Prenatals

[LittleLlama]

Anyone else attribute their great hair growth to prenatal vitamins?

I was just remembering the last time I had a trim, the girl was shocked at how much growth I had since the trim before. She said it was probably from still taking prenatal vitamins. I've been pregnant/nursing for nearly four years now and taking them dutifully. I've only been letting my hair grow for the last year but it went from my nape to below my shoulders in that time and looks great!

[Katze]

Did you experience any shedding after giving birth?

I am pregnant, and taking vitamins (this is not a given here in Europe - had to import them!) and my hair is amazingly thick, lots of new growth. However, since I have heard around here that the hormones in pregnancy are also responsible for increased hair growth, it is hard to tell if the vitamins or the hormones are responsible.

Since my hair is "thin" (actually I think it's normal, but it is fine and ii - so seen as thin, given current trends for big hair) I am really hoping that continuing to take vitamins, eat well, etc will keep my hair growing in thick, so that eventually my see-through ends will be gone.

However, given horror stories of "post partum shedding" I am prepared for the worst!

[RocketDog]

I take prenatals as my daily multi, because they're the only ones I've found that don't make me nauseous! I'm not pregnant, though, and I haven't noticed my hair growing any faster since I started taking them regularly.

[LittleLlama]

I had incredible shedding after birth. I have fairly thick hair though, so I think that made it look even worse. It was ruin-the-vacuum-belt-weekly kind of shedding. It leveled off pretty quickly but I've had so much great growth since then. The thickness is definitely from the hormones, but I think the length is from the vitamins.

RocketDog, I started taking the Rainbow Light once a day ones while pregnant and couldn't believe how much easier they are on the stomach!

[mommy101405]

I have been taking prentals for almost 4 years now as well and I would say they have helped the health of me hair a lot. My hair is on the fast growing side anyway but it definitely helped the health. I have not been as good about taking them recently and I need to get back to taking them

As far as the shedding I did shed but it was slightly more than my normal over a longer period of time then some women experience. If that makes any sense. I have fine hair but I have a ton of it so I didn't think it affected the appearance that much until the regrowth started. That was/is the most annoying part. All the little flyaways drive me nutty.

[goodluckcharm]

I've heard that if you are not pregnant, prenatals can have too much iron, which can be dangerous. Anyone know if this is true?

[squiggyflop]

I've heard that if you are not pregnant, prenatals can have too much iron, which can be dangerous. Anyone know if this is true?
i heard the same thing

[Taedareth]

Hi, Littlellama :D

[plainjanegirl]

I've heard that if you are not pregnant, prenatals can have too much iron, which can be dangerous. Anyone know if this is true?



I have never heard that. I had always heard that you should take a prenatal while in your child bearing years cause it is better to have the vitamins you need in your system before you get pregnant.
But I do not currently take any .

[Dez]

i haven't heard there being any problem with iron poisoning, but if your stomach is sensitive to iron then it may affect your BMs. :)

[LawyerGirl]

I have always heard it was the hormones, not the vitamins, that makes hair grow during pregnancy.

[sultana44]

i have been wondering about if a prenatal might be the best vitamin even though i am not planning on getting pregnant anytime soon. what are the benefits to them, anyone know?

[litlepick]

I've heard that if you are not pregnant, prenatals can have too much iron, which can be dangerous. Anyone know if this is true?

I'm a nutritionist, yes this is correct.
Generally speaking, prenatals have less vitamins in them than a normal multi except the iron, which can be as high as 10 times the normal recommended dose.
This can cause you problems not only with an overdose but also with your immune system. Bacteria use extra iron in your body to replicate.
From a nutritional standpoint, no vitamin should have any effect on hair growth unless you have a deficiency that is causing reduced hair growth... however the placebo effect has been proven to work on some people...
If you do decide to take a prenatal and are not anemic I would recommend looking for one that has an iron content of 12mg or less (none if you are post menopause or male).

hope I didn't cause offense, as that wasn't intended... CHEESE

[litlepick]

oops, 18mg not 12 mg... sorry can't edit

[chloeishere]

I have also heard that the hormones in pregnancy make your hair grow faster and thicker. Since most women in the United States take a prenatal vitamin while they are pregnant, it could make it seem like their hair is growing faster due to the prenatal vitamin, when in fact it is just the hormones/ increased bloodflow (I believe blood volume goes up by as much as 50% when you are pregnant)/ etc.

