Go off folate cold turkey?

Hi atomic. You once mentioned to me that I should wean off my high intake of folate after the first trimester. Right now I’m 13 weeks, my doctor advices me that for Cardiac development (if you recall, my last boy had heart defects) she told me to continue the dosage of 4 mg until 14 weeks. My question is, is it okay if I would just quit the 3 mg cold turkey at 14 weeks and just go straight to the 1 mg in my prenatal? I have just enough folate for the next week and I thought if it’s all the same I need not go buy another bottle just for a few extra days. Does it make a difference?

You need to wean off. We have seen too many people who dropped folic acid or folate suddenly, or switched suddenly from folate to folic acid and then had unexplained losses at the end of the first trimester (this dates all the way back to my time on IG, so 10 years now) and I strongly, strongly suggest you pay the money for the extra bottle so you can wean off gradually. :)

Oh wow, okay good thing i asked. Can you explain to me the process of weaning off from the 3 mg extra if I start next week (at 14 weeks pregnant) for example, do I just drop 1 mg for now at a time and how long do I stay at that amount before dropping another?
I just dont want to do anything harmful. Thanks!

so you're taking 1 mg pills?

Yes, so my prenatal has 1 mg of folic acid, and i am taking 1 mg Folate, three times a day to top it :)

So what I would do is go first to eod on one of the folates. So you're doing prenatal, then 2 folates one day, 3 the next. Give that a couple days before ditching the 3rd. Then do the same with the second, till you're down to just one folate and the prenatal. Then with that final one, go even slower. Do EOD for a couple rounds, then every 2 days, then three, till you're down to one extra per week, then drop. I'd give it a solid 3-4 weeks to complete, and you may want to start the process IN the 14th week so you're not continuing on much beyond that because taking folate into the late second, third tri may be harmful so we want you to balance between taking it as long as possible yet not taking it too long, and yet still not coming off too fast. :)

Okay got it. So it’s just my prenatal, and 3 mg folate. The next day 2, the next day 3 again then back to 2 and keep that pattern going and slowed when at the last dose. Yes I’ll start it at 14 weeks I don’t want to keep on a high dose long. What does EOD mean? Couldn’t figure that ☺️

EOD means every other day [emoji4]

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Thanks! And Atomic, Im out of luck and cant seem to find the exact brand folate I have. I got them off amazon but cant find them on Prime orders anymore (Which is a membership I have where my orders arrive in two days) So if I ordered them normally it could take weeks to Canada. Would it be okay to switch to another to continue to wean off them?

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Originally Posted by Blessedbymybabies

Okay got it. So it’s just my prenatal, and 3 mg folate. The next day 2, the next day 3 again then back to 2 and keep that pattern going and slowed when at the last dose. Yes I’ll start it at 14 weeks I don’t want to keep on a high dose long. What does EOD mean? Couldn’t figure that ☺️

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Yes sorry every other day.

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Originally Posted by Blessedbymybabies

Thanks! And Atomic, Im out of luck and cant seem to find the exact brand folate I have. I got them off amazon but cant find them on Prime orders anymore (Which is a membership I have where my orders arrive in two days) So if I ordered them normally it could take weeks to Canada. Would it be okay to switch to another to continue to wean off them?

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As long as it's folate and not folic acid.

Sooo Atomic my dear, I thought I had extra folate for the next week but it looks like i will need some ASAP by tomorrow and I’m scared to go next two days with no folate to order online (it’s the weekend) my health food store only has one brand of folate (not folic acid) but I am nervous to take multiple tablets to try to wean off it as 1 tablet has 2.8 mcg of b12 added. So I will be taking 8.4 mcg extra b12 if I take 3 a day. Is this okay? I looked it up and came up with 2.8 is the amount for pregnant women. I wanted to run it by you, I’m so thankful to have you around! Could you please advice me? Scared to take too much and I really can’t find anywhere else in stores. Im not sure what’s worse, taking that amount or not taking the folate at all. I noticed when trying to find out that b12 was also included in the whole “high leveles cause Autism” scare. (Which we talked about in regards to the folic Acid)

while I do not know for sure 100%, I believe it is by far better to take the extra B12 than to not take anything. Many prenatals have nearly that amount in them anyway (Pregnacare, for example, has 6). so let's split the difference and drop to 2 now which will give you still quite a lot of folate plus the amount of B12 in Pregnacare which is taken by many thousands of pregant women)

I know we already talked about this but yes, the "high levels cause autism" was at BIRTH, not at this point of pregnancy, and those women were not even necessarily taking any more than normal amounts, it was that their bodies were storing it up for some reason we do not understand. So while I understand your concern totally I would still continue till when your doc wants you to and then gradually wean back to the amount in prenatal. :)

Sorry Atomic. I deleted the last post because I had misread your comment and now understood what you meant, so my question was irrelevant. I just checked my prenatal and it has 2.6 mg of b12 as well. so im looking at 8.2 mg of it if I take 2 of the folates of the b 12 as well as you say... So I guess, should I settle at that and just take that amount?

Im not sure why Im so uneasy about this. I guess cause I hate that I have to take such a high dose of folate to begin with. Even though what you say about the autism makes sense...just something that worries. Vitamins are scary, they can do so much damage if you happen to be unlucky or taken improperly... I cant find any concrete words on b 12 so I guess ill have to bite the bullet if thats what you think?? Also I Duno if it makes a difference to you, but I made a mistake in telling you, in my
Prenatal it is actually 1 mg of folic acid. But my other supplement is methyl folate.

Yes! That's what I want you to do. Like I said there are very popular brands of prenatals on the market right now being taken by scads of people who have that amount in them.

I had to take way more than that because I had a baby with a neural tube defect. I was on 4000 mcg! And my two babies that I got taking that much are my two smartest and are perfectly healthy too. I know it's nervewracking.

If, G-d forbid things don't work out this time, we will want to switch you over entirely to folate just to be on the safest side. But it's fine to take both of them for the majority of people. There are just some people who can't tolerate folic acid and sometimes even need to avoid foods that are fortified with folic.