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PREGNANCY AND ADDICTION
I am going to post this again. If you are pregnant, know someone who is pregnant, or are thinking about becoming pregnant and have an addiction to opiates, PLEASE read this.
I'm not calling anyone out here but I will say this... the following post comes from experience, extensive research AND actual facts that I received from my peri-natal specialist, who is recognized as one of the country's best and who has been featured in New York Magazine's BEST DOCTORS starting in 2000 all the way up until now and believe me, NY Magazine is an incredibly respected and accredited magazine.
From experience I can tell you that if you are off for at least 8 weeks, your baby will not be born addicted. IF the baby does happen to be born addicted, they can tell right away and you could be in A LOT of trouble because the signs are ridiculously obvious to medical professionals (they are trained to look for it) but IF you are honest about your usgae, you will be ok.
You don't want your baby to go through withdrawals. Although they can easily treat the withdrawals in newborns you don't want to have to medicate your child as soon as they come into the world. Babies who are suffering from withdrawls have trouble eating, sleeping and they have a poor sucking reflex. It's not pretty as they cry excessively and nothing soothes them. You NEED that precious time with your baby to bond, the baby needs it too. It's VITAL which means necessary for life!
I was prescribed pain killers throughout my pregnancy and waened down VERY SLOWLY with the help of my ob/gyn. I had a beautiful, healthy, perfect little girl who continues to thrive and become smarter and smarter by the minute.
I just want to stress to all the pregnant women out there who are using for whatever reason be it legal or not, that you cannot and SHOULD NOT go cold turkey under any circumstances. I don't care what you've been told. I am not tryinkg to be argumentative but frankly, if I can save just one child and mother from the heartache and physical ache of pre-term labor with complications, I will be argumentative!
Cold turkey at any stage, nevermind the later stages of pregnancy, put the mother's body into shock no matter what your usage is and can cause pre term labor and/or miscarriage.
If you are early ini your pregnancy, be honest with your dr and allow him/her to wean you VERY slowly. The drugs that normally would be prescribed to anyone coming off of opiates (valium, xanax, klonopin etc.) are EXTREMELY UNSAFE at any time during your pregnancy. They are all a category X and can and most likely will cause defects or brain activity reduction. So you need to make sure that when you wean that you do it slowly and carefully so that your body does not go through too much stress. It is way better for the mother to be comfortable during this process than it is to go through it quickly.
If you are later on in your pregnancy, again I stress to be honest with your dr. They can and should help you and if you are honest there is less chance of you getting into trouble and having your baby taken away.
If you are so late into your pregnancy that stopping isn't an option, take as little as possible, pray and talk to your dr. Hopefully, it won't be an issue.
I do need to say though that although the pregnancy is obviously important, you need to have some sort of a plan for after the baby is born. Even if you're being prescribed the drugs like I was, you are still addicted physically not to mention mentally and no baby deserves to have an addicted mother. You will need to be on the ball with all of the sleepless nights and crying ahead of you. SO please, talk to a dr., get on suboxone, go to counseling or meetings but whatever you do, get a hold of this problem because you NEVER get those years back and you don't want to be in a fog for the best and most important months of the beautiful babies life where you should be spending your time gazing into their eyes and watching them sleep at night for hours at a time.
May God bless you all and may you all have healthy and happy babies who have a sober and clear headed mother.
I'm not calling anyone out here but I will say this... the following post comes from experience, extensive research AND actual facts that I received from my peri-natal specialist, who is recognized as one of the country's best and who has been featured in New York Magazine's BEST DOCTORS starting in 2000 all the way up until now and believe me, NY Magazine is an incredibly respected and accredited magazine.
From experience I can tell you that if you are off for at least 8 weeks, your baby will not be born addicted. IF the baby does happen to be born addicted, they can tell right away and you could be in A LOT of trouble because the signs are ridiculously obvious to medical professionals (they are trained to look for it) but IF you are honest about your usgae, you will be ok.
You don't want your baby to go through withdrawals. Although they can easily treat the withdrawals in newborns you don't want to have to medicate your child as soon as they come into the world. Babies who are suffering from withdrawls have trouble eating, sleeping and they have a poor sucking reflex. It's not pretty as they cry excessively and nothing soothes them. You NEED that precious time with your baby to bond, the baby needs it too. It's VITAL which means necessary for life!
I was prescribed pain killers throughout my pregnancy and waened down VERY SLOWLY with the help of my ob/gyn. I had a beautiful, healthy, perfect little girl who continues to thrive and become smarter and smarter by the minute.