In my opinion, you are much better off taking a normal multivitamin, for the reasons that litlepick mentioned-- prenatal vitamins are intended for pregnant women, who have different nutritional needs than a normal, adult healthy woman. They have too much of some stuff that we don't need, and too little of other things that we do need.

I take a normal multivitamin everyday, and my hair grows at a nice speed.

[squiggyflop]

From a nutritional standpoint, no vitamin should have any effect on hair growth unless you have a deficiency that is causing reduced hair growth... however the placebo effect has been proven to work on some people...
hehe.. ive taken vitamins and gotten great increases in growth.. more than 2 inches a month.. and yes i also believe that unless you have a deficiency your hair wont be affected.. but americans dont usually eat an ideal diet.. so many are lacking in vitamins.. i myself generally eat meat starches/grains and dairy.. i never eat veggies.. mostly because i cant digest most veggies properly and get sick when i eat them.. so when i dont take vitamins i get .75 inches.. however i have genes that allow for very quick growth.. when i take vitamins and am getting everything i need i can get the maximum growth that my genes allow..

wait ive lost my point.. umm

now prenatals wont do much in my opinion when compared to what my old vitamin regimen was.. seeing as how they arent very high in vitamins in comparison.. so i dont think prenatals should be used to boost growth.. a good multi like centrum mixed with an extra hair vitamin like natrol skin hair nails (thats what i took but i wont do it anymore because natrol raised their price) is better than prenatals..

the pregnancy boosts the growth not the prenatal

[suicides_eve]

nope it's just hormones.. i tried EVERYTHING when i was growing out that stinking pixie cut. another wives tail bites the dust..

it's just like taking a one a day vitamin except it has a tad more of a few things. FLintstone gummies work for me

[NebraskaChick84]

I have not noticed any difference when I take prenatal vitamins. in fact during pregnancy my hair gets horrible. it grows fast but tangles more and the ends get really ragged (probably splits)

I take one a day womens when not pregnant or nursing. :) it has the same amount of folic acid as prenatals (the biggie during childbearing years) but not as much iron. I'm irregular naturally so hate what the extra iron does to my BM's :o

[LittleLlama]

I'm a nutritionist, yes this is correct.
Generally speaking, prenatals have less vitamins in them than a normal multi except the iron, which can be as high as 10 times the normal recommended dose.
This can cause you problems not only with an overdose but also with your immune system. Bacteria use extra iron in your body to replicate.
From a nutritional standpoint, no vitamin should have any effect on hair growth unless you have a deficiency that is causing reduced hair growth... however the placebo effect has been proven to work on some people...
If you do decide to take a prenatal and are not anemic I would recommend looking for one that has an iron content of 12mg or less (none if you are post menopause or male).

hope I didn't cause offense, as that wasn't intended... CHEESE

Excellent info! I'm glad you posted it! I've been pregnant/nursing for so long that prenatals are just a way of life.

FWIW, for anyone doing comparison shopping, I just looked and my prenatals have 30mg of iron.

I really don't think it was the pregnancy hormones that made my hair grow fast though... made it not shed so it was massive thick for a while ,I'm nursing now and having some pretty nice growth.

*waves wildly at Taedareth* :)

[squiggyflop]

Excellent info! I'm glad you posted it! I've been pregnant/nursing for so long that prenatals are just a way of life.

FWIW, for anyone doing comparison shopping, I just looked and my prenatals have 30mg of iron.

I really don't think it was the pregnancy hormones that made my hair grow fast though... made it not shed so it was massive thick for a while ,I'm nursing now and having some pretty nice growth.

*waves wildly at Taedareth* :)
your still full of hormones while nursing..

in some parts of the world women nurse for a very long time as a form of birth control.. the video on it in anthro class was weird.. the hormones that are pumping through a woman when they are nursing make it hard to concieve somehow.. just an interesting tidbit of info

[litlepick]

your still full of hormones while nursing..

in some parts of the world women nurse for a very long time as a form of birth control.. the video on it in anthro class was weird.. the hormones that are pumping through a woman when they are nursing make it hard to concieve somehow.. just an interesting tidbit of info

yes and actually I used nursing as my only birth control for the first year after my DD was born. if you are interested in more info its called the LAM method. or your welcome to PM me.

:end hijack:

[plainjanegirl]

nope it's just hormones.. i tried EVERYTHING when i was growing out that stinking pixie cut. another wives tail bites the dust..

it's just like taking a one a day vitamin except it has a tad more of a few things. FLintstone gummies work for me


Flinstone gummies? They helped your hair?

[CestMadeleine]

I just take a normal multivitamin, cod liver oil or fish oil supplements, and folic acid. Works for me :)

I agree that prenatal vitamins aren't the best idea for those who aren't pregnant because of so much iron in them. Folic acid is what prevents most birth defects which is why I take it everyday in case I do become pregnant by accident. I'm prepared for everything! Mwahaha.

[Mrs.Hildy]

LittleLlama, I have been pregnant or nursing (or both) for about 11.5 years now. Plus two miscarriages before that. So I know what you mean by prenates being a normal part of life.

I have 7 living children and layered hair from the pregnancies. I get pretty good growth and then the hair loss pospartum. And yet it seems like overall my hair is about the same as it always has been, it's just that during the pregnancy you don't loose as much and then it falls out in a mass exodus later.

And yes, some women can use nursing for birth control. It doesn't work well for some - I know several women who tried it and have children 11-15 months apart, and others don't get pregnant at all while nursing for 2-3 years. I am somewhere in between. Sorry, babbling now.

[Lady Lilya]

I never took prenatal vitamins, because I'm not a one-size-fits-all sort of supplementer. Before pregnancy, I was taking a variety of supplements that I chose because I thought I needed them. I didn't want to take vitamin C or iron, as I tend to have too much of them. When I went to the OB, I brought a list of what I was taking, and she said it was fine.

My hair was thick to start with, but it got thicker during pregnancy. Then a few months after the birth, it shed a lot. Now my hair is very thin. But I know a lot of women who didn't shed after a birth.

I have some pieces of hair now that are just over 6 inches, and some almost 2 inches. I guess those are hormonal hair growth spurts. The 6" pieces coincide with my first postpartum "Aunt Flo" in July, when the baby was almost a year old. I have had a monthly cycle since then, but I think a few cycles were anovulatory (no egg released). I was trying to chart fertility signs, but found it impossible to take my basal body temperature because of the baby's irregular sleep patterns. I stopped trying at the beginning of November when we started using an alternate method of birth control, having lost faith in my ability to estimate when I was fertile.

So, nursing was my only form of birth control for the first 13 months, and it worked. But the Lactation Amenorrhea Method is only supposed to work for the first 6 months and only if the baby eats nothing but breastmilk and does all of his sucking directly from the breasts. We used a pacifier, which makes that method less effective. So we were really just lucky for 13 months.

I'm still nursing now at 18 months, and I am wondering how my hair will change when I stop. I notice my leg hair is still much thinner than before too.

[Katze]

I forgot to add I have been taking fish oil regularly, and I think that might affect hair growth much more than prenatals. Many people are indeed deficient in Omegas, and stuff I have seen increasingly points to their importance for skin health (they seem to help my SD/scalp issues), emotional well being, as well as the health of newborns and babies.

Extra growth during pregnancy seems to be hormones, but in my case it could be my better diet (no sugar, caffeine, alcohol).

For those of you who have had kids, is there any way (extra supplements, special care) to PREVENT postpartum shedding? My hair has never been this thick before (the new growth) and I have shed a bit during pregnancy anyway, but I want to keep the thickness!

[Linda K]

Anyone else attribute their great hair growth to prenatal vitamins?
the girl was shocked at how much growth I had since the trim before. She said it was probably from still taking prenatal vitamins.

My hairdresser told me that was the best thing I could do if I wanted to grow it out. I mentioned I ordered some "Hair Stimulator" vitamins. I'm very hopefull. I think I'll be crushed if it doesn't help.:o

ETA: My sis has been on a natural - custom for her by an apothacary for hormone replacement after a hysterectomy. Her hairdresser credits the balanced hormones for her fabulous hair. She was growing it out again last year. Haven't asked lately how long it is now. (Truth be told - I couldn't stand to see her go from pixie to waist long in less than 4 years again! :-( The Green Monster lurks too close! )

[shaybabe8604]

Interesting info... I've been taking prenatals off and on for about 2 years now, and I've been noticing growth increases that I thought coincided with them. However, now that I think of it I am usually on a health "kick" at the times when I am taking vitamins, so it's possible that my diet and better health in general contributes to that as well.

I've been successful at keeping consistant with my healthiness for the past three months (longer than ever before, I know thats terrible though...) so hopefully this time I can keep it up...

[plainjanegirl]

Some people do like taking prenatals for their hair, so if you think they are helping don't stop.