How Long Before A Folic Acid Blood Test Should Supplements Be Discontinued?

Posted on Wed, 24 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 Answered on

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : How long before doing a folic acid blood test should I stop taking supplements and B complex supplement for accurate results?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Muhammad Sareer Khalil (53 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Straight away or 3 day break

Detailed Answer:
Hello and Welcome

I appreciate your concern

1) For folic acid , serum levels fluctuate with supplementation. Hence you should ask for RBC Folate levels that aren't affected by acute rise and fall and is a better test.

2) For B 12 , if the MMA ( Methyl malonic acid ) and Homocysteine are normal then even lower range B 12 are acceptable and don't require further treatment.

You can get tested for both straight away or after 3 days break from the supplement.

Wishing you best of health

Thanks

Please consult your doctor before deciding on any further course of action.

For future follow up / correspondence you may ask me directly at the link given below

http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/Funnel?page=askDoctorDirectly&docId=68107

Dr. M.S. Khalil

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar