35 wks pregnant and addicted to hydrocodone

[megbear]

I'm 17 and 3d wks pregnant with my 1st baby. I have been addicted to Lortab (hydrocodone) for about 18 months. I tried to stop when I found out I was pregnant but I had no support considering my mother and babys father are also addicted to painkillers. I was cutting down until I had oral surgery in late July to have my wisdom teeth extracted and they prescribed me 30 7.5 mg Lortabs then I got dry socket so they prescribed me 20 more 7.5s. Is it to late to taper off of the painkillers so my daughter wont have to go threw the pain of withdrawal after she is born? What are the effects these pills have on her and also will the hospital drug test me or her when she is born or do they only do that if she shows signs of withdrawal? Will CPS get involved if she does have the drug in her system even though my OB knew that I was prescribed these pills numerous times during my pregnancy? He has no idea about my addiction but he knows I have taken these throughout my pregnancy. Would I be able to tell them that I didnt take all of the pain pills when I had my surgery and I started hurting really bad from my migraines (he knowsI have bed migraines) and I started taking them becuase tylenol wasnt working, after all they are prescribed. I live in Oklahoma if that makes a difference into whether CPS will get involved or not. If I stop the pills now will they still be in her system at birth?

[janet19]

I am sure someone will come along that can answer your questions. I have not idea what will happen during the rest of your pregnancy to your baby or if there will or will not be withdraw. If it were me I would be coming clean with my OB doctor so they can do some test and be prepared to test you baby at the time of birth. He would be the best to answer your questions. I would not hesitate for the health of your baby is at stake. Stop now if you want you baby to be healthy and normal. I know you are young but you should have known better then to subject your baby to this. If you are worried now you definitely knew when you were popping the pills. Please take the responsibility of taking control of your childs health before it is born. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope your baby will not suffer for your  mistakes. I have a 15 yr old granddaughter who could end up pregnant and I would tell her the same thing I am telling you and pull no slack for her.

[dominosarah]

Please DONT just stop taking the pills.  That can cause premature labor.  You need to be very honest with your OB and tell him everything.  This is more common than you think with addiction.  Dont be ashamed, just be honest~~~~~~sara

[janet19]

I am not saying to go turkey. I am only saying to go be up front and honest with your OB. I did mean to insinuate that you should just stop without talking to OB doctor first. I am not saying to be ashamed to have and addiction problem. Just be a responsible enough person to do what you need to do for your baby. talk to doctor please.

[10356]

sorry Janet I hate to refute what you wrote but you told her to stop taking them now.. not only does that put her baby at risk but it also puts the mother at risk for seizures.. before dispensing advice I would research what you are talking about.. as far as addiction and her knowing better I do not think you have room to talk.. we are all addicts. as for your above post You should have known better.. does not feel to hot does it.. listen to sara megbear and be honest with your Dr. He knows your history better then any of us on the forum.. be honest ok You will find support and a plan I wish the very best for you and your baby.. lesa

[janet19]

I did tell her I would be coming clean with my OB doctor and that he would be best to answer her questions and I would not hesitate for the sake of her baby. Does that sound like I was trying to hurt her. You can accuse me of saying stop now, but these words above went along with that. I would of told my granddaughter the same thing. Where did I say not to talk with OB doctor and I said nothing about being ashamed to have an addiction problem. I just thought I would clarify the facts that Sara said, because I realized that I did not mention addiction.  

[10356]

Stop now if you want you baby to be healthy and normal.
I know you are young but you should have known better
need I say more ??

[janet19]

Ok I am not arguing with you and I don't want enemies. I would stop for my baby to be healthy. I was pregnant at 16 and I did not use a tylenol while I was pregnant. Life is not worth arguing it is too short. I don't need any other troubles in my life. You have a good evening.

[mrlnamarie]

I forgot to say this..........I am tired of running out of my meds early.  Is there such a thing as being able to take them as directed, especially when you know they help?  

