Folic acid or folate?

Hi Atomic and everyone else,

So I will be ttc in April, however my dr suggested i start taking Elevit and folic acid from now. By reading through these forums and Atomic's essays I have been taking centrum for women 1 a day, probiotic 1 a day, vitamind 1 a day, and, fish oil 1 every second day. When i told my dr i was planning ttc next year he said to start elevit and folic acid from now. I think i want to stick to centrum as i think Atomic's suggestion is more valuable to me but wondering if i should start folic acid from now? If so should i start folic acid or folate?

Thanks in advance

Elevit is unbelievably expensive! Just keep going with the Centrum.

I would wait to start the higher dose folate or folic acid till 3 months before your sway OR whenever you plan to start green tea. I think it's fine to start it now if you prefer but that way you'll probably get more bang for your buck (too many people end up running out of their folate in the middle of their sway or preganncy and have to then track down more, which can be stressful) The Centrum will have enough minimal amount of folic acid in it to carry you through for now even in case of an accidental pregnancy and then starting the folic acid or folate 3 months out will be the entire lifespan of the egg from a seed to ready to be ovulated and I find that to be enough time.

Folate is better if you can afford it BUT be aware that folate can be tricky to find and you don't want to suddenly ever switch from folate to folic acid (so, if you were pregnant and were running out of the folate, you'd have to plan ahead and be sure to have enough on hand or else reorder very far in advance.). YOu have to give yourself time to wean off the folate or to wean from one to the other for the sake of the baby's health. So for those who don't need it this may be reason to continue with folic acid because that is easy to come by.

Okay thanks i will start folate 3 months prior, ive seen blackmores folate at my local chemist so it might not be an issue in my area.

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Originally Posted by Bluedust

Okay thanks i will start folate 3 months prior, ive seen blackmores folate at my local chemist so it might not be an issue in my area.

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Hey Bluedust, I noticed that the Blackmores "Folate" is actually "folic acid" if you look at the ingredients list. Awesome since I just bought two bottles of it without reading the back... so I'm still not sure where I can buy pure folate!

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Originally Posted by shiroshiro

Hey Bluedust, I noticed that the Blackmores "Folate" is actually "folic acid" if you look at the ingredients list. Awesome since I just bought two bottles of it without reading the back... so I'm still not sure where I can buy pure folate!

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IHerb! They ship to Oz...you should look for methylfolate ;)

Thanks for letting me know I was going to shops tomorrow to buy it, ill check online.

Thanks for letting me know, ill have a look on the internet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shiroshiro

Hey Bluedust, I noticed that the Blackmores "Folate" is actually "folic acid" if you look at the ingredients list. Awesome since I just bought two bottles of it without reading the back... so I'm still not sure where I can buy pure folate!

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AAAA thank you so much Shiro for catching that!! :superhero:

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Originally Posted by LMSM

IHerb! They ship to Oz...you should look for methylfolate ;)

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Thank you so much LMSM! :superhero:

You guys are the greatest!

Thanks so much I just ordered methylfolate from iherb :) cant wait untill it arrives.