Pre-Natel Vitamins

Are the over the counter vitamins just as good as the ones prescribed by the Dr??

[marsxp]

yes, i believe so... as long as it has folic acid in it... it could be as low as 400mcg but every doctor prescribes different prenatals....

[Nicki1433]

Yes, that's what I used...doctor approved...for both pregnancies.  My doctor said that a normal body cannot absorb more than 1mg of folic acid per day anyways, so as long as you're getting the 1mg per day that's fine.

[Nicki1433]

The OTC prenatals I took had 1mg of folic acid and were approved by my OB for both pregnancies.  He said as long as it had 1mg of folic acid they were fine.  Some women require more folic acid...a friend of mine has MTHFR and is required to take wayyy more than 1mg of folic acid, but most only need 1mg.

[rubyolivia]

OTC vitamins usually only have 800 MICROgrams of folic acid. Both OB's I've been to this pregnancy have told me I need to take in 1 MILLIgram of folic acid. If you are planning to take an OTC with only 800 then you should also take a folic acid supplement containing another 200 micrograms so that it will equal out to 1milligram. :) Confused yet?

[chellybeans]

thats odd because i take 3 mg a day (folic acid)prescribed. and have read studies using up to 5 mg of folic acid a day to prevent neural tube defects. there is alot of information available about this. just google folic acid during pregnancy

no over the counter vitamins are not the same. i take duet dha. they contain more folic acid and omega 3 oils that are not fish based(no risk of mercury toxicity)  over the counter vitamins usually are a little weaker than prescription. ask your doctor what is better.

[chellybeans]

that doesn't make much sense if you just said you can't absorb more than 1mg a day. there is a lot of information available everywhere that says more folic acid than 1 mg is good for the average healthy pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects. or at least reduce the risk