Does taking folic acid affect ovulation?

Nowadays, many women go to the hospital to check their bodies before preparing for pregnancy to understand whether their physical condition allows them to become pregnant successfully. Generally, doctors will prescribe some folic acid for women to take after learning that women are planning to get pregnant. However, some women experience changes in menstruation after taking folic acid. Does taking folic acid affect ovulation? The following will give you a detailed introduction to the effects of folic acid on ovulation and menstruation.

1. Will taking folic acid affect ovulation?

Ovulation, like menstruation, is regulated by the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian gonadal axis and shows cyclical changes. The length of the cycles of the two is the same, both occurring once a month, and ovulation occurs between two menstrual periods.

Folic acid, as a water-soluble B vitamin, only prevents fetal malformations in the early stages of pregnancy, including neural tube defects, heart defects, etc., and does not affect ovulation.

Ovulation is generally affected by ovarian function. As long as the ovarian function is normal, it can promote the maturation of egg cells and the hormone level is sufficient, it will not affect ovulation. Therefore, female friends who are preparing to become pregnant can rest assured to take folic acid tablets, which will not affect normal ovulation.

2. Will taking folic acid affect menstruation?

Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin that does not affect menstruation. Women's menstruation is regulated by the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian gonadal axis. Mental factors, mood swings, environmental changes, pregnancy, age, illness, medication, and nutritional status can all cause dysfunction of the gonad axis and lead to menstrual abnormalities.

If your period is delayed, you should first check with a test strip to see if you are pregnant. After ruling out the possibility of pregnancy, you should consider irregular menstruation. There are many reasons for irregular menstruation, such as hormone level disorders, nutritional factors, mood swings, environmental factors, medication, etc. (If menstruation is delayed for a long time, you should go to the obstetrics and gynecology department of a regular hospital for relevant examinations and treatment, do six hormone tests, and consider choosing progesterone and other menstrual regulation treatments. In addition, when menstruation is irregular, it is impossible to calculate the ovulation period, and ovulation test strips should be used for monitoring.)

3. What are the side effects of taking folic acid?

Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin. Many foods on our table are rich in folic acid, such as animal liver, kidney, eggs, fish, green leafy vegetables, spinach, celery, cauliflower, potatoes, lettuce, broad beans, pears, citrus, bananas, lemons, nuts and soybeans, etc. in plant foods are all foods with high folic acid content. Therefore, taking folic acid itself has no side effects. The recommended normal intake is 400 micrograms per day. If taken in excess, the following side effects may occur:

1. Taking folic acid can mask the early symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency and cause damage to the nervous system.

2. Taking 350 mg of folic acid may affect the absorption of zinc, leading to zinc deficiency, causing fetal growth retardation and an increase in the number of low birth weight babies.

3. Taking folic acid can interfere with the effects of anticonvulsant drugs and induce seizures in patients.

4. Some patients may experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as anorexia, nausea, and abdominal distension after taking large amounts of folic acid for a long time.

5. When taking large amounts of folic acid, yellow urine may appear.