(NWR)Any downsides to taking Pre-natal vitamins if your not pregnant?

I don't think there's any downside to taking the prenatals. My doctor suggested I take them even though I'm not planning on getting pregnant, because regular vitamins make me gag. He said prenatals are smaller and usually taste better.

Specifically, I have a vitamin D deficiency and have to take prescription vitamin D pills. One of the "side effects" of the vitamin D, is supposed to be faster growing hair & nails. So you might want to try that.

I would suggest using biotin. Biotin grows your hair & fingernails. It will also grow your body hair, but any growth you possibly get from pre-natals will do the same. You will have to experiment on the dosage of biotin that works best for you - but it does work. I use it, but for nail growth, not hair.

If you are on birth control don't use any of the pills specifically for growing hair/nails. They will mess with your pills. I don't know how specifically, but most of them have a warning about this on the label.

Prenatal vitamins are exactly like taking a multi-vitamin, they just have extra dosages of things like folic acid and other vitamins and minerals that are necessary for fetal growth. They are completely harmless and in fact most doctors will tell you that all women of childbearing age should be taking them (my pediatrician suggested I start taking them at 11 years old when I first started my period). It helps to have a store of folic acid in your system before you conceive. Anyway, taking prenatals won't hurt you at all and will probably help with growing your hair and nails out.

My fiance swears by these Vitamin C Joint Health things he mixes up and drinks every morning. I don't know how many packets he drinks but his fingernails have (continued!)

Grown in thicker and healthier and I swear his thin spot is filling in! You can get them at Walmart in the vitamin section next to the Emergen-C.

Im not on BC and I take prenatals just because they are good to take if you are trying to conceive (which i am not preventing) also, it has all the right things in them that help you if you are having trouble conceiving. also it does wonders for my hair!! haha it wont hurt you. its basically a multi vitamin. I am looking to get chewables though since i have trouble swallowing pills. ugh. right now i have a liquid prenatal i got from an organic health store.

I don't think there is a downside, my doctor told me I should take them for being prepared, so I mean even though you may not be trying and you are only taking them to grow your hair out you are preparing yourself also for when you do have a little one.

I LOVE prenatals! I wish I had started taking them years earlier because they helped my hair and nails so much. Mostly my hair though. The only possible downside is that some women can get queasy from them. I take them right before bed and I've never gotten queasy once.

I've been taking Holisitc brand supplements for Hiar, Nails & Skin, so far my nails & hair seem stronger, and skin is less dry..

Check out http://www.ovationhair.com/

@ pumpkin, mine don't say anything about not for use while on BC..hmm..

I am also taking them because I plan on getting pregnant in a few months. So I would say go for it!

@Future Mrs.Schmidt: Like I said, not all have the warning, but not all of them may need the warning either. I just know that I was hunting for some hair/nails pills a few years ago (they may have improved the formula since then, too) and all of the brands at Walmart had a warning not to use them with bc. But that was just the sampling I found at Walmart, so if yours don't have a warning I'm sure they're probably fine.

Im using them to help my hair and nails grow...no side effects and I'm on BC and my doc said it's ok.

I am an Ob/GYN, and I try SO hard to get my patients to take prenatal vitamins. They're wonderful and provide you with some nutrients that we don't normally get in an American diet. It also helps your hair, nails, and skin. Folic acid has a part in replicating DNA (which is what nails, hair and babies do)! Don't worry about the brand, I take a Walgreens one, and I'm also on the pill ;-)

Cheers,

Nicole

Maybe a bit of nausea but my ob/gyn recommends me to take them until I'm out of child bearing age or feel I will not want anymore children, so no there's nothing other than nausea at times.

P.S. I use Mirena as BC and so far, no negativity there either

Nicole, good to hear because I was doing some research before I called the Dr. and here is what I found.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-vitamins/AN01665

I think I'm being misunderstood a little bit. I was refering to the Hair and Nails growth pills, NOT prenatal vitamins. For some reason some of the Hair and Nails pills have a warning for women taking birth control. Otherwise, I'm all for taking prenatal vitamins!!

@Jaemi, I read the article. Most prenatals contain 400mcg of folic acid, just what we need, and B-12 deficiency is pretty rare in those who eat red meat and don't have some gastrointestinal malabsorption syndromes (meaning you can't absorb the vitamins you take in).

That iron paragraph was really scary! If you have very heavy periods, the extra iron can actually be good for you! And from my experience, iron toxicity is very rare. In fact, my anemic patients take 325mg twice daily! Also, we only absorb a very small amount of iron daily anyway.

Calcium: No one pill can give you everything you need. You still need dietary calcium from milk and dairy products.

Multivitamin or prenatal, just take something ;-)

@Pumpkin, I would be really interested to know what's in those hair and nails pills!

Of course *disclaimer* talk with your own MD as well!

Cheers!

Nicole

My wife takes them regularly for hair and nails... Not pregnant, nor are we planning on it any time soon.