opiate addiction

I am now around 4 months pregnant.  Several mobths prior to becoming pregnant I started taking roxicodone 30 mg, tramadol, and suboxone to try and get over the addiction. I am not taking it as much now. But I still worry as to what can happen to the baby. I seen forums where other people speak of the baby having "withdrawl (withdrawal)" syptoms (symptoms). What are the symptoms and how serious can it get, if I stopped now. Please answer me.

[Ashelen]

You should not stop cold turkey. You need to tell your OB everything. He or she will work with you to deliver a healthy baby, but he needs to know the extent of your drug use in all honesty.

Most hospitals do routine drug screens at birth and can pick up drug use from approximately 10wks of pregnancy to the end, depending on when you deliver, so there's pretty much no way that you won't get caught. If you show up positive for drug use and your OB did not know, you can get into a world of trouble.

HOWEVER if you are honest with your OB, he can come up with a plan to safely manage your addiction through the rest of your pregnancy and will monitor to make sure baby is healthy and everything is going smoothly. But he has to know about the drugs to help you! He does NOT want to get you in trouble, he just wants a healthy baby and a healthy you.

So do not stop or start taking ANYTHING, be honest with your OB immediately, and go from there. I can't count how many addicted mothers I've spoken to over the years, and every time they are honest with their doctor, the outcome is always good; the baby goes home with mommy, and mommy and baby are well taken care of. The ONLY time I've ever heard a bad ending was when a mom tried to cover up her drug usage and wasn't honest.

Best wishes, just take a deep breath and speak to your doctor. getting in trouble would be a small price to pay to make sure you are doing the best thing for your baby, and only your doctor can help you come up with the safest plan for the baby. But I do not think you will get in trouble, so just talk to your doc and see how it goes!