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8 Ways to Choke Down Those Horrid Prenatal Vitamins … Everyday
What was your favorite trick for keeping the vitamins down?
When I was six, I nearly choked to death on a circular grape hard candy. One minute I was playing with my friends outside and the next minute, my mother was dislodging the candy from my throat. That might have something to do with the reason I am still squeamish about swallowing pills. You can imagine taking those prenatal horse pills during pregnancy was no walk in the park, but I managed to do it.
However, the biggest reason most pregnant moms have trouble with the prenatal vitamins has more to do with the nausea the pills either add to or bring on (not to mention the general ungodly taste and scent of the vitamins themselves). I can attest to that; there were quite a few days in my last pregnancy that I could barely eat food, let alone swallow those vitamins. My sympathies go out to the women who experience longer bouts of nausea and vomiting, sometimes even throughout their entire pregnancy.
For anyone who is having trouble, here are 8 tips to help you choke down those pills once and for all every day:
1. Cut them up. This is what made it possible for me to take my prenatals. Yes, I did have to chop them into several pieces and yes, it was annoying but in my case, it had to be done.
2. Take them at your least nauseous time of the day. My midwife suggested taking them at night, and it helped a lot. I was able to keep them down with no extra nausea.
3. Have a Lifesaver or another peppermint-flavored candy immediately following. Gum will even help soothe the aftertaste and peppermint helps alleviate nausea.
4. Prenatal gummies. I have never tried them myself but some women say they are very easy on an already queasy stomach.
5. Crush in applesauce. If you crush them finely enough, you may be able to avoid the taste going down.
6. Try another brand. Some brands are stronger than others. Check first with your midwife/doctor to see what she/he recommends.
7. Chewable prenatal vitamins. I hadn’t even known these existed when I was pregnant, but if I did, I surely would have taken them, no question!
8. Take vitamins only after eating. You’ll be much less likely to get sick if you take them on a full stomach.
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8 Comments
LanieRulzs commented on Jan 09 12 at 11:01 amI never had a problem with the nausea, but my gag reflect was so bad that I couldn’t swallow most prenatal vitamins. I have never seen the chewable ones, but the gummies have actually made it so I can take them. With my first pregnancy these did not exist so I had to take individual vitamins for folic acid, DHA, and other misc vitamins and ended up taking about 10 different pills a day-not fun.
CW commented on Jan 09 12 at 4:08 pmWith my 1st pregnancy, I tried a bunch of different prenatals unsuccessfully until my OB told me to just take double the dose of Flintstones plus a separate Folic Acid. That did the trick!
Jennifer commented on Jan 13 12 at 12:37 amGummies don’t have iron, so if you should check with your doctor on whether you need a separate iron pill. (It’s usually the iron that makes you nauseous anyway, though.)
Joy commented on Jan 13 12 at 12:39 amI cant swallow any pills for any reason, so my first pregnancy in 2005 my doc gave me an Px for a chewable prenatal vitamin. They were small purple and not so bad until 30 days later at the end of the bottle they were pretty bad. My 2nd and last pregnancy Fall 2010/Spring 2011 (now baby is 7 months old) I took the chewable gummie kind but I had to take a liquid Px for Iron. I still take the prenatal vitamin and will continue to do so for as long as Im breastfeeding but I stopped taking the Iron even tho I probably still really need it.
Nicole commented on Jan 13 12 at 1:30 amThe chewable are revolting. I’m doing children’s gummies this go round. I didn’t know prenatals come in gummy! My second pregnancy I never could stomach them. And oddly enough she was my biggest healthiest baby. Thankful for that.
jackie commented on Jan 13 12 at 3:38 amNot gonna lie… I didn’t take any vitamins with my last pregnancy, and I had no problems.. with my first, I had uti’s monthly .. caught the flu twice and had a cold every other month. And I was taking dha fortified prenatals.. my newborn is healthy, very active and already ahead of the monthly milestones we should expect.. I’m no doctor, so don’t take my advice… Other than being anemic after delivery, I didn’t have any issues. And I don’t know if ill be taking prenatals for future pregnancies… As long as you are eating healthy and avoiding alcohol/tobacco, you shouldn’t feel guilty by not downing horse pills.
cici commented on Jan 13 12 at 8:49 amMy prenatal is a soft/gel kind so I found that taking it with food… literally swallowing it while I was eating… and drinking something warm (like hot coco or milk) helped me. I have had my baby and still take them because I’m breastfeeding and I don’t have any problems taking it now but I still take it after dinner and with something warm because it’s got DHA in it and belching them is no fun! ;)
Amensej commented on Jan 14 12 at 12:12 pmDue to an extremely high iron levels and hemaglobin (red cells) I found out with my second son that I needed a LOW iron prenatal. It was all the excess iron in the vitamins that was making me sick and constipated. With this one, I kept a baggie of prenatals in my purse (Horrible sickness this time around) and when I had eaten something, and wasnt overly nauseous, I would take one immediately.
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