support needed 35 wks pregnant aaahhh!!!

[ode2shel]

Hello all- its been awhile since Ive posted, but Ive been reading in silence.  Im now almost 35 wks preggo, and Im the one who has been on pain meds for over a yr.  I was on a low dose of subutex, and when I was about 2 mos pregnant, the docs switched me to oxycodone, 5 mgs, 4 times a day.  I am now down to 2-3 a day, and desp want off the sh*t in the next 2 wks.  The docs have me tapering 1 pill every 3-5 days, and I am having a very hard time.  Im fully aware that when you stop or lower pain meds, your body falsifies your pain, causing you to think you're in more pain than you are, which I recognize, plus Im pregnant, so I naturally hurt all over anyways, and am not sleeping bc of pregnancy, and lowering he pain meds.  Its so hard, I have a 3 yr old and my energy is disspiating so fast, and Im just scared of being incapacitated.  Ive had a hard time gaining weight this pregnancy even though I eat a lot.  With my daughters pregnancy, I gained lots of weight, and was not on meds.  I had an OB checkup today, and they dont think its necessary to do another sonogram right now, or any other testing.  Bottom line is Im just plain scared.  I want this baby to be healthy, and Im scared I dont have the the strength to fully get of the pain med before I deliver.  Ive read posts in the pat from some other women who were on pain meds during pregnancy, like mom2rachie and others.  Any advice or support would be appreciated.  I need to get this under raps

[dfr3]

huney, i can relate i weened as soon as i found out i was pregnant, but it was so hard.  we were in another state and all i could think of was them taking my baby if she/he tested positive for opoiates.  you can do this just listen to your dr. and have someone hold your pills.  i also no i got right back on them when i finished breastfeeding.  try not to take the painmeds they offer afer birth.  the cycle will begin all over.
you can do this!!!!!!!
we can all help you.  you got a little one inside and you don't want that innocent baby going thru w/d's.  could you imagine, the thought alone helped me stop.  i quit in the first trimester as soon as i found out i was preg and weened real quick.  it was hell, but NOT impossible i am here for you girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you are on way lower doses than i was.  you can do it and my baby is 13 months and perfect.

YOU CAN DO THIS

goodluck
lol
Jill

[Two222]

I agree with dfr3..get off as soon as possible. I was taking 30 lortab a day when I found out I was pregnant, then quit cold turkey as soon as i found out. It actually wasn't that bad for me, sometimes pregnancy hormones protect the body from W/D. But I did end up taking them again for the C-section and now I'm hooked all over again and trying to get off while taking care of a 6 month old. Please quit now, it will be easier then waiting till you have a screaming baby around. good luck.

[mom2rachie]

telling her to get off at this late stage is dangerous.  it can cause her to go into pre-term labor so please do not do anything like that unless your dr suggests it and you are monitored very closely.

it's too late to do a taper.  your dr knows about it so they can treat the baby if he/she sufferes any w/d symptoms, which isn't always the case.
i took pain meds throughout my entier pregnancy but quit 2 months before I was due.  my dr prescribed them to me so they knew all about it.  i had a high risk peri-natal specialist and had a high level ultra sound done every 2 weeks but not because of the pill intake, i had other things going on.  

babeies who suffer from withdrawals have a poor sucking relflex, cry excessively, vomit, have trouble sleeping and are generally more cranky.  I am not saying that this will be the case but it is possible so I wanted to let you know what you might be in store for, although your dr should have explained all of this to you.

if your dr knows your history, they can ease those symptoms rather quickly.

i wish you lots of luck.

By the way my daughter will be a year next week and she is incredibly healthy, smart and happy and had no w/d whatsoever!  i wish  yo lots of luck but please get some sort of recovery plan for after the baby is born because that's when you're going to need the most help, mentally and physically.

[ode2shel]

Your input heard, however, I posted here not to give excuses, and I have been worrying about this from the time I received a pisitve pregnancy test, at which time I was switched meds to a LOW dose of oxycodone a day, and I had rh disease so I could not just stop taking the meds for rick of losing the baby.  I have been on a taper fro the last month.  i am a high risk pregnancy, and the drs kept me consistently on a dose of med, and wanted to start weaning me my 3rd trimester, so I am by my last month.  I am down 2-3 pills a day, which is 10 to 15 mgs of oxyCODONE, whcih according to the multiple drs I have seen who make a lot of money, is a low dose...but I guess Ill take your opinion before theirs that I am on a high dose.  I am very concerned about this child being born addicted, whcih is why I am on a taper, and sticking to what they tell me to.  I posted on here bc of not feeling well and needing support, and thank you so much for your support.  You are a jugdemental person, and as an ADDICT, you have no room to be, period!  If you cant support someone's desire to get clean then keep your feelings to yourslef

