Hi All,

I've been away from the board for quite a while... But I wanted to share my good news! I'm pregnant! I hesitate to share this now, because I'm really early yet, and my chances of losing the baby are probably still very high, because I'm only 5-6 weeks along.

But, I decided to come on because I'm worried about my supplements, and worried they may cause deformities in the baby in these early stages of development.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has been through a pregnancy with Matia.

Currently I'm taking all the natren probiotics (not worried about those) and both the veggie and fruit Juice Plus formulats (again not worried about those)

There are 3 supplements I'm on that I'm very worried about:

Siberian Ginseng (1 pill 2x daily)

Spirulina (1 pill 1x day)

Chlorella (1 pill 1x day)

SIBERIAN GINSENG: I'm taking siberian ginseng 2x daily - The bottle gives strong warnings against the use of this supplement during pregnancy. Online too, I found a lot of information suggesting that siberian ginseng (as opposed to American or Canadian Ginseng is very unsafe especially in early pregnancy. Matia assures me she has used it with her pregnant patients many times, and I trust her. But the life of another person is a big deal, and I'd never forgive myself if taking that caused the baby to either not survive or live with some lifelong health issues.Some sources suggest that the siberian ginseng isnt' as much the issue as the stuff that might be included in the pill but not mentioned, as it isn't regulated. I take a no-name drug store brand of Sib Gin, and have for a couple years now in treatment... It's never given me trouble, but I don't knwo if this is different?

SPIRULINA: Some of the info I have found says that spirulina, because it is algae, has large amounts of mercury (the way fish would) and is therfore unsafe. Other things say its fine. As with so much of the information on the web regarding herbal medicines, I'm not sure whether I can trust the source or not. It's also considered a strong cleansing herb, and therefore there are concerns that the toxins would reach the baby. On the flip side, it's high in b vitamins and iron which are both good.... Some people online are somewhat blaming miscarriages on their use of spriulina... Matia says she has never used spriulina on a pregnant patient before.

CHLORELLA: This is also an algae. It's supposed to be a strong detoxing herb - removing metal toxins in particular. Some bring up the same concerns (what if the toxins end up in the baby?) but other suggest that the chlorella binds with the metal toxins and help you expell them. One study suggested that babies of women who took chlorella during pregnancy and lactation were less susceptable to environmental toxins, but I can't find anything to validate the study's claim or to look up the actual source of it.... Also, chlorella is supposed to be rich in folic acid -- which for sure is a good thing, since Matia said taking a folic acid supplement would be very detrimental to me.... so I have to get it where I can. But again the bottle gives strong warnings against use during pregnancy... Matia has never used chlorella for a pregnant patient before.

Since Matia has never used Spirulina or Chlorella for pregnant patients before, I'm suspecting there will be little that can be said on that issue, but I'm REALLY interested in any comments anyone has about their own pregnancies with Matia, and about any of those threee herbs in particular.

Thanks for any words of encouragement or advice on this issue... :)

Hope everyone is dong well!

Erin