I just want to stress to all the pregnant women out there who are using for whatever reason be it legal or not, that you cannot and SHOULD NOT go cold turkey under any circumstances. I don't care what you've been told. I am not tryinkg to be argumentative but frankly, if I can save just one child and mother from the heartache and physical ache of pre-term labor with complications, I will be argumentative!
Cold turkey at any stage, nevermind the later stages of pregnancy, put the mother's body into shock no matter what your usage is and can cause pre term labor and/or miscarriage.
If you are early ini your pregnancy, be honest with your dr and allow him/her to wean you VERY slowly. The drugs that normally would be prescribed to anyone coming off of opiates (valium, xanax, klonopin etc.) are EXTREMELY UNSAFE at any time during your pregnancy. They are all a category X and can and most likely will cause defects or brain activity reduction. So you need to make sure that when you wean that you do it slowly and carefully so that your body does not go through too much stress. It is way better for the mother to be comfortable during this process than it is to go through it quickly.
If you are later on in your pregnancy, again I stress to be honest with your dr. They can and should help you and if you are honest there is less chance of you getting into trouble and having your baby taken away.
If you are so late into your pregnancy that stopping isn't an option, take as little as possible, pray and talk to your dr. Hopefully, it won't be an issue.
I do need to say though that although the pregnancy is obviously important, you need to have some sort of a plan for after the baby is born. Even if you're being prescribed the drugs like I was, you are still addicted physically not to mention mentally and no baby deserves to have an addicted mother. You will need to be on the ball with all of the sleepless nights and crying ahead of you. SO please, talk to a dr., get on suboxone, go to counseling or meetings but whatever you do, get a hold of this problem because you NEVER get those years back and you don't want to be in a fog for the best and most important months of the beautiful babies life where you should be spending your time gazing into their eyes and watching them sleep at night for hours at a time.
May God bless you all and may you all have healthy and happy babies who have a sober and clear headed mother.
I am 6 months and 1 week pregnant I have been taking hydrocodon throughout my pregnancy and I have gotten myself down to the last week of taking the final amount of hydro. I will b induced dec 8th of this yr. If this is my last week taking the pills ill have been off these pain killers for 10weeks before my baby gets here. I was wondering if my baby will go through withdrawls when shes born im so scared n just need some kind of assurance. Plez help!
Wow, this really did touch me, this post was written in 2008 its almost 2012 now & I am so greatful to hav read this. I pray many more mothers to b are lucky enough to read this too.
You are certainly right LIFE IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR! Past couple of days I've been considering abortion, it doesn't matter if the father left, I don't care if I will hav a second child b brought into the world with unfortunate circumstances, all babies should hav a chance to live.
It is all worth it in the end.
Faith.
You are certainly right LIFE IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR! Past couple of days I've been considering abortion, it doesn't matter if the father left, I don't care if I will hav a second child b brought into the world with unfortunate circumstances, all babies should hav a chance to live.
It is all worth it in the end.
Faith.
Wow! What a topic.. I have to say as a mother of 2 beautiful kids, that are grown. This whole using while you are carry a baby scares me. I do not understand why you would not tell your Dr?
One ohter point, I know in some states, if you do not tell your dr, and something goes wrong. Not only do they take your baby. But they CAN bring you up on Child indangerment charges or worse..
Thanks for the post. I really hope that it helps someone and their baby...
Lady
One ohter point, I know in some states, if you do not tell your dr, and something goes wrong. Not only do they take your baby. But they CAN bring you up on Child indangerment charges or worse..
Thanks for the post. I really hope that it helps someone and their baby...
Lady
You are absolutely positively right!!! GREAT post.
I really hope it helps at least one person.
:0)
I really hope it helps at least one person.
:0)
Yes, everyone is different but do read up on this subject before you say that regarding pregnancy. Everyone has a right to use, not use, taper or go cold turkey when it has to do with THEM but in pregnancy it IS different.
I am not here to start controversy. I haven't been around in a while but this is a subject I feel very strongly about.
It's not a matter of opinion, personal choice or favorite color. It's a medical FACT.
End of conversation....
PS... Hi Kim!!! :) mwah!!
I am not here to start controversy. I haven't been around in a while but this is a subject I feel very strongly about.
It's not a matter of opinion, personal choice or favorite color. It's a medical FACT.
End of conversation....
PS... Hi Kim!!! :) mwah!!
Like I said, it was just my opinion, but I know a health professional told me to quit taking muscle relaxers when I was pregnant even after I had used them for a while.
