Can you take prenatal vitamins if you aren't pregnant?

[minnie mum]

no she should not be taking them

they have more stuff in them

they have more stuff to keep your skin and hair looking good during your 9 months they also have stuff that helps the baby which you don't need if you don't have a bun in the oven.

That's some really good, medically fact based, advice you've got there.

 

[Hrhpd]

That's some really good, medically fact based, advice you've got there.

I was too. I have never heard of a prenatal vitamin being formulated so that your hair and skin can look good during pregnancy. I thought the ingredients were for supporting the extra needs for a healthy pregnancy, not for looking pretty.

I know a few people whose doctors recommended them after something stressful like a surgery, but not just to take everyday. As stated before, you are paying a lot of money to just pee out the extra ingredients you don't need and unless you are anemic, the higher iron can be dangerous. A good multivitamin should give you better results.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

She should really just take a hair, skin and nails vitamin.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

Per doctor's orders, I started taking them when we began infertility treatment. It took 3 years before I finally got pregnant. Now it's been 4 months since DS was born and my doctor still has me taking prenatal vitamins. My chances of becoming pregnant again are less than .16%, and I'm not nursing since my milk never came in, so I'm not sure why they're having me continue with them. Maybe because I'm VERY anemic and I don't eat much to begin with, but I never asked, so don't quote me on that.

For me, the vitamins didn't do a darn thing for my appearance. The week I turned 40, my skin broke out horribly. I was only after I was pregnant that my skin cleared up and my hair got thicker and less dry. Now my skin is still clear, but dry again, and I pull a little clump of hair out of my comb every day.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I had the worst skin of my life when I was pregnant with my twins and I was definitely taking the vitamins...AND my hair fell out in chunks.

 

[Gracie09]

My gyno prescribes them for all women of childbearing age. They are as safe as any other multivitamin

 

[sonnyjane]

My gyno prescribes them for all women of childbearing age. They are as safe as any other multivitamin

I left a doctor because she insisted I start taking them when I turned 25. I told her I had absolutely no intention of having children and her response was "you might change your mind!"

Buh-bye.

 

[Hrhpd]

My gyno prescribes them for all women of childbearing age. They are as safe as any other multivitamin

Does she get a kickback? They may not be unsafe, but they are more expensive than a good over-the-counter multivitamin. If you take pre-natal vitamins when your body does not the extra vitamins, you are literally "pissing away money" as the saying goes.

 

[Gracie09]

Does she get a kickback? They may not be unsafe, but they are more expensive than a good over-the-counter multivitamin. If you take pre-natal vitamins when your body does not the extra vitamins, you are literally "pissing away money" as the saying goes.

She prescribes them as in writes the script and gives it to you. She doesn't force anyone to take them or fill the script. Jeeze. She would rather people be on them incase their birth control fails or they otherwise become unexpectedly pregnant. When she handed me the script I laughed because it took six rounds of fertility treatments get get dd1 and another six resulted in two early miscarriages so there is about a 0 chance that I could become pregnant by accident.

 

[scrapquitler]

I don't think they're any different than a good woman's multi-vitamin with added iron are they?

I think they usually also have extra folic acid.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I hated taking them while pregnant, I don't know why anyone would take them if they didn't have to : )

Also, I'm skeptical about these supposed benefits. Pregnant women have thicker hair and stronger nails for biological reasons, not due to prenatal vitamins. But, as my mom always said, "beauty is pain". i guess if women want to choke down those horse pills for the sake of beauty, kudos to them.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Several years back when I was using a Dr for weight loss he suggested using the prenatal vitamins. I don't think they are harmful.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

My gyno prescribes them for all women of childbearing age. They are as safe as any other multivitamin

To me, that's kind of silly. With my last pregnancy I developed an aversion to my vitamins (all vitamins actually, it was the smell) because I had HG. Folic acid and iron are the most important components of prenatals and they are ridiculously easy to supplement through diet. If you're eating healthy, plenty of dark leafy greens and lean protein, you most likely have healthy levels of folic acid and iron. When I developed my aversion my OB had me choke down a children's chewable with iron (the fruity smell covered up enough of the vitamin smell for me to be able to take it) and eat a bowl of iron adn folic acid fortified breakfast cereal. My daughter is now a strong, healthy, intelligent 4 year old

When you say she prescribes, do you mean that she hands you a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy? That sounds like she's getting a kickback because my OB insisted there was no reason to buy prescription prenatals because the over the counter varieties (even generics) are just as good. Your doctor is encouraging you to waste money.

