I hate prenatal vitamins!

[karmamamaa]

Alright, I know they're good for me and more importantly, the growing baby inside me, but I really am not enjoying my prenatal vitamin.

I'm really not feeling so hot in the nausea department so all the organic veggies I've been buying since the day I found out I was preggers.... with a big smile on my face as I enthusiastically skipped around the farmer's market thinking how nice and healthy I'll be..... are beginning to look disgusting to me. I'm surviving on the odd piece of pizza or crackers, and mainly Jamba Juice for the rest of my diet.

But, even when I was eating mainly vegan during the day, with dairy and protein at night (mainly 90% fruits,veggies, legumes) my prenatal vitamins was making me....well....sorry if TMI, but kind of constipated!!!!

Now, I just don't believe that a woman with a normally fast metabolism and an extremely healthy diet should have such problems. How can I eat all these wonderful fruits and veggies and then have BMs like I've been eating junk food all day!!! Its just not right to me....I don't remember these problems my last pregnancy and now that I am eating semi-junk sporatically thoroughout the day, this can only get worse! In fact, if I trace it all back, I didn't really start to feel sick until I was eating tons of fruits and veggies and then got kind of "backed up" and lost my appetite...could the prenatal vitamin cause nausea????

What can I do? Should I suck it up? Is there some organic/all natural alternative? Should I just skip the iron? Or is a prescription vitamin better?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!!!! Thanks guys!

[Mummoth]

It could be the iron in the prenatal that is backing you up. That happened to me with one of my kids, and the MW suggested that I take a vitamin C with the multi. It's unabsorbed iron that causes constipation. Vitamin C helps you absorb iron into your body, so it's not sitting around to cause problems anymore. It might even help just to take the vitamin with a glass of orange juice. 

The other thing is water!! Make sure you're getting plenty of water (or herbal tea, juice, etc) so you aren't dehydrated. We're making extra blood for the next couple of weeks, so I think we need lots and lots of extra fluids.

[ThePottersDaughter]

What kind of prenatal are you taking? Rainbow light complete prenatal system worked miracles for me in the digestive issues. You have to take 6 per day (I take 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, 2 at night) so you have to get used to taking them but it's VERY worth it. Do you juice? That's a bug help for me too. We juice pretty much everything. It helps move things along quite well

[AshleeS]

New Chapter Perfect Prenatal

http://www.amazon.com/New-Chapter-Perfect-Prenatal-Count/dp/B003DGZRNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301957657&sr=8-1

 

 

[stephck]

Ugh, I feel your prenatal pain.  I got the rainbow light a one day at the health food store that is going better than the trader joe's version--not triggering nausea.  I cant stomach multiples a day.  I also remind myself, now is the most important time for the vitamins, neural tube forming, heard forming etc etc.

Good luck! 

[Gemmine]

I got NatureMade Multi Prenatals months ago. I haven't had any issues with them (once a day)

[AshleeS]

so I meant to add that the New Chapter prenatal are so mild that you can take them on an empty stomach.  totally whole food based.  I love them! read about them!

 

[ThePottersDaughter]

Originally Posted by AshleeS 

so I meant to add that the New Chapter prenatal are so mild that you can take them on an empty stomach.  totally whole food based.  I love them! read about them!

 

I just ordered a 3 month supply of New Chapter from amazon because I found it for cheaper than I could buy 3 months worth or Rainbow light. They are nice- you only have to take 3 a day instead of 6. They seem very comparable. I've onlt been taking them for a couple of days but they aren't making me sick or constipated :)

[onetwoten]

Ugh. I found out yesterday that there's not enough folic acid in my multi, so I need to take a separate folic acid supplement. First off, now I feel like a loser for not taking enough of it for the first 6 weeks, oops!! and Second, I suck at taking vitamins, I've been shocked that I've taken the multi every day, now I need to add one more? Gah.

FWIW, I'm taking the Exact brand prenatals, and I haven't had any trouble with it causing nausea or constipation or anything.

[Mayachel]

JenineJessica-I wouldn't worry too much, especially since there was SOME folic acid in the vitamin you were taking. Many foods are enriched with extra these days so while of course we all want to do everything 100% right, it's likely you were getting an adequate amount by the end of the day, ya know?

 I bought the 1 a day Rainbow light vitamins but I've only taken them once. Gah they are horse pills. Can someone tell me if the 3 or 6 times a day ones are small(er)? I also feel the one time I took it, it made me nauseous. So for now, I'm taking a super B-Complex that also has Vit. C and Zinc in it and pairing it with Nordic Naturals Prenatal DHA and Floridex twice a day for iron. I really like how easy the floridex is on my stomach, and couldn't combine it with the Rainbow Light Vit. as it already has Iron in it. I've been getting leg cramps so have been thinking of adding Ca+ and Magnesium, since it is already in my cupboard.

This is my own self-made plan, anyone know of a reason I should take a PNV instead? I'm going to ask the MW I work with about it tomorrow.

[ThePottersDaughter]

The 6 per day are smaller, and the New Chapter 3 a day are somehow even smaller then the RL 6 a day. I tried taking the RL one a day but it made me nauseous, too.

[AshleeS]

Originally Posted by ThePottersDaughter 

I just ordered a 3 month supply of New Chapter from amazon because I found it for cheaper than I could buy 3 months worth or Rainbow light. They are nice- you only have to take 3 a day instead of 6. They seem very comparable. I've onlt been taking them for a couple of days but they aren't making me sick or constipated :)

That is what I order as well.  If you get the 3 month on subscription then it is really cheap compared to retail!
 

 

[karmamamaa]

Thanks so much all for the great advice and recommendations!!!

I'm totally going to go on Amazon and switch my brand....they're totally drugstore brand "horse pills", hehe, that I picked up with the pregnancy test because I was that certain it would be positive. Its definately the iron, I'm totally all about balance and doing what your body tells you and obviously my body knows that uneeded iron isn't the best thing right now.

[MamatoD]

Thanks for the thread! I just ordered some New Chapter off of Amazon, the Trader Joes prenatal made me constipated and nauseated before I was pregnant.

[Ava's Mama]

Try this:  http://www.marketamerica.com/product-10106/isotonix-prenatal-multivitamin.htm 

This is Isotonix Prenatal Vitamin.  It is a powder oyu mix with water and it is pretty tasty.  Also, the form that it is in makes it easier to digest and allows you to absorb 95% of it versus only 25% in regular vitamins. 

Good luck!

[insidevoice]

Prenatals aren't happening here.  If I take the prenatal, I don't eat (I've tried SO MANY TYPES!)   If I don't take a prenatal, I can usually manage to actually eat.  Lesser of two evils?  Skip the prenatal and strive for a decent diet- especially since, other than iron, I don't tend to be deficient in much.  Folic acid is something I take as a stand alone all the times, so I'm not worried about that. As I am able to keep things down, I will take a multivitamin again, but for now I'll just stick with the best I can do and trust that my body can manage. 

[Carhootel]

I have a friend who took flinstones or some sort of gummy vit and a couple tums for extra calcium every day and that was fine with her midwife

[joanna47]

Target has gummy prenatals, both in name brand and store brand. They don't have iron, though, so if you don't get enough through diet you may need to supplement. They are SO much easier to take than regular pills.