[mom2rachie]

Yes, her doctors should have started her taper earlier but who knows what's wrong or why she's taking them to begin with.  They should have started a long time ago if they wanted her to be pill free by the time the baby came.  But, it is what it is at this point and you're stating the obvious.  The important thing is that the docs know so they can care for the baby and that she has a plan so she can care for the baby.  There is no changing the past.  She needs to make sure of their future now.  I'm sure physically the baby will be ok (I pray that he/she is) but emotionally, well, she needs to be sober because parenting is hard enough to not do it level headed.

My pill intake was very minimal and it was for a myriad of ailments I had during pregnancy.  When I stopped, I stopped long before addiction for my daughter would become an issue.  Sometimes it doesn't go that way.

[mom2rachie]

I'm sure you both will be ok but concentrate on staying off of them after the baby comes please for both of your sake's.  Post all you want, we're here to listen...

[dfr3]

just to let you know, i spoke to an obgyn specialist in neonatal care, she said the most danger is in the last trimester because of breathing promblems.   but of course you need to stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
are you being completly honest with your doctor?  i know that they told me to take darvcet and i was planning on breastfeeding.  i asked the nurse if she thought it would harm my new born she said absolutly not.  but i didnt believe, i did'nt take it, because i was afraid of w/d's my baby would have.
so do not give up because you think its already hopeless.  just ween for the babies sake asap!!!!!!!!!!!!!
did your doctor tell you they will test your baby and if he/she is positive for opiates they will take action.  in my state they take your child.

[Two222]

I support anyone's desire to get clean, but i support preventing a baby from going through withdrawals even more sorry, so NO I won't keep my opinions to myself. I can judge as much as I damn well please when it comes to someone who chooses getting high over a baby who has no choice. So you can get as defensive as you would like in order to make yourself feel less guilty about what you have been doing. You say you have been worrying about this since you first saw your pregnancy test yet it took you this long to start doing something about it regardless of what your money hungry doctors say. your docs wanting to wait until your third trimester is unusual especially when it's more dangerous taking pills so close to the end of a pregnancy then it is in the beginning, so why would they even want you to get that far while still taking them?Many many people stop taking these meds when they are early in pregnancy (no matter what is wrong with them) and no miscarriage occurs. You act like your "meds" are something keeping you alive. They are pain meds. And even if I was being judgmental I do have every right to be. I STOPPED taking pills the moment that little positive test came back, and started again AFTER the baby was born and now I'm almost completly weened off. I'm not here to give you support because as far as I'm concerned you don't deserve it and I hope you enjoy your "meds" now, and think about what you are doing when your baby is born and goes through an excruciating pain that he/she can't even vocalize because it's a BABY who has no choice. If women like you would just admit they are being selfish for not quitting way sooner and just admit that they couldn't do it instead of claiming all this "doctor this..doctor that" bull **** then I wouldn't say a word, but it just makes me a little sick thats all. If you were really worried then you would have done something sooner. ...Now everyone freak out and say what I know you are going to say!

[Braveenough2quit]

I agree. you are obviously not telling your docs something. Or they just don't give a ****. There are such things as doctors who only care about money you know. How do you think most of the people on here got hooked? I pray that your baby doesn't suffer much.

[ode2shel]

I have been completely honest with my dr's.  They are the ones precribing it, and I do not get "high" off the meds, I just want to get off of them period.  So regardless of what anyone says, that is my goal.  I go to a very big teaching hospital in this area, and They have said that doing it slow is the best way, which is what Im doing, Im sticking with their plan.  I have a beautiful 3 yr old and never had these probs, and had been clean for 4 yrs before this started, the last thing I want is for my child to suffer coming into the world.  With the plan I am on, I will be off by next week, which is a month before I deliver.  As I taper I going through minor withdraws, which is why I startde posting again, for support going through it, but oh well, regardless of whether you give me sh*t or support, I will go through it the same,   Have a good eve!

[Braveenough2quit]

Whatever helps you sleep at night honey.

[ode2shel]

it sounds like you pray the baby suffers a little, "you pray the baby doesnt suffer much?"  Thats just plain cruel

[pepsiblue]

I think that as long as you follow the doctor's plans for tapering, you should be okay. I pray everything goes well for you and the baby. Good luck.

