Suzi, sorry to hear of your situation. This is difficult time for all of us going through this. Be positive and have faith. My two m/c were also at 8.5 and 9 weeks. There was s trong heartbeat at 6 wks during both pregnancies. Everything was going well then all of a sudden without any indication the heartbeat was gone. My ob gyn was concerned but my RE is not. She's done all the tests, nothing is wrong other than MTHRF (my levels are within normal range). The fact that I m/c'd at 8.5-9 wks when the pregnancy appeared complete to me, does concern me. Keeping sharing what you learn with us. This site has been a life saver for sanity. Good luck to everyone. ↑
Going thru IVF April 12th. My RS called me this a.m. to tell me I have 2 mutations of MTHRF. She wants me to start Folguard now and baby aspirin. RS is having me think about taking the blood thinner injections. I've never been pregnant -- at least I don't think so. It's a tough call on the injections. Thanks to everyone for thier input! ↑
Well we have a formal consultation with our fertility specialist today. She wants to see how far we want to go with this and run a couple more tests. FSH and Estrodiol both were normal last year. and a saline ultrasound. Anyone have that ultrasound? Is it painful? Anyone heard of taking Omega 3 for MTHFR? My husband just bought a book on the benefits and it says it dramatically reduces your risk for pre-clampsia which as we all know is a side effect with the MTHFR. Kim1969 a friend did the injections she had no problems or felt any different. ↑
OK Ladies, I have a quick question that I'm sure one of yall have the answer for. My wife is taking the over the counter Folic B6, and B12 vitamins. Is there any big difference between the pills my wife is taking and the prescriptions ones like Folgard? I too am getting anxious about trying again. My wife and I are about 1.5 weeks away from her being on the Vitamins for a full month, and since we aren't going by homocystein tests...this is the point where we decided we would discuss trying again or holding off for longer. How long have most of you been on the vitamins before trying again? I know it can vary by homocystein levels, but I'm just curious. ↑
Hi Nate - as far as I know, there isn't any difference between over the counter vitamins and prescription as long as the dosages match up. Maybe someone else has heard differently? I think you two should go ahead and try! It can take months to conceive so best to get going. I think that it doesn't take long for homocysteine levels to go down with regular folic acid intake, but what did you dr. say about it? Good luck!! ↑
Hi Nate. I don't think there is any difference in the vitamins as long as the dosages match. I was taking over the counter but I had to take 12 pills a day to match two folgards. So for me, it was about convenience. As far as timing goes, my genetic doctor told me two full months of increased folic acid before trying again but I really think that is only for people with elevated homocysteine (we didn't know mine at the time). He said it would ensure the levels were nice and normal. I've heard of other docs saying one month too so you are probably fine. Good luck!! PS: if you are still unhappy with your docs, i live in NOVA and use Fairfax OB-GYN. They seem to be up to speed on this. ↑
Hi Nate,
I brought my actual bottles of OTC folic and B6 to my OB last week, and she said as long as I was getting the req'd dosage of each per day, the OTC's were fine. She said I didn't need Folgard or any prescription brand at all.
As for timing, my OB said I needed to wait 3 months after my DnC, and that had nothing to do with the supplements. I will have taken the vitamins for 2 months by the time we try again, but the doc wouldn't let me try before 3 months. Not to get too graphic, but she said the lining of the uterus takes 3 months to regenerate, so that's why I had to wait.
