I'm under the belief that as said the 'black' is from the excess iron that your body has not absorbed from the supplements.
Just make sure you don't take your vitamins at the same time as any caffeine - especially coffee. And including chocolate, tea etc. Caffeine hugely prevents iron absorption. Try to avoid caffeine at least an hour/two before and after taking your supplements to allow time for your body to absorb it properly.
I have been a vegetarian for more than 15 years and have always had supplements to ensure I get adequate iron & B vitamins. I always found when I increased my intake of caffeine my #2's were blacker from my body not absorbing the iron supplements sufficiently. This has been confirmed many times to me over the years from health professionals and they all recommend consuming vitamin c (ie glass or orange juice) with meals or supplements as this promotes iron absorption.
In saying that.. iron supplements definetely cause constipation so you must be getting some of it! I'm with the other girls and say go for Metamucil or something to help with the constipation.
Well, I've decided to stop the Blackmores. I've been having stomach issues for weeks (bloating and upset stomach) to the point where today I left work early and I'm convinced it's the iron in the supplement (I also had stomach problems that were even worse when I was taking straight iron earlier in the year). My iron levels were up when I had my blood test about a month ago so hopefully I will be ok. So I have bought some straight folic acid and I will try that for a few days and see if I feel better. Unfortunately I just bought some more Conceive Well Gold so I might see if my sis wants it. Otherwise I might alternate between the BMCWG and the straight folate. Has anyone done this? Also do you know if they check your iron levels when you get pregnant so I can make sure mine stays up when the time comes?
ALW77-
The symptoms you are expressing in response to the blackmores indicate that you have a lack of probiotic friendly bacteria in your digestive tract. This would cause your system to react by fermenting and bloating. I used to suffer from dreadful bloating in response to certain foods and supplements too.
I have cut and pasted a previous post of mine which may be of benefit to you;
Hi lotsa hugs,
I would recommend taking Blackmores conceive well- provided that you are not already taking a multivitamin. The blackmores alone will be sufficient. If you are considering taking anything else to assist with conception- I can strongly recommend the supplement 'In-Liven' by MiVitality. There is an article on it here on bellybelly.
It consists of the full spectrum (all strains) of the probiotic friendly bacteria lactobacillus as well as 26 Organic Wholefoods. Lactobacillus friendly probiotic bacteria live in our digestive tract naturally, and are essential for optimum immune function and the effective absorption of nutrients. Things such as alcohol, antibiotics, the contraceptive pill, pesticides and other toxic additives in our food kill off this essential friendly bacteria, making it harder to conceive. The 26 Organic Wholefoods make In-Liven a premium food-grade supplement rich in nutrients (the absorption of which is ensured by the probiotics), and taken prior to conception, will contribute to the production of healthy sperm (sperm take 3 months to fully mature). As it is cheifly a food/probiotic supplement- it is absolutely fine (and highly recommended!) to take In-Liven simultaneously with your pregnancy/breastfeeding supplements. You can purchase this online or from good health food stores, and it needs to be kept in the fridge once opened.
If your DH is not already taking a men's multivit- I suggest getting him onto a good Zinc supplement as Zinc is essential for sperm health. Ethical Nutrients do a good one (check out your local health food store).
If you are considering doing anything else- I would suggest you both do the Quick Cleanse 15 day detox available from most pharmacies and health food stores. Eliminating stored toxins in your liver, kidneys etc can significantly increase your chances of successful conception, as well as decrease the severity of nausea whilst pregnant. Just make sure you do not do the detox whilst you are pregnant, as the supplements are not recommended to take during pregnancy.
I hope this helps,
My point being, when you have a full range of friendly digestive bacteria in your gut (probiotics) your system will be able to better assimilate these supplements, as well as the nutrients in your food. I hope this helps somewhat....
I agree totally with Jellybean about the linseeds. They are great. My naturopath put me onto it instead of having wheat bran for regularity as she said wheat bran can be quite harsh on the digestive system. It tastes really nice on cereal, but you have to make sure you get the linseed meal, not the whole seeds because they don't readily break down and you end up getting nothing from it.
I was taking blackmores conceive well before i fell pregnant too - and had the same issue! And i also found that it made my wee go fluro yellow! (WTF??) lol anyway it does have iron in it that will make your poo go black and can make you consitpated - try take it with orange juice and some metamucil that should help with the consitpation - but your poo will remain black!!
I am now on elevit and have the same problem but much much worse (the pregnancy hormones also contributing to constipation) i did a bit of reserch spoke to the dr and pharmacist - and they recommended taking metamucil capsules with the elevit - which is helping heaps, and will not harm the baby at all! I have also added a Pro-Biotic to the mix as well which seems to help - i dont know how but i ran out of them and missed about 4 days and i def noticed a difference!
Good luck darls! I was seeing a FS and they highly reccommended the blackmores vitamin and other friends were told the same thing by their specilists too - so it must be one of the better ones!! I also found that it increased my CM so i was able to predict ovulation easier too!
make sure you get the linseed meal, not the whole seeds because they don't readily break down and you end up getting nothing from it.
Good point MellyBelly- I should've mentioned that. There is also a mix you can buy called LSA- which is made up of ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds. Goodness to the max!! The linseeds & sunflowers are rich in essential fatty acids (Omega oils), and the almonds are rich in protein. Brilliant to spinkle on your cereal or even over a salad!!
I am so bloated that I have gone from a 28 inch waist to a 32 inch in 9 days. I feel like i'm 5 months pregnant not 6 1/2 weeks.
I have tried liqorice, plums, muesli, metamusil sp?, orange juice, alternating Elevit one day and just folic acid the next, vogel bread and warm baths where you massage your abdomin.
I spoke to my midwife again yesterday and she suggested I try kiwi crush and/or kiwi fruit which I did last night and I'm pleased to I had a small (very small LOL) success this morning so at least things might start moving again. I have cut out the elevit completely and am now going to just take folic acid for awhile till things get back to normal (which will be soon hopefully).
My midwife also suggested that I get Microlax which apparently is safe during pregnancy from the pharmacy and give that a go, and she also suggested Alpine tea (which is a mild laxative) although it states on the packet not to be used during pregnancy my midwife said 1 or 2 is fine in early pregnancy, so I have that as my next step if this doesn't work as well as I hope it will.
All the best ladies, as horrible as it is it's nice to know I'm not the only one having to deal with this.
cheers Missy
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