[worried878]

The amount of pills u stated above will be long gone by the time ur baby is here?
Do u get them elsewhere?
If u r planning to stretch out the pills u stated for 9 months..i would have no fear of being busted for having an addicted baby

If u take more//buy them and plan to seek them throughout ur pregnancy..then that is a different story.  I am a nurse and if ur baby is born with signs of narc wd..they will look into it for sure..perhaps the RX u have legally will be enuf if it is written for a bunch per day...30-60 a mth is not gonna explain ur baby writhing and suffering in the neonatal ward

It may be time to make a decision..u sound as if u use intermittantly..not an everyday user???  I could have perceived this post wrong but if u intermittantly use reasonable doses thru ur pregnancy under a drs care
u should be fine..and ur baby as well

If this is not the case, u may need to get things under control as many would feel awful inflicting an involuntary addiction upon an unborn human being..getting caught would not be the soul or most important issue if this is the case for most moms...it is the damage one inflicts upon their baby..
Addiction has a way of twisting our priorities tho...and is what makes this disease so dangerous

[loveJwhite]

It is not too late at seventeen weeks to taper down to a safer dose for the baby. I had to come clean with my doctor and she really helped me- I was taking up to 10 7.5 vicodin a day up to 23 weeks...she got me down to two pills per day by the time I delivered. My baby girl didn't suffer any withdrawals.....you are only at 17 weeks, you have time to get down to zero pills before delivery. Talk to your doctor, I know it is scary, I remember. Call on Monday!

[loveJwhite]

Oh my..I read wrong. You are 35 weeks! How many are you taking in a day? I'm so sorry I misread.

[megbear]

I take about 4-5 7.5mgs a day and I do buy them off the street as well as my mom and boyfriend.

[loveJwhite]

Check your inbox, I found some information that may be useful.

[vicki595]

Hi Hon~~    Just want to be very clear for you...

DO NOT STOP THE PILLS    DO NOT TAPER THE PILLS

CALL YOUR OB IN THE MORNING AND BE COMPLETELY HONEST ABOUT EVERYTHING.  THE DOCTOR CAN AND WILL HELP YOU      BUT FOR YOUR SAFETY AND FOR THE BABY, YOU NEED TO TELL THE DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY.

[megbear]

What will my OB do? Will he call CPS? I just dont want them to take my daughter away! Can I just tell him when I had my surgery I didnt take all the pills they gave me and I still had quite a bit left and I started hurting so I started taking them again?

[dominosarah]

megbear, just be honest with your OB and it will be okay.  If they find out otherwise then CPS will be called.  That is why we are telling you to be honest with him as then there wont be any surprises when you give birth.  It will be okay, just do this for the baby and yourself.....sara

[megbear]

Even if I did tell him what would be the difference in him finding out now then after I deliver. I mean I still used the pills while I was pregnant regardless if I told him or not its still against the law. If I tell him whats going on then he will most likely still call CPS

[mosaic9skye]

