Pregnacare and Sickness

[daisydaisy83]

I've been suffering really bad with nausea since 4 weeks, but last week it really stepped up a notch further. I couldn't eat or drink anything, I was too dizzy to move about much and had hot flashes.

This was a couple of days after I started taking Pregnacare vitamins at my midwife's recommendation. I stopped them for a couple of days since I couldn't stomach anything at all, and my sickness got better again. The thought of taking those tablets has turned my stomach since then, so I've gone back to plain Folic Acid and proper food. Still sick, but not as bad as those few days last week.

Maybe just a coincidence, but curious to see if anyone else has made this link?

 

[staybeautiful]

I haven't had anything like that with my prenatal vitamin, although I'm just taking the Asda Pregnancy multivitamin with folic acid. Did your midwife recommend Pregnacare for a specific reason? I just got the Asda one because it seemed better value for money and still has good amounts of various vitamins/minerals and it's got more than enough folic acid and iron.

 

[MindUtopia]

Pregnacare made me horribly constipated and gave me terrible acid reflux and stomach pains. This was when I started it 6 months before we were TTC, so I know I wasn't pregnant. It actually has a really harsh, hard to digest form of iron in it, I later discovered, which gives lots of people problems. I now take one that has iron bisglyncinate in it (instead of iron fumarate, which I think is in Pregnacare). I haven't had any problems since I switched.

I think if you don't have any special dietary needs (I'm a vegetarian so I need the extra iron) or aren't deficient in anything, you definitely don't need to take a multivitamin. Folic acid is enough if you eat a healthy, varied diet. It's not worth feeling sick just to take something you probably don't need anyway.

 

[HelsBels07]

I think if you don't have any special dietary needs (I'm a vegetarian so I need the extra iron) or aren't deficient in anything, you definitely don't need to take a multivitamin. Folic acid is enough if you eat a healthy, varied diet. It's not worth feeling sick just to take something you probably don't need anyway.

I agree with this. I am only taking folic acid and a vit D suppliment. My MW said that if you have a well balanced diet and get your 5 a day then there is no need to take a mulit vitamin unless as MindUtopia said you have a deficiency or have bad MS as you may need to replenish what you lose - unless of course it is the mulit vit making you ill!!

 

[Mary HH]

I spoken to someone else that thinks that it made them sick. I am taking it and am sick so might stop and just have FA.

 

[Debi]

Pregnacare made me feel really ill too.. Gave me a sore tum through the night for some reason and added to my ms too I think. I switched to Centrum vits at the start of second tri and felt much better, but I ran out a few days ago so tried pregnacare again.. Low and behold sore stomach again and feeling sick nxt morning so I'm def sure it was down to the pregnacare and not just the stage of pregnancy!

 

[MindUtopia]

If it's helpful, I'm taking Solgar Prenatal Nutrients. It's actually an American brand so it's harder to find here, but it was the cheapest one I could find that had a gentle iron in it. It was like 10-12 quid a bottle (2 months worth) off Amazon. So it's a bit pricier than Pregnacare (and a lot more than just plain folic acid), but I like it so far.

 

[loub127]

I'm taking pregnacare and they make me really nauseous!! Especially if i take them and my stomach isn't full.

Kept taking them in the evening's and wondered why I kept waking up during the night feeling like i was gonna barf!!!

Seem to be okay with them now as long as i'm careful about when i take them!

 

[sel10]

I too did not get on with pregnacare either. They were making me run to the toilet and giving me evil stomach cramps so stopped taking them as well and immediately felt much better. With my previous 2 pregnancies they did not recommend taking a multivitamin (and they have been in the past 3 years both of them). I explained to my midwife that I was just going back to taking my Folic Acid and getting plenty of sun for the Vitamin D and she said that was fine.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I have always used pregnacare and ok so farxx

 

[Babycuddles]

I was initially taking Pregnacare and I suffered from constipation which sometimes got really bad (even after drinking over 2l water). After attending an early pregnancy class, one of the midwives advised to try something else and they were giving out free Sanatogen. So I decided to try it and I have to say that I feel a lot better and not constipated at all (very regular now )

 

[smileyfaces]

Pregnacare gave me terrible headaches in my last pregnancy xxx

 

[No1showgirl]

Pregnacare made me terrible sick....stopped taking them and my sickess stopped!!

