Folic Acid

[Tracey M]

Hi everyone looking to see what advice your doc given about folic acid. My doc said to me that at my age 38 the new guidelines is 5mg folic acid 3 months prior to conceiving and 12 weeks into pregnancy. Told dose higher due to risks of age only available on prescription. I've been doing this and losing weight to prepare for ttc with doc supervision. However was at another doc for weight check and mentioned doseage and said was new to her and she was 40 having her child...curious now to see what everyone else is doing... it bothered me a bit when googled coz high dose possibly linked to breast cancer! Im at risk as my mum had breast cancer... any views on this?

 

[Olive]

Hmm I'm not sure, but would be interested to find out. I've been taking one tablet a day since just before new year (knew wanted to ttc this year). My Mum has also had breast cancer and quite young :-/ xxxx

 

[LouiseB]

I haven't had any doctor's advice personally, i just take the pregnacare supplement which is supposed to be tailored to pregnancy nutritionally.

I think i can understand if you are supposed to take a higher dose, because older mums are more likely to have children with problems such as neural tube defects (ie. spina bifida) which is what folic acid is supposed to significantly reduce.

As for the cancer... too little folic acid can cause cancer too.

I think that if i was in your shoes, i would do a lot of research into dietry sources of folic acid and see how much you could manage to get through food and then top up with supplements.

I kind of feel that natural sources are "safer" than tablets, but i don't know if that is true at all.

You'd have to make sure you stick to it and reconsider if your get morning sickness though.

I am sure you can have tests to see your chances of developing cancers which might be worth while?

I kind of feel that if at some point you are going to develop cancer or any illness, that there is nothing you can do to prevent it if you live healthily

 

[debjolin]

Hi hun, I used pregnacare with my last baby but using only 400mcgs folic acid this time. x