And I am sorry Lizzie, but everyone is different, even pregnant, especially pregnant.
And I am sorry Lizzie, but everyone is different, even pregnant, especially pregnant.
there is NO "everyone's different" when it comes to pregnancy and addiction. a slow taper is BEST for the sake of your baby. geeeeeeeeez!!!!!
Lady ,this info came from a professional .You are supposed to taper slowly when pregnant .Ct can cause your body to go into shock pre trerm labor and miscarriage .
Yeah guys, but you have to remember what is best for one may not be best for all.....'We are all different. For some it may be safer to taper than go cold turkey or it may be best to go CT, only a professional can determine that, and they still may mess up. I think it is commendable that some people are ready to get rid of any drugs in their system for the sake of their child. I am sorry, this is just my opinion.
~Susan
~Susan
Great move - to put this post on the health pages. Since I am on the male side of gender I don't have the pregnancy experience that some of you ladies have. If I make one of my humorous comments now I will probably get in trouble - so just "way to go!" that information can now be accessed readily and people can be referred to the post.....
Better yet, put this in the Health Pages. Then people won't have to search you out to read it.
This is great and vital information.
We also have another huge resource here. 1234betterlife, a member here, is a trained RN in OBGYN care. She has helped countless pregnant people here.
This is great and vital information.
We also have another huge resource here. 1234betterlife, a member here, is a trained RN in OBGYN care. She has helped countless pregnant people here.
Great post, when I feel week I read the posts and I feel better because I know I am doing the right thing and it WILL feel better, no matter how much I want it I don't have the right to do that to my child so I will stop I am on my first taper day and so far so good. I just want this to be over. It kills me to hear the concern in my husbands voice and I want to tell him it's over already I wish I could go CT but I am scared but I know I can do this.(made me cry) so I am going to keep plugging away this is only the first day. I am only in my first month of PG
Oh, I cannot agree with the "most important years" and not getting them back, portion. While being pregnant, I would tell my dr. that my back was hurting so badly and they would say the usual, I know, every pregnant lady has back issues. So they were listening to me, yet they weren't. I don't know what could have been done, but yanking me from my job could have saved my back a little bit of the stress it was under. I found out 2-3 months after having her that I had progressive DDD. My discs are the discs of a 75-80 year old, which caused the arthritis. Now, yes, as I could use this as a crutch to go through life on these things, I can't be on them and take them like a normal person would. I did at first and now you can see where I have landed. Back into the arms of such beloved friends, I would trade nothing for you, but oh how I wished I knew what life would be like to not take the pills, not come here and not to know what my mom went through all of those years...
Thanks. It is in my journal and I have and did reference people to it but it went ignored apparently and given the severity and time sensitivity of this subject, I decided to post it once again with the hopes that people would read it and let it sink in.
If anyone knows how hard this is, it's me so there is no judgment. I just get this awful sinking feeling when pregnant mothers to be don't speak honestly and in a no holds barred manner with their medical providers.
One way or another the truth will be discovered. Why not save yourself the trauma of losing your baby or worse yet, having a baby that needs serious medical attention???
sigh......
If anyone knows how hard this is, it's me so there is no judgment. I just get this awful sinking feeling when pregnant mothers to be don't speak honestly and in a no holds barred manner with their medical providers.
One way or another the truth will be discovered. Why not save yourself the trauma of losing your baby or worse yet, having a baby that needs serious medical attention???
sigh......
beth,
I am so sorry .I am glad you have found your way to our forum .There is tons of support here .
Avis :)
I am so sorry .I am glad you have found your way to our forum .There is tons of support here .
Avis :)
you should put this in your journal and we could refer ppl to it. i see this question often, addicted and pregnant help! i know nothing about being addicted and pregnant. well i know about it but not together.
good valuable post.
good valuable post.
I don't even know what to say to you except that if your story can help just one person then it has a purpose. You cannotg get those years back and I'm sure this has affected you in EVERY aspect of your life BUT you are here, alive, and seemingly "well", whatever that means in life. I mean, who is "well"???
BUT, God bless you, really, God BLESS YOU! You must know better than ANYONE that LIFE IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
BUT, God bless you, really, God BLESS YOU! You must know better than ANYONE that LIFE IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
i was born to an addict to opiates and valium and everyother thing they perscribed in th early 60's. not only that my mother continued to give me these to shut me up and knock me out when i was to much for her. she ended up selling me for drugs ...i am only remembering now with therapy. i suffer to this day and ill soon be 50. thank you for the message i wish there was someone around like you when i was little.........
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