 

[icklemonster]

Pregnacare gave me such bad trapped gas I actually woke up one night thinking I was having a miscarriage. Evil stuff. So glad my best mate made the connection as I thought the trapped gas was just a part of pregnancy and would have suffered for weeks. I've jut been taking vit D, omega 3 and folic acid since. Just got my booking bloods back and they said my iron was normal, so guess you don't need the extras! xxx

 

[Impet Limpet]

I think my multivits are making me sick, discovered it is worse if taking them in the morning, I don't even get time to absorb them and they are up! I'm going to try taking them with my tea instead. Fingers crossed.

 

[sue2012]

Pregnacare vits made me feel so sick it was hard enough to hold food in but with pregnacare i had no chance so i spoke to my doctor and stopped taking them he said your supposed to take vits 3 months before getting bfp so its makes no difference if i take or not as soon as i stopped felt better straight away xx

 

[Lilyandbump]

I'm 6 wks pregnant and I've been taking folic acid ever since I found out I was pregnant, but not before which sometimes worries me when I read the pregnancy books which tell me I should have been taking it while TTC. Should I be worried?

Also, I have a box of pregnacare in the cupboard (which was really expensive by the way!) but I'm too scared to take it. I've never taken multi-vits in the past because I'm skeptical about them - why take a synthetic vit when you can eat a banana and get the real thing?

But is that attitude too blaze in pregnancy? Will my baby suffer if I don't take the pregnacare stuff, especially if I'm not eating that much at the min because of my MS?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. xxx

 

[summer rain]

For me the ingredient of pregnacare that made me feel really ill was the soya I think. I've only had symptoms like that when I've reacted badly to soya (I'm intolerant to soya but only discovered this recently). I've had other multivits with the same type of iron and not had these symptoms xx

 

[Mizze]

Lily - taking the folic acid now is good - it helps prevent spina bifida but it certainly doesnt mean that your baby will suffer from it because you werent taking it beforehand.

As for the other vits - I take sanatogen duo mainly because its what I had before and because I know my nausea can last till well into 2nd tri (if its anything like last time! ) so the vits mean im getting what I need (I also had low iron with my DD so I know I need to keep an eye on that). On top of that its important to get the Vit D - because, in the UK, its hard for us to get enough and many of us will be vit d deficient (you cant get enough in food unless you eat stuff that has it added to it - like some cereals and yogurts -but thats just a supplement in a different form)

If you have a top notch diet you probably wont need a supplement - but many non pregnancy ones have Vit A in them which isnt good for us to take (though I cant remember why atm!) but if you, like me, arent eating right at the moment due to the dreaded ms/nausea then its probably a good idea - especially for things like iron - lack of iron can play hell with your energy levels.

As for Pregnacare Ive never used it but a friend of mine had terrible diarrhea with it.

Doesnt mean that they wont work perfectly well for you though

Mizze

 

[summer rain]

I'm 6 wks pregnant and I've been taking folic acid ever since I found out I was pregnant, but not before which sometimes worries me when I read the pregnancy books which tell me I should have been taking it while TTC. Should I be worried?

Also, I have a box of pregnacare in the cupboard (which was really expensive by the way!) but I'm too scared to take it. I've never taken multi-vits in the past because I'm skeptical about them - why take a synthetic vit when you can eat a banana and get the real thing?

But is that attitude too blaze in pregnancy? Will my baby suffer if I don't take the pregnacare stuff, especially if I'm not eating that much at the min because of my MS?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. xxx

Folic acid is in a lot of food and drinks so unless you detest orange and other fruit juices, breakfast cereals, leafy greens or any of the other foods rich in folic acid you should be ok. I take vitamin D and vitamin B complex and I consider that adequate, I eat enough oily fish within safe recommended limits so I don't feel the need to take extra fish oils, and I eat a wide variety of other foods. I've never been low on iron in pregnancy after I had my eldest I lost an estimated 1 litre of blood and was still only 0.5 below the lowest good iron level for a pregnant/post-natal lady. A bossy midwife bullied me into taking three iron tablets but they gave me a horrid combo of constipation and diarrhoea so I stopped and just worked on my levels with diet, it worked as within 3 weeks my level was back up to 12 or 13 xx