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Hoots : Are there other uses for prenatal vitamins? Other than what the name dictates, are prenatal vitamins used for any other medical reason? I ask this due to the interaction I've heard about birth-control pills being used to - freshhoot.com

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Are there other uses for prenatal vitamins?
Other than what the name dictates, are prenatal vitamins used for any other medical reason?

I ask this due to the interaction I've heard about birth-control pills being used to regulate menstruation, and as a male, I don't really have a lot of knowledge regarding these situations. Are there any uses for prenatal vitamins other than pregnancy?


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For most people, no.

Prenatal vitamins usually contain folate acid, some also contain B12, iodine, and/or vitamin D. For deficiencies in the last three, usually, special supplements will be given.

However, certain medications actually mess with the foliate cycle in the body, and require patients to take supplemental folic acid. One of those is methotrexate. Some doctors prescribe higher dose folic acid to be taken once weekly, others recommend just taking a folic acid supplement daily - which are usually marketed as prenatal vitamins. Patients taking that often enjoy the irony of taking prenatal vitamins alongside a medication that is actively harmful to a pregnancy.

So it's rare, but possible.


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There's a number of medical reasons to take the pill other than preventing pregnancy :

Regulating menstruation to avoid having irregular, overly frequent, overly abundant or painful periods, as well as premenstrual syndrome
Endometriosis
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Acne

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Edited because I did in fact understood birth control pills and not prenatal supplementation.

As a vitamin supplementation, it could in theory be used by people who lack certain nutrients, namely folic acid and iron (iron deficiency in particular is common in people who are menstruating). However, the Mayo Clinic doesn't recommend it:

However, if you're not pregnant and not planning to become pregnant, high levels of certain nutrients over a long period of time may actually be more harmful than helpful.

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