[Two222]

i'm pretty sure he meant that since the baby is probably going to suffer regardless he hopes the baby won't suffer more then he has to. So who's the cruel one?

[ode2shel]

give me a break, its about supporting someone's desire to continue to get clean through the hard times, which is what my intention was for posting.  Its great that you are an addict yourself, yet have such an ability to judge.  If you have no regrets in life, good for you.  I will continue to read and post here as I see fit, regardless of the negativity.  I can appreciate that you have strong opinions, as I do as well.  You do not know me, my life, as I do not know yours, and just as I can appreciate tough "words of wisdom" your words are negative and jugemental, which as an addict yourself, you do not have the right, unless you are just a bitter person pissed at the world because you're not happy with yourself.  Dont really care what you reason is, direct it elsewhere

[Braveenough2quit]

then don't listen.

[Two222]

well said

[ode2shel]

listening and reading are two different actions.  "listening" to judgement and negativity are not productive to ANYONES recovery. pregnant or not pregnant. male or female.  Obviously if I see a post under something I wrote, I will read it, and respnd as I see fit, just as both of you are doing.  

[retiredrn]

Wow, now i see what you were talking about on the other thread.  You seem on top of things to me, tapering under your drs care.  Tapering can be so hard, I'm so glad it's mild withdrawals.  Best of luck

[ode2shel]

you did not say anything offensive!!  I wasnt sure what you were referring to until I read your post after my post for jossy.  LOL Thank you for the encouragement, Its so hard which is why I disappeared from posting for awhile, shame, guilt, etc, but I know what I have to do, and as hard as it is, and as much as I know how dispicable the thought can be to deliberately put an innocent being at risk for pain and discomfort, Im trying to make this right before my delivery.  So thank you.  I woke up @ 4 this morning with my stomach in pain, and of course my legs twitching..  Dr's have a way of saying "oh you're on a lose dose, if you experience withdraws at all, they wont be that bad"  They aren't horrendous, but on any level w/d's are so uncomfortable, uugh, anyways, have a good eve and weekend, and thanks again

[needhelp1976]

i have been on 10 pills daily  of perccet for the last three months and i'm due in two weeks

[trelle926]

during my last two pregnancies i had to take darvocet and ultram in order to walk. i did not want to take the pills but in order to function i had to. neither one of my babies suffered withdrawals. i know these meds are no where near as strong as oxy but they are narcotics. your doctors know what they are doing. listen to them and not these uneducated addicts that post on this site. continue tapering like they want you to do and i think that everthing will be fine. best of luck to you and your baby.

[juneblaze09]

Why are you taking them? Is it a good reason or do you just want to take them...I am in a similar situation...

[lexysmama]

If your baby is born while you are still on meds then to keep the baby from going through withdrawal you can breastfeed and slowly ween baby off of the breast. Im not trying to encourage you to keep taking the meds but i understand the anxiety you are feeling about the situation.

[Two222]

Baby doesn't get enough of the meds from breastmilk for that to work. It's been proven that there is such a small amount of medicine that gets through the milk that it doesn't effect the baby.
go to kellymom dot com

[lexysmama]

well, regardless of what anyone else thinks, i think your doing the right thing. Yes doctors can be wrong sometimes but when it comes to pregnancy they don't take any chances so listening to your doctor is the best thing you can do. And good for you for not letting people get you down at probably one of the hardest times in your life. Good luck to you and your family.

[TXRebecca]

You and your baby will be just fine, the doctors are taking care of you  & last time I checked none of them are doctors.  Just worry about following every single step just right.  Lexy's Mama is correct your baby will get it from breast milk, but you won't have to worry about that if you stop on your target date.  I told this story MONTHS ago, but I had a friend who had breast cancer, she found out she was pregnant, and she took morphin under doctors orders the entire pregnancy.  When her baby was born, they know exactly what to do to NOT have your baby go throught W/D's.  Your baby would only suffer if you never told anyone and they had no idea you were on pills.  But the fact that you & your baby are under doctor's care, you will both be fine.  These people are just thinking of what it would be like if the hospital and doctor's were totally in the dark about this.  There are people with auto-immune disease's that HAVE to take pain meds FOREVER, even through pregnancy, but it is safe under the care of a doctor only.

They clearly are going on gut reaction, not positive facts.  If your doctor and the hospitals don't know about it, THAT is dangerous, but they DO KNOW, so you both will be fine sweetie!