ok, this is from experiance, my experiance. i was on heroin. i was on cocain . i was on pills. i was smokin crack. then i bacame pregnant. i was told by my doc not to come off the opiates because the baby can die before  hes even born... and hed have problems if he was born.
yes, i came off the cocain and crack.... and the heroin and the pills.
i was put on methadone. methadone is used to treat opioid dependency as a detox or a maintenance drug. i was on so much heroin and pills prior to, that my dose that was needed for me to maintain(stay sober with no cravings or withdrawl symptoms), was super high. and i too was super high. i was nodding out and everything. not cool when youre pregnant. but all they were concerned about was that it was a prescribed medicine...not off the street(so they knew it was safe, unlike street drugs that can be tampered with or mixed with harmful chemicals or ingrediants).
i had my baby boy through c section. he was born healthy but he did show signs of methadone withdrawl like 3 days later.he was in the nicu for almost a month. they also had to test his poop to make sure he didnt have any other drugs in his system. i live in pennsylvania.children and youth are required to get involved if you are on a maintenance drug such as methadone when you are pregnant. thsy dont have a case....but they do a "watch" for 3 months...basically to see if you are fit to be a mother  =   not using(esp around the baby), shelter, food, crib, clothing...etc.
i relapsed. i gave my son to my parents for temporary til i got my **** together. i got prego again. i got on methadone again. i got into a severe car accident. totaled my ford explorer, flipped over an embankment, got ejected from the vehicle and landed on my stomach on a rock....pregnant. i was taken to 2 hospitals and finally a third because my injuries were severe and i was only about 4.5 months along. i had head injury, 3 broken ribs, a broken foot, i had a collapsed lung, and then a clogged artery. then, my placenta ruptured. i had to have my baby early by c section. he was so tiny.it hurts.he was born blind. he has heart and lung problems...so he has a heart monitor and a breathing machine. i tried to be out there with him as much as possible.he was in a childrens hospital a few hours away from where i lived.he was in  for a few months because he was born prematurely. back then, in that time of my life. i thought the best thing for him...was not me. i was afraid of relapsing again. he needed so much medical attention, that i couldnt afford. i found him good parents that wanted him and they wer able to give him a better life. i hate myself now. i want to see him. it hurts. not a day goes by that i dont think of him.
f ck methadone. it got me high. i was nodding from it. i got in a car accident on it. and look at what happened. i relapsed twice afterwards.
i went on suboxone. i got pregnant. stayed on suboxone while pregnant. i had my baby boy and he was healthy. he had very little withdrawl. nothing big.he only stayed in the nicu for 1 week compared to my other childs 4 weeks. once again, children and youth had to get involved to do their monitoring on me.and yes, i passed with flying colors. they actually recommended for me to stay on the suboxone.i am doing very well with the suboxone maintanence. i am still on suboxone now. i dont nod. i dont have cravings. i have no withdrawls. i did not relapse. its been two years and i havent touched anything but the suboxone that i am prescribed.
i would never recommend methadone to anyone because of my experiance with it.i hightly recommend suboxone/subutex though..but to each their own i guess.
but listen dont worry about getting in trouble. as long as you do this out of care and concern for the baby BEFORE  you have him they cant reprimend you for it(you wont go to jail or get a charge or have your baby taken). so what if they have to come by your home  every few weeks or whatever. your babys safety is worth it.  if you wait til after you have the baby and then your baby is having withdrawl symptoms and tests possitive for pills or whatever.... then i dont want to be you. its too late to save your baby and yourself. that shows you were using and didnt care about the babys safety/health(well being).
trust me, talk to the doc.call a suboxone doctor... actually some pre=baby docs can prescribe it to you if they are licensed to. and its free when you are prego.well, thats all i got for now. im tired. g'night

[bmdad]

Lets say you do not tell your OB and continue on with your pregnancy. Lets say you continue to taper down on your own but just can't seem to get past those last few pills a day or you go into labor before you are done with your own taper. You go to the hospital, have your baby, and they notice the baby is crying more than normal. If they see anything out of the ordinary they will drug test. I have also heard they drug test nowadays regardless. You will then look like an addict mother that only cared about the high and could care less about the gift you were given. If you couldn't care for yourself when your baby was inside of you how could you care for you and a baby at the same time? CPS will be called. (This is just a general scenario. I know you care about your baby more than the high and want nothing but the best. I was just trying to show how they might look at it. If you didn't care you wouldn't be here asking for advice).
Now lets say you go to your OB tomorrow and fess up to having a problem. You aren't the first one that has done this before. I think you'd be surprised at the numbers. Doing this will give the doctor a chance to take extra precautions. It will give him/her a chance to help you taper off in a way that will not harm you or your baby. They will have no reason to call CPS because you are looking out for the health of your unborn child. So, instead of looking like an addict that has an addiction and cares about nothing except getting high you now look like the caring compassionate mother that you are. It shows you will go above and beyond to take care of your child without regards to how you are looked at. It will show that you are a great mother and person that not only wants to better your child's life but also your own. CPS does not want to rip apart a family but they will if they feel the mother or father is unfit to be a parent. An addict is not unfit to care for a child. An addict that is in active abuse may be especially if they don't take the child's best interest to heart. CPS will not take your baby away for being an addict that is taking the proper steps to get help. Talking to your doctor will just prove that you are a responsible mother.
There have been numerous people that have been pregnant that have came on here asking for the same advice. The same advice is always given. They usually come back saying that they were so glad that talked to their OB. The stress lifted and they were properly tapered off the medication and were able to be monitored and have the fetus monitored at the same time. You have to be a little more cautious when tapering while pregnant so this is another reason to get your OB on board. Talk to them. Everything will be okay.

