prenatal vitamins make me nauseous…?
Its advised to take them on a full stomach to avoid feeling sick afterwards, but thing is, this pregnancy of mine already makes me quite nauseous most of the time, and I can never eat so much that my stomach becomes full (for if it does, I get nauseous!) To get around this problem I eat often and little. However, that means I am never really with a full stomach, even after eating, and that means that whenever I take my prenatal vitamins, I feel really sick.
Should I just go off prenatal vitamins altogether, or is there another way of doing this? I live in England, and my GPs are all not pro-supplementation. They're like "You don't have to take prenatal vitamins. All you need is to eat a good diet, and extra folic acid during the first trimester and iron supps. if you're anaemic." But I've always been a small woman and underweight, and I get anaemic during pregnancy, shouldn't I take supplements to ensure that baby is well-nourished???
November 19th, 2010 - 14:48
here is EXACTLY what my doctor told me.. replace your vitamin for a childrens vitamin.. the flinstones is what i replaced it with.. and take the vitamin right before you go to bed, just as you lay down.. thus not making you sick while it goes to work when you are sleeping and wont affect you when you wake. if you vomit the next day you will already have absorbed what you need from the vitamin.
good luck with your baby! :D
November 19th, 2010 - 14:48
you could take the vitamins with milk, and see how that works. I would also wait an hour or two after you get up in the morning to take it, don’t take it first thing. another thing I heard was that folic acid was important to prevent complications with pregnancy. so ask your doctor, but you could probably get away with cutting down on certain supplements. good luck,and congratulations.
November 19th, 2010 - 14:48
I would recommend consulting with an OB/GYN as well for an additional opinion to see what they say. You may be able to find this out by calling the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital where you deliver to talk to one of the nurses there.
I also have the link to a site that may help you find more information (you will need to copy and paste it to the address bar of your browser because of issues with links that get posted in answers not working today). The link is at:
http://forums.obgyn.net/pregnancy-birth
November 19th, 2010 - 14:48
Yes, you should take a multivitamin/mineral supplement. But it doesn’t have to be those horse pill sized prenatal ones, no. You might be better off at the moment to simply take a children’s chewable, or an adult chewable if you can find them. They usually have them at the health food shops, though sometimes in a regular pharmacy as well. Since a chewable doesn’t rely on the small intestine as much, more will actually be absorbed anyway. More than will be if you throw them up for certain. Once you are past the barf stage, perhaps you will be able to swap over to the regular prenatal vitamin again. The iron is nice to have for you at the moment, but it won’t be incredibly critical until that last trimester when baby is needing it for the red blood cells. What you need most right now is calcium and folic acid. Iron supplements are usually more trouble than they are worth, and you end up constipated more often than not. If you can handle the rare side of meat, that’s one way to bump it up as well. Otherwise, at least get in the multivitamin/mineral chewable. Good luck, and have a healthy baby.
November 19th, 2010 - 14:48
No, you don’t have to take a prenatal vitamin, especially if your doctors are okay with it. You can take a separate supplement for iron to help with anemia, and you can take a folic acid supplement, too.
There are also special prenatals that can help women with nausea, but I believe these contain less iron. Iron is usually the cause of vitamin-related nausea, so they use less in that particular vitamin. However, if you’re prone to anemia, that may not be the best option for you.
If your doctors tell you that it’s okay to stop taking your vitamins, I would go ahead and take their advice to see if it helps. You can buy the folic acid and iron, but make sure that you are, in fact, anemic before you start taking the iron supplement. That could make your nausea worse, and it could also cause constipation.
November 19th, 2010 - 14:48
Well, I had the same problem as you, and here is what I did. I had, and still have horrible morning sickness that lasts all day, and my pills made it worse, but this tricks works for me. I usually feel better at night, just before bed. And I don’t know about you, but by the time bedtime comes around, I’m ready to pass out. Soooo, just before bed, I eat something small, like a banana, and a glass of warm milk. Then I take my prenatal pill just as I’m climbing into bed. I’m usually asleep by the time the pill starts to kick in. When they say a full stomach, that doesn’t mean you have to be stuffed to the max, just have some food in it. Your stomach really isnt that big, especially if your petite and underweight. Try it! I still have my morning sickness when I wake up, but it hasn’t been worse because of my pills, because after 8 hours of sleeping, the pills is out of your tummy anyways. I got this idea from my friend. I was afraid the pill would make me sick and wake me up in the middle of the night and I would have to throw up. Hasnt happened. And for your nausea, (And I swear on everything I love, my doctor told me this, and it really works, no matter how gross it sounds) when you wake up, eat something salty, like crackers, with something acidic, like tomatoe juice or oranges. My Dr told me this, and I told him if it made me sick, I would punch him in the nose at my next appointment, and he said okay. But it worked!!! You just have to get the idea out of your head that it won’t. Whew, this has gone on long enough. Good luck, and I feel for you and your morning sickness!!!