Good luck! ↑
Hello VMT and all~ I have also been hesitant about trying to conceive for the third time here....I hope that the third time's a charm. I had a D and C in December, and it was interesting to hear the advice about the uterine lining. Thanks! My cycle has just this month gotten back to normal, so that makes a lot of sense to me. On the vitamin front, I wanted to address something from a while back. I can't seem to find the thread here, but we all talked at one point about taking our multivitamin along with Folgard. I think that one of you said that you might be taking both b/c the extra vitamins (that our bodies don't need) could be eliminated through urination, etc. My doctor had told me just to take the Folgard (along with G Smith's I believe). So then I was confused. I have to say that when I started Folgard I continued to take the multi b/c I had it on hand. However, I just had a doctor tell me very emphatically not to do this; he said that too much of some vitamins can actually be toxic. Yikes! So I guess more is not always necessarily better. I hope that this might help someone today. :) Amy ↑
Hi Amy - some vitamins are water soluble and others aren't. It is okay to take extra of the water soluble ones (Bs and C) but not the others (A, D, E) as they can build up and get toxic. I'm not a dr. but I've read all that. I would check with you dr. A friend of mine was told to stop taking antioxidents on top of prenatals b/c of the extra E. Extra folic acid and other Bs shouldn't be a problem, according to my dr and what I've read. ↑
Amy and Kristen - question for you on Folgard. My regular doc (not OB) said it also had calcium in it and that taking it with the pre-natal may cause constipation. Do either of you know if Folgard has calcium?? I'm not sure my reg doc is up on these things, but I haven't been taking a prenatal since I'm taking 5mg of Folgard (two pills a day). ↑
Hi Want1More - I'm not taking Folgard - just my prenatal and a folic acid supplement on top. I take one supplement that is just folic acid and one that is a B-complex. ↑
Hi All,
I just thought I would share the info we received at my Fertility Specialist appointment. She said MTHFR is nothing more then an mutated gene that prevents your body from processing Folic Acid. She said as long as your are getting enough Folic Acid with Vitamins B6 and B12 you will be fine. I was so relieved to hear that. I said what about blood clots and everything I have read on the internet. She said to stop researching on the internet it's not all true. She just came back from a conference on MTHFR. I asked about the baby aspirin...she said it won't hurt but you don't need it. Interesting I thought. KristenR, Amy and Want1more, The prenatals are not going to hurt you. They don't have enough Folic Acid anyway. As far as I know Folguard does not have Calcium. Have a great day!! :) ↑
Gigi ~ Thanks for keeping us in the loop! This is great to know. Do any of you have a finite answer on how many mg of folic acid are recommended per day? I just read where 5 mg will reduce the possibility of neural tubal defects by 80%, but I am on much less than that per day. My own doctor says that I don't need 5 mg...and I want to trust him, but it's so hard to know what to do. And to Want1More, I think that Gigi is right - no calcium in Folgard (just folic, B6 and B12). Hope that everyone is hanging in there okay! :)Amy ↑
Just heard back from my internist - homocystene level is 11. Can anyone out there tell me what there levels were if they had to have daily Lov/Hep injections? I'm sure my OB will advise me, but I'm curious about your situations here.
FYI Amy, my OB wants me on 5g Folic Acid and 100mg of B6. My prenatals have 1g folic and 20mg of B6, so I'm taking OTC supplements for the rest. I may or may not get a shot of B12. My OB will decide that soon.
Thanks for the help everyone! VMT ↑
VMT ~ Here's what I got from my homocysteine test (ordered by my doctor, done through LabCorp).
Age 0-19 - levels should be 3.3 - 7.2. Age 20-39 - levels should be 3.3 - 10.4. Age 40-59 - levels should be 3.3 - 10.2. This is for females. Men have higher levels (up to 11.4 for men 20-39). I provided this just so you could double check with your doctor. Thanks to everyone else about the prenatal. I took one this am! ↑
I carry a gene for MTHFR but I did not discover this until I was ttcing for the fourth time. My first son was s/b at 32 weeks due to pre-e and a placental abruption, Logan is almost 3, I had a miscarriage when he was five months around 6 1/2 weeks, and I have an 11 month old. With Austin's pg I had to give myself Lovenox injections until I was 8 weeks post partum, an aspirin until 36 weeks, extra folic acid, extra progesterone until 14 weeks. Austin was born at 38 weeks (induction turned into a c-section) and is completely healthy.
