pregnant/percocet/oxycodone

[hawaiiii]

I am 30 wks preg. and was originally prescribed about 20 percocets (5/325) week for my migraines.  I have a history of addiction, and even mentioned it to the doctor.  Before long I was taking the whole bottle in 2 days.  I get 4 or 5 migraines/week, and the dr. says no imitrex.  As luck would have it a friend quit taking her extended release oxycodone and percocets, and gave me literally hundreds of each: percocet 10/325, oxycodone extended release 20 mg.  I started taking more and noticed that if i just take a lot every day, I don't ever get a migraine, at all.  So I'd say I'm taking btween 80-100 mg. total a day.  Last week I tried to stop, because I am getting close to my due date and don't want to have a baby born addicted.  Well the withdrawals were awful.  I called a hospital and the nurse said it was dangerous for the baby, that I ought to be admitted to taper, but that I had to call my obgyn and come clean with him so he could refer me.  So I called him, told him the deal, and he basically just said, "Oh you'll be fine.  You'll feel like you have the flu for a few days and then you'll be fine.  Don't take other people's medicine anymore."  I argued for a bit, said, "But listen, I'm taking like a hundred mg. a day, I'm seriously in withdrawals." And he said, "You might just have a flu.  Percocet isn't that bad, its not like you're taking heroin or oxycontin."  So, obviously he's an idiot because percocet is oxycodone, and so is oxycontin, right?  So he won't refer me for any program.  And of course, I've got a ton of pills left, I don't know, probably ten 20 mg. extended release, and 25 5 mg percocet.  I anyone's help on how to taper myself without going crazy.  Plus, I don't even know if I have the willpower to do it.  I'm sure once I stop taking them I'll be slammed with chronic migraines again.  And yes, I feel horrible self loathing over the poor little medicated baby I'm carrying.  If I can manage to quit, will he be OK? have I ruined his little liver and brain.  I'm so depressed, any help appreciated.

[MissBecca24]

OK one thing at a time..... Take a deep breath, You DEFF if nothing else need to taper. It could really hurt the baby to go cold turkey!!!! DONT DO THAT. But you need to atleast try to makeit to where this little angel isnt born with alot of problems, Not trying to scare you but if the withdrawls are bad on us what would it do to a little baby????? You dont want that and thats why you came here!!! Im here day or night! I have been there and thank God my little girl was born ok. I wasnt taking that much but Iwas still scared. I will help you make a plan to taper if you want . Im here day or night if you need to talk. Just try to come here before you take on a whim!!! if you arent hurting try really hard not to take it!!! Hang in there sweetie it gets better

Becca

[allaboutmary]

There are many here pregnant and addicted. So you are not alone.  I also heard it is dangerous to detox while pregnant. I don't know much about tapering but if you go to Fladdict's name and click on it. It will take you into her profile. I believe she has alot of information on tapering.  Keep reading on here you will learn alot and keep us posted.  Don't be to rough on yourself. I have heard many posts on here  where babies were just fine.

[ready2Bfree]

  I am also pregnant and although I am not addicted to Oxycodone, I have been taking hydrocodone ( Vicodin) off and on throughout most of this pregnancy.

  This is something I NEVER thought I'd be capable of. With my other two kids', I would refuse to even take a tylenol or drink any caffeine. But I was hooked before my pregnancy and no matter how hard I have tried, I still relapse and go back.

   I am 34 weeks pregnant and am in fear of the same thing as you; that my poor baby will born addicted. Right now, I am going on day 2 of no meds. The sad thing is that I know if I had access to them right now, I would take one.

   The only thing I can offer you right now is prayers and let you know you aren't alone.

  It's tough enough to deal with the overwhelming guilt knowing you are messing up yourself, but knowing an innocent baby is now involved is almost too much to bear.

  I know this is a very tough thing to bear, and I pray for your total freedom and for mine.

