Pregnant With Twins, Doc wants me on 4 mg of folic acid a day…..

[place]

Hello,
its been a while since I have been on ( accidently cut off some of my fingers on left hand, doc got 2 of 3 back on, so typing has been difficult). Anyway, so with twins it is nearly vital to take more folic acid, or things could go wrong.

So I have been doing the methlytion foe several years. My Doc wants me on 4 mg addtional folic acid a day, an addtion to my prenatal that i am not taking due them having folic acid in them.


Does anyone know the equivalent of 4 mg?

Does anyone know of a good multi vitamin that doesnt have folic acid?

many thanks!

 

[PeterPositive]

You mean the equivalent of 4mg of folic acid compared to l-mehylfolate?
It should be the same dosage.

The only problem is that methylfolate can have some side effects with sensitive people. How much are you taking in your methylation protocol. It would probably be wise not to up the dose too drastically too quickly.

 

[place]

Thanks for the responce Peter! Good to know it is equal to methylfolate. I did not want to take too little.

I currently take 6.4mg in two doses (8 pills total). I might spread it out as my doc wants it spread out. Whats funny is my doc knew of mfthr gene and thought i needed more folic acid. I suppose, I should be happy he even knows what it is=)

 

[Gingergrrl]

@place wow, congrats on your pregnancy with twins!!! I don't know your story or if you have CFS but hope you are able to rest and take it easy! Sorry to hear about your fingers, too.

I thought for pregnancy you are actually supposed to take Folic acid? Or am I totally misguided in that? Back when I was trying to get pregnant (which never happened) I took a pre-natal vitamin with Folic acid in it but I knew nothing about MTHFR stuff at that time.

Best wishes to you and babies!!!

 

[PeterPositive]

I can only quote Dr. Ben Lynch saying that "folic acid is garbage". And I think he's right, dietary folate is much better and if you have MTHFR snps folic acid will not work and will compete with reduced folate in the cell's receptors.

 

[Alea Ishikawa]

You mean the equivalent of 4mg of folic acid compared to l-mehylfolate?
It should be the same dosage.

I found something on CNS Spectrums, though I don't know the reputation of the website. The article's author is Stephen Stahl, MD, PhD. He's a psychiatry professor but believes in a link between depression and folate depending on certain genetics.

He says ~52 mg of folic acid = 7.5 L-methylfolate.

So:
6.933mg folic acid = 1mg L-methylfolate
4mg folic acid = 0.577mg L-methylfolate


(Note: The calcium salt form of L-methylfolate is Metafolin, Deplin, and Douglas Lab's L-5-MTHF. The glucosamine salt form Quatrefolic is Seeking Health L-5-MTHF. See graphic here. "Good" and "bad" forms of folate: here.)


I personally haven't taken any prenatals, but I have come across the Thorne Basic Prenatal. This has some folinic as well as L-5-MTHF. It can be pricey at ~$24/mth. I have also heard the pills are not pleasant, to say the least. [Edit: Found out the iron level is 45mg, which is much higher than the RDA of 27mg for pregnant women.]

Maybe what you could do is just take partial doses for Thorne and supplement with any additional L-5-MTHF later in the day or alternate days, as needed? Please check the ingredients list to ensure this would mesh well with your meds/supps, genetics, etc.

A lot of multivitamins can have an excess that is contraindicated in pregnancy. As an alternative, maybe you could try finding a multi that matches good prenatal amounts?

 

[place]

Thanks everyone! my body is just so crazy and I want to make the twins have what they need. I am going to look into the thorne's.
I have been dealing with extreme nausea. There is a couple of links to b6 and serotonin. I am going to post in a separate thread. thanks again!

 

[Alea Ishikawa]

Another prenatal to consider: Douglas Labs Prenatal. It has 800mcg L-methylfolate but only 10mcg methylB12 and not-so-active forms of other vitamins. You'd have to supplement B12 at a different time in the day.

I've also seen NeevoDHA, but don't know much about it. It seems to be prescription-only. It also has soy and sorbitol.