[gettingthere23]

i didnt read al the post so sorry if i repeat something but i too was on lortab 7.5 while i was pregnant and yes my dr knew it because that is when i started my 2 1/2yr binge when i was pregnant and prescripted painkillers i dont even remember why,but here is the thing about any kind of opiate while you are pregnant it is proven that opiates dont really make it too much into the babies bloodstream unless you are shooting them up,and even a dr will tell you NOT to just quit taking the pills,even if you were in rehab/jail anything they would have you taking methadone because your wds could actually kill your baby,i was scared about the same thing about cps being called if they did a drug test and because you are a minor (under 18) they might test your placenta so when you're in there before you deliver you'll have all that paperwork to fill out just make sure you TELL THEM you were taking lortabs they will ask you why? when? all that if you have a prescription there is nothing they can do,but i HIGHLY suggest trying to get some help BEFORE your daughter is born,while i was pregnant my body could only handle ONE 7.5 a day thats a half in the morning and half at night,but as soon as i gave birth well actually i was fine until i got home for some reason i did NOT detox even though before i gave birth i did,(maybe you wil have the same luck and choose to be smarter than i was) so anyways yea then when i got home from the hospital 3days later (still not wd) i decided to take some lortabs/vicodins only i didnt feel the 1/2 anymore so i took a whole ,still not enough and so on and so on,and before i knew it im sitting here today recoveing from i think every opiate there is i've done AFTER my daughter was born,luckily for me her father has been here and she is still young so i have time to fix it but even something awlful i hate admitting but the lortabs made me numb of course i love my daughter BUT it was different when i was on pills it wasnt the same and since i quit taking the pills i am so much closer to her its like i did NOT have mothering bond with her because of the opiates,and now we couldnt be closer,so my advice is at least now if all you can do is go to meetings and counseling,DO IT even if you're still on the pills maybe it will help you jump start your recovery so that way after your baby is here you can get better FOR YOU,then she can have a great life,this story touched me so much because i remember being there and being a young pregnant mom to be,on drugs and trust me you dont want to be a mother and a drug addict its not something easily balanced,i promise you its so much better clean but you being pregnant i know that you can NOT just quit,tell your dr if your embarressed tell her that you just finished up ur prescroption and now you feel sick and you looked it up online and its saying you are having wds,she or he will be able to help you that way maybe you can get clean before you become a mom.........i really with all my heart wish you the best of luck and am so sorry you are going through this,stay strong we all believe in you,even when you dont believe in yourself the people on here believe in you,you can do this (when its safe for your baby) but other than that your baby should NOT experience any wds because like i said i guess that opiates dont get into their bloodstream UNLESS you shoot up,so your baby should be happy and healthy will probably have a lower birth weight nothing serious not like too low or anything,but anyways was on my way to bed when i seen this and had to reach out,good luck sweetheart!!

