Community post

I didn't want to read and run.....
First I want to say that I am sorry to hear about your loss. Though I am sure that you found out before having to suffer like your aunt. Couldn't imagine.

I do not have this, but will have to take extra folic acid do to the methotrexate I was given for a ectopic.

I hope you find yourself a really good OB that can help you with conception. That makes sure that the babe stays with you the whole 9 months

GL to you my dear, all the best to you in the future!!

Thank you Sallysacha. I do have a wonderful OB, had him with my first pregnancy. He was so helpful and supportive with everything I went through and was quick to send me to see a genetic counselor after my m/c. I didn't find out about the MTHFR until after I lost the baby. My aunt then told me about it. But I won't have to suffer as much as she did, because I know now... Thanks for the support!

Hi, I found out I had MTHFR after my 3rd miscarriage in a row in November. I had heard of this before but never thought for one second that I would have something like this. It all makes sense to me now though as to why I have had loss after loss (6 total). All of the losses happened at 6 and 7 weeks. The last 2 started out with a very slow hb and continued that way until they stopped. I thought I was doing everything right, taking my prenatal vitamins, trying to relax, eating lots of folic acid rich food such as Malt-o-meal (big mistake, and I will explain next), used baby aspirin, progesterone, no hot baths, no electric blankets, no caffeine, you name it, I tried it! I kept thinking, what am I doing wrong? Do I just have old eggs? (turned 40 in October), am I stressing too much? Anyway, come to find out after they did a full blood panel on me that I have MTHFR A1298T and C677T. My doc told me that he really believes this has been the cause of ALL of my miscarriages. Even the ones that I had inbetween my 4 children. What happens, is that homocysteine levels can build up and can cause blood clots between the developing placenta and uterine wall thus preventing transport of vital nutrition to the developing fetus. This usually occurs early in pregnancy but can also occur later in pregnancy also. I have done LOTS of research on this mutated gene and have come to find out that my body does and will not ever process folic acid in a synthetic form. It only builds up over time and is useless and can cause all kinds of problems, not just pregnancy related either. I was eating LOTS of Malt-O-Meal- think of all of the folic acid in it (synthetic) that was doing no good for me at all. I was taking the (synthetic) prenatal vitamins thinking I was also getting the folic acid I needed for the pregnancies. Wrong! All I was doing was having all of that folic acid build up inside of me and doing more harm then good. I went to see a hematologist and was told even by him that I would need folgard (shows how little docs know about this MTHFR stuff)! What I finally realized I needed is the BIOAVAILABLE forms of FOLATE only! These can be from eating whole foods (not enriched cereals), and from taking bioavailable forms of folate in certain vitamins (I take Thornes). I also got my doctor to prescribe me Metanx, NOT folgard. Folgard only has synthetic forms of folic acid. Metanx has the bioavailable form of folate and b vitamins that I know my body can process. If I get pregnant again in the future, I will also have to take either heparin or Lovenox shots and probably a baby aspirin daily to keep my blood from clotting. I am hoping that this will do the trick if there is a next time. I know that the way we eat can and will cause the homocysteine levels to be very high which can also cause blood clots. I was eating tons of junk foods high in sugar and gluten so I really believe with all of that, it's what caused my miscarriages. There is a very very good website that explains thoroughly all of this stuff. It is MTHFR.net. Dr. Ben Lynch is a very great doctor who gives you a complete understanding of all of this. Please take a look at it. He explains how using any kind of synthetic forms of folic acid is NOT going to be helpful and only harmful for a pregnancy if you have this gene. Anyway, Hope this has been some help for you. I am looking forward to trying again in the future and hopefully now that I have a better understanding of the MTHFR, I will be able to successfully have my last baby that I have so much wanted. Good luck with your next pregnancy!

Thank you SO much for all the information you provided! I didn't know about the different types of folic acids and thought that just taking the prenatal and extra folic acid would help! I will have to double check to make sure I take the kind I need, so thank you SO very MUCH!! And so sorry to hear of you losses. I wish you the best of luck with TTC and a healthy happy 9 months after :) I appreciate this very much! And I will check out the website of course!!

Yes, it matters. i had a pregnancy loss at 27 months. after this only i could get to know that i am MTHFR gene defect. My doctor has advised me to take extra folic acid and blood thinners for the next time.