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147172 tn?1226758178

To Pregnant Women Addicted

From experience I can tell you that if you are off for at least 4 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 trouble but IF you are honest about your usgae, you will most likely 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.
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.  It puts 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 an 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 gets those years beck 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.
Please PM me if you have any questions.
6 Responses
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218451 tn?1274994552
Thank you, that was interesting, bump this thread!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i just want you know how your words gave me more strenghth and hope.thanks, if you have time will you read my post and help me with any advice that you can, the more support i get the stonger it makes me, i do not feel so alone or weak. GOD BLESS!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
That is a great post, thanks so much!   I do believe that we easily get dependant on stuff.  I know in my case, the fear of pain is worse than anything.  I have woken up at night unable to move certain parts of my body because of pain and words can't describe the fear (I think almost it's like being chased in a bad dream where you can't run away).  

I do agree it's so important to take as little of anything when pregnant.  But, pregnancy does put different strains on the body and for some it's more severe than for others.  Regardless, it's not something a baby should have to deal with at birth.  That is why doctors who do prescribe Vicodin will say not to take it in the last trimester if at all possible.

Hopefully the poster will either talk to her doctor or wean down alot on her own.  In my case, knowing how my doctor feels about medication, I will wean and somehow deal with the pain especially as it gets closer to my due date.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
That is a great post, thanks so much!   I do believe that we easily get dependant on stuff.  I know in my case, the fear of pain is worse than anything.  I have woken up at night unable to move certain parts of my body because of pain and words can't describe the fear (I think almost it's like being chased in a bad dream where you can't run away).  

I do agree it's so important to take as little of anything when pregnant.  But, pregnancy does put different strains on the body and for some it's more severe than for others.  Regardless, it's not something a baby should have to deal with at birth.  That is why doctors who do prescribe Vicodin will say not to take it in the last trimester if at all possible.

Hopefully the poster will either talk to her doctor or wean down alot on her own.  In my case, knowing how my doctor feels about medication, I will wean and somehow deal with the pain especially as it gets closer to my due date.  
Helpful - 0
147172 tn?1226758178
Thank you!!
I felt it was important to let them know they weren't alone and I  wanted to touch on everything because each post from these women covers different things.  I also wanted to touch onthe aftercare because being a sober mother is really the only way to be.
Helpful - 0
271792 tn?1334979657
Excellent post!!!!!!!
Helpful - 0
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