[hawaiiii]

Thanks for your comments r2bf.  I have another child as well, and same as you, not even a caffeinated beverage.  I'm going to try to see one of these addictionologists, making sure he/she is also a psychiatrist.  I think my problem is compounded by the fact that, unlike you, I find no comfort in prayer or god or anything.  Basically, other than the highlights; my child, the people I like, a few hobbies, I think life is a pretty crappy deal.  In fact I find it rather insane that others walk around, sober, smiling as each day brings them closer to death.  But beside that, by no means does that give me the right to ruin this new human's shot at being a happy, optimistic person.  I really need to figure out a tapering program and stick to it.  That cold turkey thing is a living hell, I'm so sorry you're going through it now.  I hear it'll be a lot better in a couple more days, not that that's much comfort now.  

[hawaiiii]

Any help on a tapering program would be appreciated.  Can I email you?  

[indenial687]

No advice, but I wish you all the best and hope that you have a very healthy baby.

[MissBecca24]

I sent you a message back! my word    reading your posts is  like reading   me!!! scary! but good!! we will get through this! email me anytime!!

Love
Becca

[girlybuff]

If it's any consolation I was prescribed percs throughout my entire pregnancy by my peri-natal specialist and I took them up until 2 weeks before delivery and my DD was born healthy and strong and not addicted.  I know women who have to take them up until the day of delivery and ther5after and still they have had healthy babies without addiction.
The good news is that if your dr knows they can easily help the baby when it's born if it's born addicted.  It's when they don't know that it becomes an issue.  It's more common than you think.
I will pray for you both but I'm sure you will be fine!!  

[lashamummyof2]

Hi!
DO NOT go cold turkey. At best, taper a bit. I took percs too, but never in that amount. a month before the baby came, I was just on tylenol 3 and 2 and maybe 1-2 5 mg perc a day (broke my tailbone). I took all the way through, but not 80-100 mg a day, still I wouldn't be worried.
Good for you to talk to your doc. You have time to taper, A BIT, slowly. Do not put the baby in danger. If it's any consolation , my five month old is wonderful and had ZERO withdrawals at birth - granted, the day I went into labour, I took three tylenol 3, about 12 hours before the baby was born, not a lot, but anyway. I was part of a support group of mothers who took pain meds for real reasons (not for fun) and one of the women was on 80 mg a day and she tapered to 50 mg right before the baby was born, also with no withdrawals.
The most imprtant thing is to be honest at the hospital and tell them exactly what you've been on. If you want to chat with me more, please send me a personal message - I learned a LOT when I was preggo and on meds.
take care of yourself!
lb

[Laur52raven]

I am 31 weeks pregnant and addicted to percocet and xanax. I have been taking about 40-50mg of percocet a day! Sometimes i take about 4 1mg xanax also. I cannot stop and i am so scared my baby will be born addicted. Plus i am supposed to have 1 year sober this month. I cant tell anyone cuz everyone knows im pregnant and will think im horrible! My boyfriend thinks i am doing everything i am supposed to be doing and if the baby is born addicted i dont know what he will do! N i dont want to hurt my helpless innocent baby but i cannot stop! I cannot get through a day of work without my pills! n i dont even really need them. The xanax i do need cuz i have panic attacks sometimes but i abuse them also. But the percocet i dont need at all! I lie to my docs to get them. How long you think you have to be off the drugs to give your baby enough time to come out not withdrawling? Is percocet really that harmful during pregnancy? If it is then why do obgyn's prescribe them? Can anyone help me? What should i do? Is my babys brain going to be messed up? Is he going to be slow in school and other activites? Someone help!

[girlybuff]

It's too late to stop now at 31 weeks.  Withdrawals will cause you to go into pre-term labor.
The only thing I can suggest is to take as little as possible.  I've known women who have taken it right up until delivery and have not had an addicted baby but if yours happens to be addicted and the doctors know, they can easily fix it and make the baby more comfortable.
I don;t know what pre-natal care you have had and how extensive it has been but xanax is a cat x and can cuase other things wrong physically not just dependency so make sure your doctors know because if they don't, they will after you give birth.  

[girlybuff]

ANd no, your baby will not be slow in school or slow in any other way most likely.  I took it throughout and as prescribed and my daughter at 15 months is smart as a whip!!!

[Laur52raven]

you really think if i stop cold turkey ill have preterm labor?

[Laur52raven]

Did anyone take alot of percocets and xanax when pregnant and not have the baby withdrawl? I am so scared to stop. Whenerver i try i get so sick to my stomach? But i dont understand how it can cause preterm labor.

[likemike]

I'm sorry you are in this situation. It's an awful situation and I'm sure you must feel alone and very guilty. First, in answer to your question, oxycontin is a morphine derivative. It is an extremely difficult detox and depending on how long you've been taking it can really take up to 2-3 weeks before you start feeling healthy again. So please, do not cold turkey while pregnant. If you weren't pregnant I would say go ahead it'll suck, but suck it up and do it any way.  Your ob/gyn knows NOTHING about pain meds or detoxing at all. He is wrong, it is not the flu, and I think it was bordering on at least, incompetency to sluff you off like that - or to even give you any advice if he was clueless.  I am a chronic pain sufferer who just successfully detoxed cold turkey from Methadone - it was rough, but I did it. Today is day 16. In my years of chronic pain I've discovered that regular doctors are NOT required to take any classes during their medical training on pain management or addiction. It an ELECTIVE course only 20% of the doctors decide to take, so there's a lot of ignorance out there, trust me, I've been to half of them.  Keep looking for a doctor in your area that specializes in addictions - one who has the license to write suboxone. Have you thought of suboxone? I'm not sure what the side effects are, or if they'd even give it to you but an addiction specialist will certainly know the best way for you to detox. Suboxone is a good med. if you use it sparingly and if you aren't on it for very long (it can be tough to detox from if you take it a long time). It has buprenephrine a combination of that and something else, a small amount of narcotic pain med that will help you safely withdrawal without any symptoms of withdrawal. Suboxone has its own website, google it if you want to learn more about it. It may also help ensure the baby detoxes safely. The other thing it will do is offer you an alternative way to help your migraines. It IS a pain medicine, but here's how it works:  Regular pain meds bind to your spine and in your brain to your pain receptors, blocking them from excreting your own endorphines. Suboxone will also block, but it will block all pain medicines. It goes to your pain receptors and replaces the regular pain meds with itself, binding also, but as I said, also blocking any pain meds - so once you take it, there's no point in taking a pain pill too because it won't work in the slightest, the worst, it would throw you into full blown withdrawals in minutes. The other thing it does is it goes deep into your fat cells and extracts the opiods stored there, speeding up the cleansing process without discomfort. You do have to be off the pain meds for a period of 12-24 hours, but you can do that, your addiction specialist will have already studied on how to treat pregnant addicts. Just find out if it's something you should take from a good addiction specialist. He/She may also refer you to a chronic pain support group and/or an addiction physciatrist. They're out there. I have both and they are a great support and a wealth of knowledge. I have no idea if C/T would make you go into premature labor, thats something I'm not qualified to comment on--I'd either check on WebMD or ask your addiction doc).  Another idea is that your ob/gyn is not the only doctor that can admit you. Your family doctor can and an addiction specialist can. So please keep calling around until you find the doctor with the proper training in your area. Google that too. You can search on addiction specialists with your city and state and it should get you to a list of doctors within your city that have the qualifications.  Try not to feel guilty...addiction is not a personal choice. No one chooses to become an addict. But you CAN choose to do what you need to do to get clean safely and get your baby clean. Who know what the baby feels? We don't know for sure.  As for the nausea when you stop taking the pills, you can ask your doctor for a script for phenergan. They do prescribe that to pregnant women for morning sickness anyway so it must be a safe med. and that's one of the meds I took to help me detox from Methadone - which is about the hardest c/t one can do.  I also took Neurontin for the creepy crawlies (not sure if that is okay when preg, the addiction doc will know, but hope so, cuz it works like a charm), Immodium AD (Over the Counter) for the other end, Clonidine for the heart palpitations, sweats and to help sleep (again, your addiction doc will know if that can be used safely) and I drank vitamin water that is high in potassium (you can also eat bananas, I suggest combining them because that vitamin water also replaces Vit. B's that have been depleted from your system by the drug). I know vitamin water and bananas won't hurt the baby. I hope there's something in this text that will be of use to you. Best of luck to anyone suffering and pregnant. My thoughts and prayers go out.

[kealeighs_mami5]

I'm exactly where you are riqht now i am 35 weeks preqnant and i don't want my beautiful baby qirl to be addicted to oxycodone. I am so upset because i take alot prolly like 60 millaqrams a day....I'm sure we could help eachother threw this!!

[pregoanx]

I am 20 weeks prego and am addicted to percocet. I have been taking extremely small pieces of soboxene so that the withdrawls are minimized to almost nothing. I am so scared and paranoid all the time and have crazy anxiety attacks that I have hurt my baby. With my first child I took nothing....so annoying. I am all realy scared because i am missing disks in my back and have extreme hip pain but i just want to try and deal with it. At least this site is making not feel so alone. Is there anyone that has written that had there babys and everything was just fine? Thanks

[jasmine22]

I was only taking 20-40mg a day and my baby is not autistic, DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR BABY! I now live everyday knowing what i did to my son. My side and my husbands side of the family where all clean living people and my husband aswell, no history of any health issues. I know that this was because of the percocet use. DONT do this to your baby, any mg of oxycodone is too much because it stays in your blood and theirfor your baby's. Just because he isnt born addicted doesn't mean he will have SERIOUS neurological problems growing up.

[jasmine22]

Sorry I ment to say he IS autistic, once again please dont take any meds the pain i suffer looking at my son growing up is more then i can bear, knowing i did this to him..

[plzhlpme1]

i can relate.... i was there last year...if u need to talk msg. me you'll be ok!!! write anytime.....

[tray_c]

I have to play devils advocate.
Maybe your babies weren't born "addicted" or so you thought. Maybe the 15 month old, or 6 months old are smart as a whip and doing great. What you don't know is the after affects. I did foster care for six years for drug exposed infants and kids. They do well until they start missing milestones. My seven year old adopted son was born to a mother who used Percocets and Oxycontin throughout her pregnancy. He has severe panic attacks, is bipolar and as his colon was developing, while she was pregnant, the nerves didnt form right. This has caused his colon to not work, and he takes laxatives twice a day just to poop, and he still suffers and cries when he has too. If your baby is born and has ten fingers and a chubby little cute face, you are kidding yourself if you think you aren't or haven't caused damage. Read some studies, medical literature. Read about Fetal Alcohol syndrome, Infant drug toxicity etc, autism. Just because someone claimed they "took a ton of stuff" and "my baby was fine" doesn't mean anything. If there is a time in your life you need to get educated about a subject, this is it. I don't mean to give anyone a hard time, I just wanted to post from the other side, a woman raising the kids from drug addicted mothers. Its a hard job. The kids don't get a fair deal. Good luck.

[tray_c]

I now see the original post was from 2007.

[k383]

im 35 weeks pregnant and only take one to two perks a day do you think my baby will be ok and not withdrawl some days i dont even take them

[AliciaXOmarie]

Im 23 years old! I am 7 weeks pregnant ( I think ) I find out on nov. 9th how far I really am ! I also hear the heartbeat !! I'm very excited! But iv had 2 major back surgeries and other surgeries throughout my life! I have medical problems like you wouldn't believe! So I take 10 mg percocets daily! I went down to a hlf in the morning a hlf in the afternoon n a hlf at night. But I was withdrawling cus I'm ust to takeing alot more!! So I went bk up to now 5 mgs and one in the morning one two in the afternoon and two at night!! What I would like to kno Is does the perks cross the placenta?? Can it potentonally harm my child? I kno I need to stop takeing them about a month or so before I give birth inorder for the baby to not withdrawl but I need to kno if I'm harming my child!!! I have a high risk pregnancy cus of my medical history so I really need to b safe!!! I would greatly appreciate the advice!! Xoxo Alicia xoxo  

[dellta]

please dont stop cold turkey you will w/d and the stress of that alone will cause problmes your baby will notice and not like his mom suffering and it stress the baby out same as your baby reacts to loud noises or you yelling dont worry your baby will not be doped up and slow or a addict the docs will help your baby and you but the baby can ceanse its system 100%fasster than you can baby has all brand new parts and they all work at 1000 miles per hour just think about tappering of have a good plan and just follow thru with it but stop taking pills because you want to and need to it has to be truly for you and about you and the qulity of life you want to have with your new baby and for yourself .. We all here are here for eachother so we can always support and help eachother  congrats with new baby and GOODLUCK  and if you need a freind im here for ya