Kim ↑
Want1More, I may have to take your suggestion on the Fairfax OBGYN. We first left the hospital in Arlington, VA to go to Fair Oaks Hospital. They were much more attentive to my wife and better at explaining things until it came to MTHFR. Thank you for other responses to my questions on the vitamins. My wife had her last DnC late December so we've passed the 3 month mark as of yesterday. Anyone else TTC w/in the next month? Oh and before I forget...YAHHH and congrats for Kim! I think we can all use the success stories from time to time to keep our hopes high. ↑
Nate ~ I had a similar experience. I had baby #1 at Fairfax Hosp and felt like a number. I switched docs and had baby #2 at Fair Oaks Hosp. The service was 200% better. My doc at Fairfax OBGYN is Dr Montilla. He's been right there with me through all this MTHFR stuff. If your wife prefers female docs, Dr Taber is also good. I don't know about her MTHFR experience tho. I'm TTCing this month so keep your fingers' crossed! PS: I'm on the same timeline as you: m/c in December, trying now. Good luck to you and your wife!! ↑
Want1More and Nate ~ I am also ttc after my last miscarriage in December. The magic window should occur in about another week. I will keep my fingers crossed for you guys! :)Amy ↑
Gigismith, hi i am new to this forum..sounds like me and you are both similar. I just went to a specialist also and he told me the same thing that all i really need is extra folic acid and i should be fine, i have had 2 miscarriages and now we are trying again so we will see how it turns out after being on xtra folic acid. I was also confused about him telling me that he didnt think that mthfr was causing my miscarriages, especially from all that i have read. Just curious how much folic acid are you going to be on, my doc just prescribed my 1mg..... ↑
I am having trouble logging into this site! (I have even disabled cookies.) Just a quick question...I am supposed to up my intake of Folgard to 2 when I get pregnant. We ttc last week, so implantation (if we are lucky) would be the end of this week. Should i start taking the extra folgard then. I feel like it will be too late by the time I can test. I think some of you are on 5mg of folic. Also, has anyone heard of Juice plus with regards to homocystine levels? It is claiming to reduce it, but I can't find out actual amounts of folic acid in it. ↑
Hi Tracey!! I think we're pretty close to being cycle buddies. I'm 5dpo. I don't think there is any harm in uping your folgard. I've been taking 4 to 5 mg since January. I don't know if this is valid or not, but I take one Folgard in the am (2.2 mg) and one at night to spread it out. I haven't heard of Juice Plus. Good luck to you. ↑
Hi everyone, this is my first time here. I was diagnosed years ago with a protein S deficiency and recently visited a hi risk ob/gyn to see if I can get pregnant. He took more tests and found that I have high homocysteine levels - probably due to MTHFR, but those tests have not yet come back. In the meantime he put me on a prescription for Metanx. It has lots of folate, and B6 and 12. I just got it today. Is anyone else on it and if so have you had any trouble with side effects? Thanks and good luck to everyone! ↑
Kristin1. Hi sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you I was in Houston at the Montessori Conference. I am on 4mg of Folic Acid plus B6 and B12 and I am still taking the baby aspirin just in case it might help. Like you I've had 2 miscarriages but also have a difficult time getting pregnant. Best of luck to you and keep in touch.
PS I went to a session at the conference on the top 10 topics of Child Development and it was very interesting. It was all on brain development and it said that if you are pregnant you can take antidepressants (only if prescribed for you and only in the dosage said) 3 cups of coffee or 5 sodas and 1 glass of wine a day it will not effect the brain development of the fetus. I thought that was very interesting so I thought I would share. ↑
Cheryl, thanks, I started taking the second folgard at night--that makes sense. Congrats on getting your hubby back on board! I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I am 8 dpo, so I will test on fri/sat. Tracey ↑
Hi everyone. I'm wondering if I could share my story. I have had 2 mcs and on 2/3/06 lost my baby boy at 28 weeks. After this loss I learned that I have MTHFR (single copy A1298C). I have been to three doctors and like many of you they told me that a single copy of this mutation is not known to cause problems. I am having a hard time believing this now. They found clots in my placenta and areas or dead cells which very likely cut off my son’s oxygen supply. The interesting thing about this pg is that I did take baby aspirin until 12 weeks (doctor told me to stop it then). Now of course I and wondering what would have happened if I had continued to take the aspirin. Anyways in my next pg I will take extra folic acid, B6, B12, baby aspirin and daily heparin injections. For those of you who have been told that hetero MTHFR means nothing please trust your own instincts. Loosing my son at 28 weeks has left me completely devastated especially knowing that this loss may have been prevented. I am happy to have found this board – there are many hopeful stories which give me hope for a positive outcome as well. Brandy ↑
