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Amount of folic acid to take before conceiving??? (and during pregnancy)

Wed, 06/06/2007 - 22:42
Hi everyone, My name is Emma & I'm new to this forum (so glad I found it). Anyway I had a baby girl last October - after being seizure free since 1997, however in about April I began waking up having bitten my tongue really badly, and would have the same light headed feeling, the same headache & same dizzyness i would wake up with after having a seizure all those years ago (i have/had nocturnal grand mal epilepsy). So I was put back on tegratol, though a very low dose - which seems to be doing the job. Me & my partner are thinking about TTC again next year at some point - and are currently using Natural Family Planning to avoid getting pregnant, BUT just incase something does go wrong with it all & I do wind up pregnant, I want to start taking folic acid now. my doctor mentioned needing a higher dose of folic acid, so I am wondering if anyone here can tell me what dose of folic acid they are currently on, or have been on in the past? I spoke to a pharmacist today & she recommended 5mg of folic acid, which seemed pretty high to me (the recommended over here in New Zealand is .8mg), but I do remember seeing that number on a website I was looking at..... thanks for reading Emma

Comments

Severe Consequences can be easily handled

Submitted by emmas123 on Fri, 2010-04-16 - 09:49
Folic Acid should be used very careful during the pregnancy because it can cause severe adverse side effects on the child as well as the mum. Moreover, I would highly recommend the ladies to consult their gynacologist or any professional locums like Australian Medical Locums, because this is one of the main parts of life.

Re: Amount of folic acid to take before conceiving???

Submitted by ladybg472 on Thu, 2009-03-19 - 21:44
My epileptologist recommends me taking 2mg of folic acid per day, so I take 1mg pills 2x a day. As for during pregnancy I believe they recommend patients with epilepsy continue that level of folic acid in addition to a prenatal vitamin.

Re: Amount of folic acid to

Submitted by angelacarwile on Thu, 2010-02-18 - 11:47
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