Pre-Natal Vitamins intoxication

[luciana37]

I hate my pre-natal vitamins. I tried switching brands many times, they make me so sick and my skin dry.. I skipped for a week, felt wonderful but guilty, took again, just to get sick as a dog, exhausted, dark circles around my eyes, sleep deprived, sour mouth and vomiting. I am 4 months pregnant. I searched and read that I could be intoxicated by vitamin A. I checked all my pre-natal bottles, Vitamin A is 50% of the daily recommendation, and only 20% come from Beta-Caroteno (the best source). I have always had a healthy diet, I am from Brazil, so vegetables and fruit are common on my everyday meals since I was a kid, and I do not eat junk. Sometimes I think these vitamins are a little unnecessary to me, but if I say that, people look at me like I am crazy. I am very healthy, have very healthy eating habits, do not have any Iron deficiency, what can I do? I am thinking of taking the Folic Acid alone and the Omega-3 and just leave the rest alone. My doctor does not say anything, he just asks if I am taking them and if I say I am not, he tells me to try a different brand.

[AnnieBrooke]

The thing I read about too much Vitamin A in vitamins did not refer to prenatals, just to multiple vitamins in general.  We (at least in this country) apparently get so much Vitamin A in our diet that it doesn't need to be in multis at all.  I'm sure it would be just as true of prenatals if you have a normal diet.

[luciana37]

The fact that you read somewhere about the Vitamin A in excess in the pre-natal vitamins just confirms to me what I suspected. Again I stopped and feel so much better a couple of days later. I am keeping the folic acid and fatty acids for now because overall I have a very rich and healthy diet. I also saw a list on the magazine The Bump that I got at my ob/gyn, and that same list is online on their website. It is a list of vitamins, amounts of it and reason why we should take them during pre-natal. It is a tip for other people that might read this topic with the same doubts.
Thanks again!

[AnnieBrooke]

I was just reading that most multis have too much Vitamin A, anyway, given how much we get in our diets.   A simpler way to do this, rather than to have a shelf full of folic acid, iron, Omega 3, calcium and C, might be to try to find a prenatal that does not include Vitamin A.  But all that a prenatal vitamin is, is a beefed-up multi-vitamin, so if you get it as a handful of little pills instead, at least you can customize what you are taking.  

If you want to be ultra-careful, copy the list from the back of the prenatals you are not taking, and write a a list of what you *are* taking, and take both to your next appointment with your doctor.  He or she can look at both and see if there is anything on the prenatals list that he or she feels you are not getting with the individual-pill regime.  But it really doesn't sound like you are going to run into trouble.

Good luck!

[luciana37]

That's a good tip, and it goes well with what I have in mind.. I am trying to listen to my body. It can't be good if I feel so bad.. Thank you

[AnnieBrooke]

Oh, add some extra calcium too, and some vitamin C to help the iron absorb.

[luciana37]

I have tried both of those. They make me very sick as well. It is probably the high concentration of Vitamin A, since I always eat carrots, vegetables and fruit, and they already have a lot of it.. Flinstones has 50% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A, Gummy Vitafusion 50% as well.. It really *****..

[ku111]

Ask your dr. if you can take a gummy vitamin or flintstone vitamins.