Help with deficiencies during early pregnancy

[NicoleHam]

I’m wondering if anyone could please help me. Before I knew I was pregnant (I can only be about 4 weeks in) I went and had blood tests done at my gp because I had muscle/ joint pain, fatigued, dandruff, dry skin, low mood. My results came back and the following were highlighted in red:

B12/folate level 216ng/L (197-771)

Serum folate 2.7ug/L (3-20)

Vitamin D 33nmol/L (50-150)

Serum globulin 19g/L (20-35)

Since receiving these results on the Monday by the Wednesday I did a pregnancy test which was positive. I’m now taking pregnacare but I’m worried this isn’t enough considering my levels are so low.

I spoke to my GP and she was so unhelpful. Couldn’t recommend how much I should take and just kept telling me to take pregnancare. There’s so little information out there and I keep hitting a brick wall. Now I have early pregnancy symptoms so it’s muddied the waters but the joint pain that I feel just doesn’t seem right.

I don’t know where to turn or who to speak to. I don’t want to over do it on supplements because that’s not good for baby but I’m concerned about my b12, iron & vitamin D.

Any help would be truly amazing!

[KateBrian]

Hi Nicole. We do have a nutritionist joining our support group tomorrow night who may be able to offer some advice about supplements in pregnancy - see here fertilitynetworkuk.org/even...

[Pnw2020]

Hi.Congratulations on your pregnancy.

Low Vit D /folate can lead to muscular pain , fatigue etc.

See the following links and discuss again with GP. You will probably need prescribed high strength supplements to start with.

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/vita...

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/anae...

GPs can also ask relevant hospital department for advice but hopefully these documents should help the GP get up-to-date.

Out of interest did they check thyroid function?

I would also make a referral to local maternity unit as they may provide specific advice.

Hope that helps x

[Bozo_the_pumpkin]

Hello… I take pregnacare plus 2000 vitamin d. I was told by my midwife that this is fine. I also took extra folic acid in my first trimester as I have a high bmi. Have you had your booking in with a midwife yet? They normally do a full blood panel to check all these levels and will prescribe where you’re lacking

[Positivechangeplease]

Maybe try swapping out your multivitamin. Pregnacare had a lot of unnecessary additives and has syntehtic folic acid. I was told to try a new multi vit with naturally occurring folate - it definitely suited me better.

[Pupster83]

Congratulations! Have you been taking any additional progesterone as part of treatment. I took progesterone after my treatment and had awful muscle aches and fatigue until I few weeks after I stopped taking it and was told by my clinic that progesterone can cause aches and basically make all your internal system sluggish. Also, have you been booked in for a initial midwife appointment? I was given my first midwife appointment at 10 weeks and all blood work was done and checked then. They called me two days after my appointment to tell me my iron was low and to organise a prescription through my gp. As for folic acid and vit d, I was taking high doses of these for fertility treatment prior to getting pregnant so just continued until they ran out. I am now just taking pregnacare which has the recommended daily folic acid in it and I’ve continued taking vit d but just a basic dose you can pick up in the supermarket. Hopefully you get a midwife appointment soon and I’m sure they will sort it all for you if there’s an issue, on the meantime I would just take pregnacare and it is at least giving you something extra. Good luck. X

[NicoleHam]

Thank you so much for all your replies and help. I will look in to finding some supplements like you’ve suggested.Thanks again x

[Pnw2020]

Just to say if you do decide to purchase your own supplements check your bloods again in 2-3 months to make sure your levels have increased. Maternity unit may do this as your previous tests were NHS but make sure you ask as they are not standard blood tests during pregnancy.A Rheumatologist I worked with told me a good level of Vit D was 75 nmol/l. Serum folate should ideally be mid-range.

Good luck x