Does Everyone With Sickle Cell Need a Folic Acid Supplement?

Omg yes! Finally someone spoke up on this. After doing my research on folate vs folic acid, I decided to use a multivitamin with methyl folate in it instead. And I'm also tired of drs using a one size fits all approach to his care plan.

Dear Somi, I fully agree with you on personalising treatment for sickle cell patient due to individual difference in terms of human health. I am 63 and suffer from haemoglobin HB Sc siclke disease; took folic acid in the 80's but immediately realised, the side effect of pain in my sheen and kind of numbess so stop and have since not looked back. On the contrary, my sister 55 also HB Sc haemoglobin like myself with similar sickle retinopathy problems takes folic acid daily with no side effects. Nutrition is key to a healthy lifestyle and longevity ... as my belated mother who has just departed from us aged 93 on the 12 of July 2021 would say; "our body shows what we eat".
People in medical school are not taught nutrition as a form of treatment for health problems so they come out as General Practitioners with very little knowledge on the subject. Medical doctors who work collaboratively by listening to their patients are the ones that make less mistakes.

The medical profession which started out based on a relationship between a doctor and his patient has been devisted from. As a 63 year old sickle cell patient,

I am a Haematologist and I completely agree with the author of the above column. Not all pacient needs supplementation of folic acid. It always depends on patient's ingestion of vegetables. And I see colleagues incrising doses of folic acid in patients with pain crisis as if it would make any good for them. I found this column very appropriate in order to prevent over use of folic acid.

Thanks for this post on folic acid. It's importance is not in doubt, however, it is crucial to note, that the recommended daily use is far less than is prescribed most times; so we need to consider that. A daily intake of 400 micrograms is just ok. There is a popular brand in my country that has 5mg strength. For me, that is quite outrageous and worrisome with respect to the unpleasant effects highlighted by Somi.
Another consideration is the fact that we, in Africa, tend to overcook our veggies, and the first to get "burnt up", is folate; so proper advice with respect to properly cooked meals, and other alternatives, will also help.
Thanks

just saw this...but Most Doctors recommend Folic Acid at the snap of their fingers

I could not agree more with your statement "But I don’t know why supplementing is a blanket approach and why medical professionals don’t suggest diet as the primary folate source for people without deficiencies who can eat healthy diets." As a woman living with Sickle Cell I am tired of this mold doctors place us Sickle Cell patients into. If I kept doing what they told me with Penicillin VK, Folic Acid, Hydroxyurea, and the pain medications up until this point, I would be sick more often than not. I had to change the way I ate, and although we cannot run from every chemical they put into the food we eat via pesticides etc. I do the best I can. And since doing things outside of the the Sickle Cell protocol I have been able to decrease hospitalizations dramatically, and not all on my own but with the aide of my holistic practitioner. I do take methyl combo that contains both folate in its most absorbable form and Vitamin B12. Penicillin left my gut health in a wreck and Hydroxyurea has changed my hair growth behavior and manageability a big headache. But I am thankful for those that have helped me and listened to me along the way. Medical doctors in western medicine are not properly trained in nutrition, they are taught how to manage disease with medications and not with what the body is naturally capable of doing nor using nature and all that the Creator provides that works with the body to heal it. I remember once I asked the doctor if I can take Liquid Chlorophyll while I was recovering from a Crisis. It is good for cleansing the blood and building the blood up, as I do not take blood transfusions, she/he said no. I did not comply, kept the bottle in the fridge in my room and added a tablespoon to my pitcher of water everyday (could not see through the pitcher) and also ate the healthiest options and raw veggies from the patient's menu and eat up all the fruit and veggies I could, walked and did my incentive spirometer as directed and made sure to get up out of that bed to expand my lungs and breathe as a lot of the times Sickle Cell patients go in for treatment of a Crisis and end up with Respiratory infection ( due to decreased lung expansion- being in bed, not utilizing incentive spirometry as directed and pain medications that make the lungs "lazy" for a lack of lay man's terms to fully expand and breathe in the O2 supplementation via nasal cannula). I understand everyone's Sickle Cell Anemia/Disease effects each one of us differently but with proper care , rest, nutrition, and stress control and realizing too much drama in life can trigger a Crisis, doctors have a long long long way to go before they will ever "get it!" I don't care how smart you are, that makes persons haughty, and too big for their britches, not caring about the patient and just wanting to rub their own egos of knowledge while your patient is suffering through and through, disgusting!!

My son is 10 and he has sickle cell anemia Hb ss. I should be used to it by now but we are still struggling, I feel lost and sometimes angry to be unable to help my child and most of the times the doctors too have no idea, they don't know what to do, and just try few recipes hoping that something will work. it is hard for me to follow a diet, my son is a picky eater and I just give him a supplement every day.

We are the foods to give to a sickle cell patient instead of folic acid

Good day ma, my 2years 5month, boy is a sickle cell please how can I manage it.

Am 30 and my sister is 16 how can we manage our health