Elevit?

[Indadhanu]

I've forgotten all this stuff, so I'm trying to land back in here without too much of a crash!

Our clinic gives 6 months supply of Elevit (well 3 months Elevit and 3 month Menevit, but we get 6 months Elevit since we don't really need Menevit). I'm guessing, by the ads in the waiting room and offices, that they are paid by Elevit and that they may not necessarily think it is the best choice.

I used the Natures Own (I think that's what it was - green bottle, came in a pink box that was sort of contured). I admit, it was mostly cost that drove me to use this one, I would have preferred the Blackmores because what I researched at the time was that the Blackmores ued a different... formula, I guess... and the vitamins were in a different form that enabled them to be digested easier, or mybe the tablets were smaller because that things they used were in higher concentrations...? Something like that. Anyway, at the time I wanted to use Blackmores. But Natures Own was my second choice as it was pretty much the same concentrations of vitamins in the end.
I think I had to take two Natures Own, whereas only one Blackmores?

I always thought Elevit was lacking certain things - iodine I think was one of them. But with a blanaced diet, that we do have, does it really matter that it's lacking iodine, as long as it's high in iron and folate? What are the chances of being iodine-deficient anyway? Or do you need more during TTC and pregnancy?

Also, at the time I really needed the vitamins, our diet was ok but not crash hot and especially in the first few months. We have drastically changed our diet, mostly thanks to Jazz and her ilterances to preservatives and flavours/colours etc. So we have a very back-to-basics kind of diet now, most meals are from scratch etc. A lot different to the frozen vege heated in the microwave with some sausages or steak or a chicken patty before Jazz (how embarrassing, but true!).
With a balanced diet, is there really a need for a comprehensive multivitmain, or would something like FeFol be adequate?

[Jakabella]

My GP and my OB told me that the only things you REALLY need are folic acid.. I take Megafol thats $5 for 100 tabs and I also now take Vit D to help calcium absopsion.

[beckoes]

i was taking blackmores last time and had to take iron aswell as i ended up anemic, this time i had the symptoms i had before but the teast said i was not anemic, my GP advised me to take elevit as it had highter iron than blackmores and it seems to be working. they seem to be pretty similar just the elevit has higher levels of some things. I guess you could allways take other things separatley if you think its lacking

[Jennifer13]

Go and ask a pharmacist. They stock all of them and should give you a balanced view (if you think they are trustworthy) of which one has the best ingredients. These things tend to change over time too. When I was pg our pharmacist recommended a new one on the market at the time (I think it was called Fabfol?) as being slightly better than Elevit, but put Elevit a close second.

I figure most of the time it's not really giving me what I need and I'm just making expensive wee, but it doesn't hurt and if I do need a bit extra, then it might help. FWIW I got shocking leg cramps in my 2nd tri and my ob put me on to Blackmores magnesium tablets - fixed within a day. So they definitely can do something all those vitamins and minerals!