Folic Acid before conceiving?

Question

Hi, mu husband and I are considering starting a family at the end of the year and i have been advised by my doctor to start taking Folic Acid. I forgot to ask about the pill. I am still on the combined pill, do i need to stop taking it now whilst i'm taking folic acid or can i wait until we decide to try before stopping the pill

Thanks

Answer 1

you can start Folic Acid now. It is not a substance on which you can easily o.d. like Iron or Vitamin A

Here is a snippet from a good article I found. . .

http://www.babycenter.com/expert/preconception/preconnutrition/2232.html

"During pregnancy, the recommended dose jumps to 600 to 800 mcg, or 0.6 to 0.8 mg. Of course, some women's needs are different.

If you have a family history of neural-tube defects, you should probably get 4,000 mcg (4 mg) of folic acid a day. Talk to your doctor about how much you need before and after you conceive."

Answer 2

Folic acid is good for ur health anyway, so keep taking it. As someone else said u may not fall pregnant straight away after taking the pill, however i read recently that taking St John's Wort gets the pill out of your system faster but i am unsure over how long i'd consult the doctor. I took a tablet called pregnacare which had the correct dose of all vitamins etc in preparation & through pregnancy, there's loads of other brands

Answer 3

folic acid is found in lots of green vegetables but developing foetus's require more of it than most people would normally eat, and it's a good idea to get you levels up before conceiving to help prevent against spina bifida. i'm sure that folic acid will not interfere with the pill. however do be aware that you might not fall pregnant the first few months off the pill, it took me and my partner about a year and a half without contraception to conceive, and that's perfectly normal. good luck

Answer 4

folic acid is found in different foods so obviously its not going to react with your birth control. some doctors even advise taking folic acid for your 'childbearing years' (18-30ish) because it's good for women in general that want to have children.
once pregnant DONT stop taking folic acid it helps create the baby's nervous system. i'm 37 weeks pregnant and been taking it the whole time. and have also been advised to continue taking it afterward while breastfeeding because your newborn can benefit from it also.

Answer 5

If you are going to take folic acid to prepare for a baby, why stay on the pill?

Answer 6

Start taking it now. It's usually in multi vitamins, or if you're a big salad eater, it's found in everything green a leafy and apples. So make a salad with apples. :)

Folic acid just helps lower genetic defects. You need it and your baby needs it so it doesn't grow extra fingers and toes or worse.

With your pill, I think my wife was told with all of our kids that we shouldn't expect anything for about a month or three after. Anywho, couple kids later and I'm off for getting my tubes cut.

Answer 7

Folic acid is just like taking any kind of vitamin. Take prenatal vitamins before during and after pregnancy.

Answer 8

The pill isn't going to interfere with you intake of folic acid. You pretty much answered yourself, just weight till your ready to go before ditching to the pill.

Answer 9

You should be fine.

Folic acid in a vitamin supplement, when taken one month before conception and throughout the first trimester, has been proven to reduce the risk for an NTD-affected (The two most common neural tube defects are anencephaly and spina bifida) pregnancy by 50 to 70 percent.

Answer 10

Folic acid and folate (the anion form) are forms of a water-soluble B vitamin. These occur naturally in food and can also be taken as supplements. Leaf vegetables such as spinach and turnip greens, dried beans and peas, fortified cereal products, and some other fruits and vegetables are rich sources of folate.