Prenatal Vitamins = Drastic Growth

[Qurlyqt]

One of my (not pregnant, never been pregnant) friends just started taking prenatal vitamins because she wants to "prepare my body for pregnancy... just in case..." She is anticipating some MAJOR growth in her hair and nails. She swears that her sister who is also non-pregnant/never been pregnant started taking them not long ago and "now her hair is down her back!"

What do you think? Is it possible to get drastic hair growth from taking prenatal vitamins when you're NOT pregnant?

 

[runwaydream]

i remember awhile back there was a thread on this. or at least a mention of this in a thread. and the consensus was:it DOES help w. hair growth, tremendously. but that it was dangerous for some reason or another. i dont remember why.

 

[equestrian]

i remember awhile back there was a thread on this. or at least a mention of this in a thread. and the consensus was:it DOES help w. hair growth, tremendously. but that it was dangerous for some reason or another. i dont remember why.

I'm pretty sure it's the iron that makes prenatals a little risky. I'd just take a hair skin and nail vitamin so you aren't getting any excess nutrients that you don't need.

 

[teysmith]

They have Prenatal vitamins and Natal vitamins.

After I gave birth to my daughter they then prescribed natal vitamins which were much smaller than the Prenatal ones.

Also I think you can can get prenatal vitamins without iron I may be wrong though.

I dont remember my hair getting long but I was abusing my hair to the Max!
but however, I do remember it had got so much thicker and healthier looking..

 

[Miss AJ]

If your diet is already not that great then taking vitamins will boost your health in the lacking areas.

 

[Nixx22jam]

I've always wondered about this can u take them if your already on birth control pills, or does that defeat the purpose?

 

[ms.blue]

It's the hormones that cause a lot hair growth during pregnancy and slows down the shedding. That is why when women give birth the hormones start going back to their regular level and start experiencing shedding. Pre-natals or any multi-vitamins will help w/ hair growth if the the body is lacking any nutrients such as bad diet.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Prenatal vits are regular vitamins with extra iron and folic acid in them to aid in healthy growth and development of the fetus. I think if you eat like crap any supplement you take will help. But theres no secret ingredient in prenatal vits that causes hair growth acceleration.

 

[krissyprissy]

It's the hormones that cause a lot hair growth during pregnancy and slows down the shedding. That is why when women give birth the hormones start going back to their regular level and start experiencing shedding. Pre-natals or any multi-vitamins will help w/ hair growth if the the body is lacking any nutrients such as bad diet.

My thoughts exactly! My hair grew when I was preggo and I barely took my prenatal vits because they made me gag

 

[beans4reezy]

My sister is taking prenatals and she isn't pregnant; hre hair growth hasn't been accelerated, at least IMO. I voted for the hormones because my hair grew a lot when I was pregnant with my first son and I didn't take one prenatal vitamin.

 

[afrikurl]

Prenatal vitamins do have more iron than traditional women's daily vitamins. too much iron is not good for you. My hair grew more when I was prengant but I also know that you have twice as much blood flowing through your body during pregnancy. Increased circulation in the scalp could help with growth

 

[BillsBackerz67]

its all hormones. Your hair doesnt go through a shedding cycle and grows faster once you are pregnant due to the increased amounts of estrogen in your body. once you have the baby, those hormones drop and the excessive shedding begins.

 

[havilland]

not sure of all the science...but i've been taking pre natal vitamins for ten years.

the only time i saw a growth increase was when i was actually pregnant.

of course, then after you have the baby all the hair falls out and it falls out again after you stop nursing......

 

[ParagonTresses]

I've taken pre-natal vitamins for yrs and never experienced any added growth. Proper moisture and being gentle with my hair for this past year have been my saving graces.

 

[Tif392002]

after i had my son, my doctor told me i should continue taking the prentals throught my child bearing years... i take a prenatal along with a biotin...i skip 2-3 days on purpose.... but i thnk is does help me with my hair growth.

 

[MsPlatinumbsf]

I take prenatal vitamins to and I am not prego that is what my doctor has prescribe for me as a multivitamin . I also take it with Hair, skin and nails no extra growth but my hair is healthy. Plus I think is being prego is what makes the hair grow faster.

 

[beans4reezy]

of course, then after you have the baby all the hair falls out and it falls out again after you stop nursing......

Not for all women, just some. Neither myself nor did my sister experience post partum shedding after the birth of our sons.

 

[Renovating]

after i had my son, my doctor told me i should continue taking the prentals throught my child bearing years... i take a prenatal along with a biotin...i skip 2-3 days on purpose.... but i thnk is does help me with my hair growth.

What brand are you using, please?

