and concerned.

Oh and PS. Check to make sure you're not taking too much synthetic folic acid. The maximum recommended dose is 1000 micrograms per day - which is about the levels that you should be getting in your multivitamin. To exceed the maximum can trigger symptoms of B12 deficiencies which can lead to permanent nerve damage. High levels of folic acid have also been known to cause seizures in some individuals. Check with your doctor since youre already taking a folic acid supplement and adding in a prenatal (they may suggest reducing to a regular multivitamin or removing the extra folic acid supplement)

Hi I am new to this thread. Here's my info.


Age: 31
Where you live: Wyoming
Job: SAHM & homeschooler
Length of time on the board: about 2 weeks
Marital Status: married
Length of time you've been with SO: married 12 & together 14
Do you have kids: 3 (7,5,2)
Length of time TTC: see below
Diagnosis: umm not pregnant
Do you chart your BBT: no
Do you use OPKs: no
Are you on any meds for TTC: no
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 160
Goal Weight: 120 (but need to get to at least 145 to not be considered overweight)
Strange fact about yourself: not really sure

OK about the TTC question. Currently we are not TTC because DH had to leave for 6 weeks to take a class for work. Before that we were TTC actively since about May, but we have not prevented a pregnancy in any way since I was pregnant with our 7 year old.

I believe my being overweight has caused infertility in myself. I think my body already thought it was pregnant because my high weight is where I was with all 3 kids at delivery plus the weight seems to sit in my tummy area and makes me look very pregnant. My cycles were also really wonky. Now that I have lost weight they are back to normal.


Nice to meet you all.

Welcome to all the newbies.

AFM: What a difference a week makes. I realized yesterday that I've been in a fog for the last few weeks. I haven't wanted to be social, exercise or even clean the house. So now that someone in the medical community believed me when I said it was ridiculous for me to wait 3 months for a consult with a specialist, the fog has lifted. I"m back on track, feel more in control and the ambulatory blood pressure monitor is being attached tomorrow and then the specialists office just called. They have a cancellation. So now I have to be downtown (about 2 hour drive) for about 3:30 tomorrow afternoon for the consult. This means we'll probably catch Oct/Nov. cycle to start and then have the transfer done in Dec.......crazy!!!!! (I was just hoping to have the transfer for Jan!) Going to have to watch the stress around the renewal and start farming things out so I just have to show up!!! Still I'm one happy chickie today. What is everyone else grateful for today?