Iron supplement - nausea

[Libelle]

This is somewhat of a rant. I think, my multi-vitamin (Materna) is causing my nausea and I am really mad about it. Recently we moved into a new house and I lost the container in one of my moving boxes. So for about a week or so, I did not take Materna and felt much better. Then I bought a new Materna, as I could not find the old one and took it on and off. And clearly, on days, when I take it or if I take it two days in a row, the nausea is back. When I don't take it, I feel much better. (I am almost 20 weeks now.)

Just now, I googled iron supplements and Materna in regards to nausea and it seems that nausea and constipation are well-known side effects. This means, I felt sooo bad because of it, or at least, I felt worse. :cuss I feel, like these pills spoilt a good part of my pregnancy (first trimester) which probably did not have to be quite as sickening as it was.

My question to you out there: What I can I do instead of taking those pills? I really have no intention to take them anymore, but I do want to do the right thing. Any alternatives?

I heard that stinging nettle tea contains iron... should I try that or would it also cause me to be sick?

[PiePie]

my mw told me to skip it if it causes nausea. my m/s was really bad...

[AuntG]

Loads of women take alfalfa tablets instead of prenatal vitamins. They have every vitamin and mineral you need and dont make you sick. Do a search and learn more. It is a very good alternative.

[Tennesseemommy]

Have you thought about trying to add iron to your diet via food? I am veg and I was anemic with my last preg, same thing with the iron and this preg, it is making me sick, so I eat A LOT of leafy green etc and it really seems to help.

If you do eat meat, try some organic beef full of iron...

[Libelle]

Thank you all.

@ AuntG: That's a great tip. I will research this right away.

@ Tennesseemommy: Leafy greens could work, especially since I don't eat beef right now. It's my only real food aversion (along with BBQ flavour), even though I am not vegetarian at all. I love spinach though...

Feeling better already. :shy

[fihz]

I take Floradix, which is Iron and B vitamins only. It's been doing great for my nausea :wink

[luckydog]

Are you anemic, or have any cause to suspect it? I take a multivitamin sans iron from the outset of my pregnancies, because I have constipation issues enough without it.

I personally don't do anything to supplement beyond keeping a high level of iron-rich foods in my diet, UNLESS my blood values come back demonstrating anemia. (At 28 weeks I was at 11.5 - borderline in non-pregnant individual, but my midwife was pleased with that result at my stage of pregnancy.) I'll have a fingerstick at 34 weeks and if it comes back lower than that, I'll supplement with floradix. (Which I think TASTES terrible, but it doesn't upset my digestive system at all and I can survive the taste if I chase it with a shot of OJ.)

[herbsgirl]

I couldn't take prenatal vitamins hardly at all in my last pregnancy because they made my stomach cramp up, and even when not pregnant regular multivitamins made my stomach cramp up. Until....one day I tried...SuperMom vitamins.....the answer! No more stomach cramps!! They are recamended for Pregnancy and can be taken by anyone. A very high quality vitamin. Go to Beeyoutiful.com, they sell SuperMoms there. MorethanAlive.com also sells SuperMom too

Scince taking SuperMom, my nails are very hard and my hair is growing back thick...Now thats what I call a good multivitamin!! Its very bio-available to your body..

[Banana731]

a lot of moms drink nettle leaf tea during pregnancy with RRL, it(nettle) does contain iron because of the chlorophyll in it. You can also just take straight chlorophyll too, very high in iron. As far as food goes, pumpkin seeds have quite a bit of iron also, if you like them.

[IfMamaAintHappy]

I take a GNC prental with no iron.

I find that taking a liquid iron supplement from Whole Foods does not cause nausea or constipation in me, it absorbs differently.

[Libelle]

These are all really good suggestions. I am glad there are other types of prenatals out there - the world is not all bad after all. :wink

I feel a little guilty about buying new prenatals, as I have two opened Maternas standing around my house. So - I will try to eat well for now - Vitamin C is covered from my diet and protein and calcium, too. I might buy some pumpkin seeds, which I really love to eat, especially when they are really dark green. Yummy!

[PPK]

Floradix, has tons of absorbable iron, non-constipating. Also, powdered greens drinks can have a very high iron content also. I;m taking Floradix and Garden of Life's "Perfect Food" powdered greens drink.