Folic Acid: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Folic Acid is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for megaloblastic anemia and folic acid deficiency. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats (across its forms)
- Megaloblastic Anemia and Folic Acid Deficiency
- Available as
- Solution · Tablet
- Sold as
- 2 products — Folic Acid and Quiofic
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $0.58 for a 30-count supply — not your price
How folic acid is dosed
From the FDA label for Folic Acid (application ANDA211064). Other folic acid products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Oral administration is preferred. Although most patients with malabsorption cannot absorb food folates, they are able to absorb folic acid given orally. Parenteral administration is not advocated but may be necessary in some individuals (e.g., patients receiving parenteral or enteral alimentation). Doses greater than 0.1 mg should not be used unless anemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency has been ruled out or is being adequately treated with a cobalamin. Daily doses greater than 1 mg do not enhance the hematologic effect, and most of the excess is excreted unchanged in the urine. The usual therapeutic dosage in adults and children (regardless of age) is up to 1 mg daily. Resistant cases may require larger doses. When clinical symptoms have subsided and the blood picture has become normal, a daily maintenance level should be used, i.e., 0.1 mg for infants and up to 0.3 mg for children under 4 years of age, 0.4 mg for adults and children 4 or more years of age, and 0.8 mg for pregnant and lactating women, but never less than 0.1 mg/day. Patients should be kept under close supervision and adjustment of the maintenance level made if relapse appears imminent. In the presence of alcoholism, hemolytic anemia, anticonvulsant therapy, or chronic infection, the maintenance level may need to be increased.
Folic Acid side effects
Allergic sensitization has been reported following both oral and parenteral administration of folic acid. Folic acid is relatively nontoxic in man. Rare instances of allergic responses to folic acid preparations have been reported and have included erythema, skin rash, itching, general malaise, and respiratory difficulty due to bronchospasm. One patient experienced symptoms suggesting anaphylaxis following injection of the drug. Gastrointestinal side effects, including anorexia, nausea, abdominal distention, flatulence, and a bitter or bad taste, have been reported in patients receiving 15 mg folic acid daily for 1 month. Other side effects reported in patients receiving 15 mg daily include altered sleep patterns, difficulty in concentrating, irritability, overactivity, excitement, mental depression, confusion, and impaired judgment. Decreased vitamin B12 serum levels may occur in patients receiving prolonged folic acid therapy. In an uncontrolled study, orally administered folic acid was reported to increase the incidence of seizures in some epileptic patients receiving phenobarbital, primidone, or diphenylhydantoin. Another investigator reported decreased diphenylhydantoin serum levels in folate-deficient patients receiving diphenylhydantoin who were treated with 5 mg or 15 mg of folic acid daily.
Who shouldn’t take folic acid
Folic acid is contraindicated in patients who have shown previous intolerance to the drug.
Folic Acid drug interactions
There is evidence that the anticonvulsant action of phenytoin is antagonized by folic acid. A patient whose epilepsy is completely controlled by phenytoin may require increased doses to prevent convulsions if folic acid is given. Folate deficiency may result from increased loss of folate, as in renal dialysis and/or interference with metabolism (e.g., folic acid antagonists such as methotrexate); the administration of anticonvulsants, such as diphenylhydantoin, primidone, and barbiturates; alcohol consumption and, especially, alcoholic cirrhosis; and the administration of pyrimethamine and nitrofurantoin. False low serum and red cell folate levels may occur if the patient has been taking antibiotics, such as tetracycline, which suppress the growth of Lactobacillus casei.
Every folic acid product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Prescription | Solution | Generic | $1 | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Solution | Generic | $1 | View → |
Combination products containing folic acid
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
What people report to the FDA about folic acid
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 260,420 reports naming folic acid, and the FDA flagged 74% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- fatigue24,701 reports
- arthralgia20,426 reports
- rheumatoid arthritis18,061 reports
- nausea16,918 reports
- diarrhoea15,308 reports
- headache15,270 reports
- rash14,355 reports
- dyspnoea14,334 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean folic acid caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is folic acid?
Folic Acid is a medication used to treat Megaloblastic Anemia, Folic Acid Deficiency.
Can you take folic acid with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run folic acid against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is folic acid sold under?
We track 2 folic acid-containing products in the U.S.: Folic Acid and Quiofic. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does folic acid come in?
Across the brands we track, folic acid is currently marketed as solution and tablet, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic folic acid?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic folic acid product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Folic Acid: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/folic-acid
- MLA
- “Folic Acid: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/folic-acid.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for folic acid on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.