 

[Gracie09]

To me, that's kind of silly. With my last pregnancy I developed an aversion to my vitamins (all vitamins actually, it was the smell) because I had HG. Folic acid and iron are the most important components of prenatals and they are ridiculously easy to supplement through diet. If you're eating healthy, plenty of dark leafy greens and lean protein, you most likely have healthy levels of folic acid and iron. When I developed my aversion my OB had me choke down a children's chewable with iron (the fruity smell covered up enough of the vitamin smell for me to be able to take it) and eat a bowl of iron adn folic acid fortified breakfast cereal. My daughter is now a strong, healthy, intelligent 4 year old

When you say she prescribes, do you mean that she hands you a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy? That sounds like she's getting a kickback because my OB insisted there was no reason to buy prescription prenatals because the over the counter varieties (even generics) are just as good. Your doctor is encouraging you to waste money.

As I said above, she writes the script but doesn't follow up on filling it (or even ask about it except in the general what medications do you take) so I don't know what kick back she could get if its not filled. Although she will give you samples of some to try if you want. So maybe she gets a kick back on the money I didn't spend on those months worth of vitamins. My co-pay for the vitamins were around $5 a month. The same or cheaper than over the counter.
I'm glad you were able to make due with childrens vitamins, but not everyone is. In addition to my regular OB, my high risk OB also prescribed prenatals for anyone considering getting pregnant in the next year (although you usually don't see a high risk ob if you aren't pregnant or considering it) and my fertility doctor also prescribed them. I think will trust the doctors with a combined 100 years or so experience in this area.

 

[bcla]

A lot of the prenatal vitamins include DHA.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

As I said above, she writes the script but doesn't follow up on filling it (or even ask about it except in the general what medications do you take) so I don't know what kick back she could get if its not filled. Although she will give you samples of some to try if you want. So maybe she gets a kick back on the money I didn't spend on those months worth of vitamins. My co-pay for the vitamins were around $5 a month. The same or cheaper than over the counter.
I'm glad you were able to make due with childrens vitamins, but not everyone is. In addition to my regular OB, my high risk OB also prescribed prenatals for anyone considering getting pregnant in the next year (although you usually don't see a high risk ob if you aren't pregnant or considering it) and my fertility doctor also prescribed them. I think will trust the doctors with a combined 100 years or so experience in this area.

To be fair, this response is different from the original response I quoted. An OB and a fertility doctor prescribing vitamins to a woman who is trying to get pregnant is different from what you said before, "gyno prescribes them for all women of childbearing age". Your original response sounds like a doctor who is putting profits before patients, your second response makes total sense though; of course a woman who is trying to get pregnant should be offered prenatals.

You're absolutely right to listen to your doctors over some random person on the internet, don't blame you there at all. I was simply saying that a doctor prescribing something that I know to be unnecessary raises a red flag for me. Seriously, I would find another doctor if I saw a gyn who insisted that I should take prenatals even though I had no intention of getting pregnant. Too much iron can be dangerous for women who are not prone to anemia, not to mention the digestive disruptions it can cause.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The only issue I can see is the iron. Too much of it is not good and the stomach issues with it can suck.

I have to echo a PP and would encourage someone taking vitamins for hair and nails to take vitamins that are targeted for that instead of prenatal.

I would get a blood workup before doing it to check iron levels, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Gracie09]

To be fair, this response is different from the original response I quoted. An OB and a fertility doctor prescribing vitamins to a woman who is trying to get pregnant is different from what you said before, "gyno prescribes them for all women of childbearing age". Your original response sounds like a doctor who is putting profits before patients, your second response makes total sense though; of course a woman who is trying to get pregnant should be offered prenatals.

You're absolutely right to listen to your doctors over some random person on the internet, don't blame you there at all. I was simply saying that a doctor prescribing something that I know to be unnecessary raises a red flag for me. Seriously, I would find another doctor if I saw a gyn who insisted that I should take prenatals even though I had no intention of getting pregnant. Too much iron can be dangerous for women who are not prone to anemia, not to mention the digestive disruptions it can cause.

She never insisted I and I would assume any of her patients take them. She writes the script hands it to them and say I always recommend women of childbearing years take because of bc failure, or other accidental pregnancy. She also recommends you take them several months prior to starting getting pregnant so it actually means the patient doesn't have to come back for another visit for the script. (Hence saving money). As I said previously, she only asks about them when going over a medication list. There are actually several dozen types of vitamins and if one doesn't work or causes issues you can switch to another.
I'm sorry if I don't feel like giving my entire medical history for a simple question about vitamins.

 

[littleblackegg]

they have more stuff to keep your skin and hair looking good during your 9 months they also have stuff that helps the baby which you don't need if you don't have a bun in the oven. I still have the pills but I only took them when I was expecting

That's your explanation of why prenatal vitamins are useful? Prenatal vitamins have an additional amount of iron, as well as folic acid (which has been shown to reduce neural tube defects in the fetus). So, yes and no. Prenatal vitamins are essentially multivitamins, with an added boost of iron and folic acid. There is no proven cosmetic value.

 

[PrincessElena]

I think I will stick with another vitamin other than this one. I don't want my body to have too much of anything. Sometimes less is more.

thanks!