Folic Acid, DS, & Pregnancy

Hi all!

I am trying to conceive right now.  I had been taking one folic acid 400 units per day.  I increased that to 800 units (mcg?) about 3 weeks ago.  Last Friday, I had some blood work done, including my folate level.  The normal range on my lab is 7.3 - 27.9  My level was 7.5

I definitely want to increase that given that I'm trying to get pregnant and I know that neural tube defects can occur with deficiencies.  Non-WLS pregnant women are recommended to have 800 mcg/ day.  I told my husband about all of this and told him that I was going to increase it to four 400 pills per day until my levels increase and then back off some depending on where the levels are and how long it takes to get there.  Clearly 400 as a maintenance was only minimally enough for normal values.

Does anyone know about some literature on malabsorption rate of folic acid, or at least B vitamins, with the DS?  I've tried finding some, but most research done on B vites focus on GB and most vites on DSers focus on the fat solubles.  Either that, or can someone who has had a baby with the DS tell me what they took?

Thank you!

You might want to talk to Jillybean. She just had post-DS baby #2 and they are both wonderful healthy little boys. She managed her own vitamins for both. She's on Facebook but not here any longer. If you have a Facebook account, I'll recommend you to her. I'll message you my Facebook contact info.

I'm very happy and excited to hear you are trying to have a baby. That's wonderful!  : )

--gina

Thanks, Gina.  I am on Facebook.  Do you need me to PM you with my contact info?

I PMd you my FB contact link.

--g

Vitalady has a great folic acid! It increased my levels quite a bit. From everything I read about high dosage vitamins and malabsorbtion, it all seemed to point to being okay for us, since the baby will take from our stores first, and not the mega doses that we are ingesting. If you'd like to PM me for other questions, feel free. I have also had 2 post DS pregnancies, both very healthy and uneventful. I even did natural, no drugs for both and breastfed both. Ladynitewolf is also a great resource, but I haven't seen her along with many other vets for quite some time. She was a surrogate for twin boys, post DS. Speaking of which, what happened to this board and all of the old timers and the daily mega traffic?

Thank you!  Do you remember how much you took?

I'm pretty sure Michelle (Vlady) recommended this one based on my labwork while I was pregnant, Folic Acid 5mg (5,000mcg) 1,250%. I know, I was scared at the high amount, but she talked me down from the ledge and it totally helped me! You may want to send her your lab numbers and see what she thinks as well. She does take a little time to answer, but will eventually get around to it.

Also, I can't emphasize getting your iron levels up before pregnancy enough. Mine really got slaughtered during my first and second pregnancy. I had to get iron infusions during my second. My youngest baby is 2 and I'm still trying to get my iron levels up!

On the link to the dsfacts site and pregnancy post-op in my siggy line, I have a little blurb of advice there too about vitamins and levels. My name is Trish.