 

[JMH1908]

I am currently 19 weeks with my second child and yes, my hair has gotten thicker and longer. I also take prenatal vitamins from GNC and I rotate them with the ones from my ob-gyn. I do remember with my first child, my hair grew like a weed too and if I didn't cut it, I would've been waist length by now because that was 8 yrs ago but of course I got tired of all that hair and chopped it off big mistake!! Now, I was able to combat the shedding after my pregnancy with weekly deep conditioning, rotating with moisture and protein, so I didn't experience the fall out like some have mentioned. I think you really have to be prepared for it and keep up the moisture in your hair because it will become very dry. I kept taking the vitamins all the way up until I stopped nursing which was 3 months after having the baby. I will be doing the same with this one but I will not cut it this time

And GNC does have a brand without the iron..

 

[blaqharmoni]

i've never been pregnant either and i took prenatal vitamins for a while a few years ago with no results... Besides the fact that they made my stomach queasy from the high iron content

 

[Tif392002]

What brand are you using, please?

i have been using the walmart brand since aug 2009, this is when i started paying attention to my hair... i read that it takes about 90 days for u to see results from vitamins.... i took them religioulsy along with the biotin, and in january 2010 i recorded 1 inch of growth, and i know my hair grows average. i ran out in february and didnt get a chance to get anymore til the begining of april,( but still taking biotin alone) i didnt notice as much growth , so now that im back taking them hopefully they will boost a "summer spurt" by june or july.

 

[Qurlyqt]

Thanks ladies for all of your replies. Billsbackerz, you took SO many words right out of my mouth!

I took prenatal vitamins with both of my pregnancies and neither increased my hair growth. I will admit that my hair was super thick the entire time I was pregnant but the postpartum shedding after the birth of my firstborn sent me running to a dermatologist. (I think I submitted a post on this forum pleading for help.)

I've only noticed increased hair growth with ONE thing I've ever ingested in life...and after learning so much over the past few years, it was probably attributed to me taking extreme care of my hair during those few months, rather than the pills.

Anyway, I needed opinions from LHCF because when I told my friend that prenatal pills will not produce drastic growth, I was almost stoned!

 

[Forever in Bloom]

Prenatal vitamins do have more iron than traditional women's daily vitamins. too much iron is not good for you. My hair grew more when I was prengant but I also know that you have twice as much blood flowing through your body during pregnancy. Increased circulation in the scalp could help with growth

I remember SalonCabelo on YouTube talking about this. I've never been pregnant, but this made the most sense to me as to why the hair grows so fast.

@5:51-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrm1bKBHmAI

 

[mariofmagdal]

I had several patients who did this to increase their hair growth, they regularly donate to Locks of Love. I have never tried it.

 

[lovely_locks]

I take prentals with low iron since I am lready on iron pills for anemia. just in case take fiber pills with your prenatals. That iron can bind you up bad!

 

[LongCurlyLocks]

I'm pretty sure it's the iron that makes prenatals a little risky. I'd just take a hair skin and nail vitamin so you aren't getting any excess nutrients that you don't need.

See, I have low iron so this works for me and yes the prenatals have helped along with other good hair practices.

 

[Janet']

I take an over the counter prenatal vitamin...I am notoriously anemic, so I need the iron. Btw...nope, I'm not prego and never have been. I can't say that the prenatal vitamin alone is the key to my growth because I also take biotin and fish oil...

 

[CurlyMoo]

I considered taking prenatal vitamins for hair growth, until the pharmacist told me to just take a women's multivitamin with extra dosage of what I need. So I got a multivitiamn along with biotin, zinc, iron, b complex and msm. My nails are thriving and I do believe with low manipulation and frequent moisturizing, I will make waistlength this year. YAY!

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

Well I'll be tracking my growth from now on. Starting from today, I'll be taking pre-natal vitamins until the bottle runs out. I think there were 100 in there...maybe about 95 left so roughly 3 months. I'm only taking them becaues I can't find my unopened jar of Flinstones vitamins and I'm not about to go buy some when I have these sitting in my cabinet. So yup, I took a progress pic yesterday and I will take another in 3 months and see how much growth I have! I don't really believe that these vitamins will increase my growth but I may as well track it since I'm taking them.

 

[Boujoichic]

I voted for hormones Im pregnant now (little bon bon is due oct 17th) and I cant take a prenatal vitamin because it makes me sick so my Docter recommended flintstones vitamins the adult ones because they are gentler on my stomach. I have read that pregnancy hormones cause increased blood flow and this is what causes the hair growth spurt my hair grew so quickly that I could slide my fingers under my weave install after just about a month and a half in. I just uninstalled at about month three and I lost only about a coin sized amount of hair to shedding it was crazy the amount was so small. Also my stylist surprise big chopped me ( long story ) But my natural hair is basically the same length that my relaxed hair was at the start of my journey the baby is definitely doing this not the flintstones.