Atomic. Question about vitamin E

[Blessedbymybabies]

Hi Atomic. Im back as I have a question i really need some peace of mind. So I was in fact pregnant the other week after a very faint positive 12 dpo. I went to the doctors and have had my blood/urine work done after a solid BFP. As you may remember my last pregnancy my son had very severe heart defects. This pregnancy Im trying everything in my power to have a healthy pregnancy after researches some potential causes, and just trying to maintain a healthy life. I came across something the other day that has been concerning me so much. I read about something that suggested a high dosage from either diet and supplement of vitamin E contributes to Congenital Heart Defects. After coming across this I have been trying to read through anything i can about this and nothing but bad has come up. It seems the studys were from around 2009 and Im not sure about now.
One stated that womenm with around the same supplementation that I am taking, of vitamin E had babies with heart defects or chances increase nine fold etc.
Right now my prenatal is Materna, which is 13.5 MG. I had scurried to my fridge after reading this to get an Idea of my intake as I also eat a ton of vegetables a day (Spinach and broccoli), almond milk etc. Even one egg has 50% of the Daily Value and i have two a day. I feel im at a mega dosage of the stuff and Im so confused. This dosage is in a prenatal, why is it so high???
And Im so scared now I thought I was doing everything right and Im not sure what to think right now Its making me worried sick to my stomach.

Do you have any insight on this? is there any new basis for these studies recently? I probably will go back to my doctor to review my bloodwork in the next week I will run it by her. But please I really would like to hear anything you have to say about this. I will be 5 weeks tomorrow since my LMP but i know for fact im a little farther along as I ovulated and had one attempt 3 days after my period ended. I feel like any damage to the heart would have already been done.

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok, deep breath. I can completely understand why you are concerned - I have read those studies too and I agree they need to investigate this some more. I am not a fan of megadose Vit. E for anyone TTC (megadose being much more than you're getting). But the thing is, everyone is taking prenatals that have that amount of Vit. E in them and it's really not that much (just as you're saying.) The recommended amount in supplement form is 15 and that's less than you're taking. So most of us are taking that amount but few people have babies with heart defects. So I don't want you to jump to the conclusion that taking that amount of Vit. E is any kind of a magic bullet that will cause your next baby to have a similar set of heart defects as your son does. That is not what that study is saying. It needs more investigation, that's all. These kind of studies come out and then are investigated and most of the time they are debunked with later research. We don't know what types of diets these gals were eating...maybe they were eating something that has a lot of Vit. E but is harmful during pregnancy, like flaxseed (don't eat much flaxseed when pregnant!) or seaweed supplements or some other thing entirely. There are SO many variables here, it simply means they need to look into it more (which they are.)

There are people out there who are taking LOTS of Vit. E and eating LOTS of fortified foods. I can't recommend that. But it simply makes no sense that the normal amount of Vit. E you are getting, the same amount that millions of other pregnant women are getting, and eating a normal amount of Vit. E, again, the same that lots of other women are eating, did or will cause birth defects for you. It just doesn't add up. I mean, I ate tons of eggs, avocados, salad, salmon, nuts every day - I'm sure I was getting way more Vit. E than you did - and that's true of so many of us!

Plus, even things that are 100% proven to cause birth defects a huge chunk of the time, such as Retin A, only do so a fraction of times. Vit. E (even if it was a teratogen, which is not even close to being proven) can't be causing many birth defects at all or we'd already know about it. So even IF Vit. E were a super bad thing, it still would not mean that your baby was harmed at all.

But all that having been said the good news is, you can wean off the prenatals now if you would like and take the other nutrients separately, skipping the Vit. E if you'd like to. Most birth defects happen 6+ weeks and so stopping it now for a while till 8-10 weeks is not too late to make a difference.

[Blessedbymybabies]

Thank you Atomic. Sorry I havnt been on in a while and although everything you said is logical sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else. I forced myself to chill out about it after I posted this because there is nothing I can do either way but it was still in the back of my mind. But you are 100% right Im glad to read this! Its not like i am the first person to take this prenatal either!

[atomic sagebrush]

Exactly!!

I was thinking about this post the other day and I think I have a good analogy for you. Imagine that there was a receptionist with measles in a doctor's office, and some children that sat in the waiting room and played there came down with the measles. And researchers came in to study this and thought "hmmm every child that read this book/played with this particular toy got the measles!" They published a study about it and everyone in the news is now saying "reading this book or playing with this toy causes measles!!"

Now obviously, it wasn't the book or the toy that caused the measles, it was the sick contagious person that caused the measles, but by focusing in on one little thing that may not even be related, researchers can make it LOOK like an innocuous thing that just happens to be in the environment is causing a health issue when really it's just in the wrong place at the wrong time. (and the researchers suspected this as well, because they did NOT find any correlation between people taking REALLY high Vit. E and those just taking a normal amount! The people taking more should have more heart problems in their children if Vit. E was really doing anything but they didn't.)

So when we take a step back and think about it, we can think "hmm what things do people who take vitamins and/or eat foods with Vit. E in them have in common"? Are they eating more fruits and veg overall (pesticides)? Are they eating a lot of nuts and nut butter (molds can grow on nuts and can make toxins)? Are they eating a lot of eggs that aren't cooked quite well enough (microbes like salmonella that could cause issues)? Are they older moms who are trying hard to be healthy (age, egg quality issues)? Are they taking megadoses of other things like herbs or other vitamins? There are a lot of other things, like the receptionist in the waiting room spewing measles on everyone, that could easily be in the same place at the same time as the Vit. E in everyone's prenatal that could make Vit. E look guilty by association.

So when researchers find something like this, all it means is that it needs more looking-into. It doesn't really even add up that prenatals are causing birth defects because just like you say, you are not the only one taking this! :)

Anyway, I am wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy and please keep us updated about how you're getting along!

[Blessedbymybabies]

This makes a ton of sense! Totally get it. I dont feel I was ready to give up my prenatals i really do believe they are important even though I am taking the extra Folate. So I went on a hunt of different prenatal brands and came to the realization that I cannot even find one with less vitamin E than mine! In fact, majority had alot more of it than mine. So since mine was on the lower end I decided to stick to it because everyone would be having sick babies taking all these brands if it were true!
Thanks again Atomic! I will for sure keep you updated on everything going on in the next couple months health/gender wise. Ultimately we all want what we want and try our best to increase odds but a healthy baby is always the top concern. This is why I am so thankful for your advice as you take all sides and no question seems to ridiculous for you.
Will talk soon! Bless you!

[atomic sagebrush]

Exactly!!! Now I personally don't trust megadose E (never have) but it just doesn't make any sense that what all of us are taking is doing anything harmful. Wishing you the very best happy and healthy pregnancy! :heart: