Question about vitamins

[Mama2many]

I'm going to start taking folic acid, b vitamins, and iron because I've been anemic for a long time and have frequent irregular bleeding and spotting. How much will this hurt my chances at a girl? Are there recommend doses? What b vitamin is best?

[Kitty0911]

I had to take iron for anemia as well. I took iron daily for a few weeks then I dropped it down to 3x a week. If you are anemic I think it's important to take your vitamins to fix the issue. I had a TON of deficiencies after swaying for over a year and once I finally started fixing them I finally got pregnant (I miscarried, but I hadn't been taking my vitamins for long at that point- the next little one stayed put though )

[Kitty0911]

I was told not to take B vitamins though...

[Mama2many]

How much iron did you take?

[atomic sagebrush]

I personally DO NOT recommend anyone to take B vitamins in and of themselves alone, instead I'd just get a multivitamin that has 100% of all the B vites in it and take that 3x a week.

Additionally I want you on some kind of easy to absorb iron (these are more expensive, come in some range of 18-60 mg and NOT the 100's of milligrams. the kind of iron that comes in the hundreds of mg is badly absorbed and causes your tummy to be very upset) daily for 6-8 weeks and then if you are not pregnant by that point reduce to 3x a week. On days you take a multi, if it has iron in it, you'd skip the iron that day OR take it too but only if you are 110% sure you're actually anemic. Do NOT take the iron with coffee or tea, and if you have a small amount of something with Vit. C in it, it helps you to absorb it better.

The reason not to take the supplemental B vitamins is firstly because the kind of anemia that comes from lacking in B vitamins is rare among women of childbearing age and your issue is almost certainly the iron. Secondly, for reasons that escape me, the B vitamins are sold in these massive doses, more than anyone needs for health, and they can really, really muck up the menstrual cycle. You do not need more than 100% of them and shouldn't take more than 100% of them or your cycle will go berserk!

[Mama2many]

Why is it bad to take iron with tea or coffee?

[Mama2many]

And can I still drink it earlier or later?

[atomic sagebrush]

I was told not to take B vitamins though...

There is another kind of anemia that has to do with B vitamins but it's pretty uncommon for women of childbearing age unless they are raging alcoholics.

[atomic sagebrush]

Why is it bad to take iron with tea or coffee?

The tannins in tea and coffee can block the absorption of iron - if you're just taking it for prevention this doesn't make a ton of difference (you'd still absorb SOME) but when you really need it, it may keep you from absorbing what you need.

You can have them, just give it about an hour.