can u OD on folic acid?!

[trixipaws]

went to the docs today to get referred to the MWs for my booking in app. first thing that i thought was odd was he asked was i taking folic acid. i told him yes i take multibionta every day, whether pregnant or not. he shook his head quickly and said that's no good! he has prescribed me folic acid but i checked the pack and its just normal valupak 99p tub of vitamins! how is that better than my vitamins with it in? plus i eat 3 bowls of cereal every day which are packed full of it. i'm worried about taking TOO MUCH folic acid???????!!!!!!!!!! i kno too much vitamin A can cause miscarriage and blindness, so what about other vitamins???!!!! too much of anything is bad too isnt it! what do y'all do?

 

[curlygurl]

I don't think you can take too much folic acid. But if your regular multivitamin isn't specially for pregnancy it might have too much vitamin A and not enough folic acid. I think the optimum dose of folic acid is 400mcg so you can check how much your regular one has - if it is not this amount then take the prescribed one. If you want to carry on with a multivitamin, get one of the pregnancy ones as these will have the right proportion of folic acid and vitamin A.

 

[babyblonde]

It;s because you can't take normal multivits in pregnancy hun as the balances of certain vitamins aren't right.

I think it is always possible to have too much of something (for example you can overdose on vitamin c) - BUT you have to take a hell of a lot before it causes any problems.

You are a worrywort this evening

 

[trixipaws]

i kno lol

 

[Jaded Diamond]

I've swapped my normal multivits for pregnacare. Just made it easier lol.
xx

 

[M&Ms]

Dunno the answer to your question, but OMG! Only just spotted you are pregnant! Congratulations hun!

 

[buddabun]

I can't remember what site it was from but they said that up to a level of 1mg (i.e. 1,000micrograms) it is documented to have no harmful effects. They haven't tested any higher than this but women at high risk of spina bifida babies are advised to take anything up to 4g so you should be fine.

I worried as the recommended dose has gone up since I left the UK so I have 300ug pills and am taking 2 every day. I worried but as long as you are getting at least the recommended dose you should be fine.

FOlic acid is vitamin B9 and is only really helpful during rapidly dividing cell growth (i.e. pregnancy and for young children) but has been linked with helping to prevent heart disease, stroke and some cancers but the research I could find was vague.

So in essence: no you can't!