[mosaic9skye]

by the way... to answer your question
"Even if I did tell him what would be the difference in him finding out now then after I deliver. I mean I still used the pills while I was pregnant regardless if I told him or not its still against the law. If I tell him whats going on then he will most likely still call CPS "
finding out now, your doc can help you and your baby. dont try to figure this out on your own, many women have been through this...you are not alone.you will not get into trouble if you ask for help. by asking for help, you are being responsible and taking action to ensure your babys wellbeing. if you are scared or worrying that he will take you off the pills...im sure he wont. he will most likely monitor you and the baby(keep an eye out to make sure you aren't on too low of  a dose that you go through withdrawl...or too high of a dose...).he may try to taper you down slowly so it is safe for the baby.he may take you off them and get you into the methadone clinic or put you on a suboxone program.he will take care of both of you. this is actually the best time to come clean about needing help. its hard to get off opiates...or anything your addicted to. but when you know that there is a little baby counting on you to survive... it can change your life. your baby cant have a good life unless you are willing to fix your own. it starts with you. and it can start now. youd be amazed at how many people are willing to help a pregnant women especially one that is strong enough to ask for help. dont get me wrong, some people just wont understand how you could have been on a substance while pregnant. alot of people will never understand addiction. even more dont understand recovery.. let them pass. you can get so much help when your baby is born also. please just be willing and open minded to accept it. where i live, cys (not cps here), is called if you are prescribed methadone or suboxone. as long as you are getting help and told your doctor its not an open case... but it is a case review to see if you are fit to be a mother to your child. its usually three months. they get info on your past and present... and want to see that you have the necessities to care for your child(shelter, food, clothing, crib, diapers,etc).they make sure you have a recovery plan for your addiction, or relapse prevention plan, or they can help you find and get treatment. i know they are kinda scary and powerful because they are able to take your baby away...and drug test you  and whatever... but they actually try to keep families together. not take em apart. they can and will help you if you let them.
like i said in my other post to you... if you dont say anything, and your baby has withdrawl or they just happen to drug test the baby and it comes back positive...then you will have an open case with cps. they can have your baby taken away from you. you can get a charge. and trust me, you wont like seeing your baby suffer, when this can all be prevented. you will not feel good about yourself. not to mention... what if you run out of pills ...if you go through withdrawls while pregnant you can lose your baby.
always keep in mind that your baby is a part of you. what you eat, what you drink, what you smoke, everything you do...you are doing with your baby. even your emotions, how you feel,...the sounds around you...your voice...your baby is intune to you.

[loveJwhite]

I might get slammed for this, but some of the answers we are giving her are probably scaring her to death and stressing her out even more. She is 17, pregnant and surrounded by addicts at home. There has to be some better advice we could give her. Couldn't she just tell her doctor she had some of the pills left over from her prescription and has been taking them lately. I don't know. This is such a delicate situation. I want to help you. Is the doctor you are seeing a very caring and supportive doctor?

[Danny111]

There are two real advantages to telling your doctor about the pills now versus having him find out after the baby is delivered.  The first one is that he will help you do what is safest and healthiest for your baby.  Doing what is right for your child is obviously the right thing to do.  The addiction makes us think of any reason that will make it ok for us to continue using.  The idea that you may as well keep using since you've used so far and he'll find out anyhow is just the pills talking.

Another reason for coming clean now is that it will be you stepping forward on your own rather than the doctors finding out.  It's always better in terms of consequences if you come forward yourself.  Your doctor will be much less inclined to call CPS if you come forward now and ask for help than he would be if he finds out on his own without you telling him.

Please please talk to your doctor.  You'll feel a lot better afterwards.  

I'm sorry you're going through this with so little support.  It must be very hard.  Keep coming here and posting and please try to find an NA or AA meeting or somewhere similar you can go and talk to other folks who've gone through this.

[vicki595]

Meg~   Tell your doctor today. Just call them.  They won't call the police or CPS. They'll know exactly what to do. They've seen this type of thing more times than you realize.

Be honest. Tell him about the dentist and the dental problems; about the addiction all around you...Be sure he knows how much you take per day. He'll take care of you...
Believe me HE wants you and the baby healthy also!!

Just know,when you do go into labor and enter the hospital,the staff will draw your blood and test for substances. It's standard practice for every Mom.  It's better for you if the doctor knows beforehand. It's the best thing you can do.

Call now and let us know...

Vicki