None of you know what is going on in someone's life, and you are saying and giving out WRONG information that you don't know about, plain and simple.

[lashamummyof2]

Hi - I haven't read all of the above posts, but I gave birth to a baby eight weeks ago and had to be on pain meds throughout the entire pregnancy. My baby was born in excellent health. I took two tylenol 3's the day I went into labour as - like you - I planned on not taking anything the last few weeks, but I had a broken tailbone and a two year old, and I didn't think I was in labour.
Anyway, the labour went smoothly and my son scored very high agpars and needed no suppoprt. NO withdrawals at all. zero. Nothing since.
I am not a doctor, but if your docs know about what you are taking, you are fine. the drugs do not cause birth defects. You can contact Motherisk.org - they are a worldwide organization that will give you advice on how drugs affect the fetus. It is a medical fact that narcotics in prescribed doses do not cause defects; the risk is in possible withdrawal, which, in your doses, seems very unlikely.
Everyone has an opinion and I just want to tell you that it is best for you at this point, to relax and not to stress about what you have done, your baby will be fine. If you stress, and if you get upset, you will cause more harm to the fetus.
Be kind to yourself. I have been on these boards for a while, and some people can be very aggressive with mothers who take pain pills (regardless of whether they need them or not). I guess I just want to be a supportive voice for you and tell you personally that I had a very healthy baby who at 8 weeks is thriving and growing off the charts. I am only on meds once a day, and regret that I spent so much of my pregnancy worried about the harm I was doing despite my doctors assuring me that all would be well. They were right; the baby was completely fine.
It is very difficult to be in pain as a pregnant woman, I understand your pain and wish the best for you and your baby. As long as the hospital knows, everything is fine.
Best of luck!!!

[TXRebecca]

My friends baby who had to be lowered slowly off morphin when born, went home two days later, and is a fat, happy, SMART toddler!

Good Luck, and Congrats on your soon to be bundle!

[poisonivy3]

Wow. I first started to post here because I saw all the support and care you all give to one another. And I also know there is a time for 'tough love' and such....I have had to give it as much as I have had to receive it. But, two222? For you to tell her she doesn't deserve support? Why would you say such a thing? EVERYONE deserves support when they ask for it. Everyone. You say you quit when you found out you were pregnant. Great. I commend you for that. But, then...you said you started up again when you had the C-section which means you were under the influence of strong narcotics when you were taking care of a newborn baby. Do you think that makes you better than shel? Because you stopped during the pregnancy? I don't think any addict has the right to say they are 'better' than another. Your baby suffered, too you know. Maybe not because of W/D's, but was it fair to your newborn to be under the care of you while high?
My point is, ALL of our kids have suffered from our selfish choices in one way or another. I think it is incredibly hypocritical for you to judge this woman while in my eyes, you are no better than the rest of us.
Shel....I DO give you my full support, and my prayers. I agree with TXRebecca, listen to your doctors and follow their treatment plan for you. They know what they are doing, and I really believe that everything will work out for you and your baby.
BY the way, congragulations on the upcoming arrival of that precious gift from God.
You are in my prayers.

[TXRebecca]

Are you from Texas?  I'm wondering if I know you.  You speak like a person I'm friends with. You don't actually have to tell me, I was just being nosey :)

Hmmm???

[jfrick50]

I am so sorry that those of you that are pregnant are going through this, but as everyone else is saying on here, the baby is MORE important then a NEED to take the medication. Any doctor that prescribes someone to a narcotic while they are pregnant, I think is just plain stupid. They know what the innocent child, as well as the woman are going to have to go through and why would anyone want to be in that situation? I can't imagine how stressful that it must be being pregnant and worrying about yourself and baby too... but you should have researched the effects it would have on you and your baby before you started to take it, or continued to take it.. I just can't imagine a doctor that actually gave a **** putting someone on this medicine while pregnant.. it just doesn't make sense to me.. Although, I am not an expert, very new to the site, and going through some new things of my own, which brought me here... I just can't see why a doctor would put someone on something that they would know would make a precious little baby sick???!

[lexysmama]

I from Ohio, born and raised. Has ode2shel been back since the 25th, I'd hate to think that she left because of all of inconsiderate people on here that try to act like they want to help people, ya know? It would have been more dangerous for her to have gone cold turkey especially in early pregnancy because (as anybody who knows much about pregnancy knows) a baby grows and develops more in the fisrt 4-5 months than any other time, thats when all of the organs a forming for god sakes!!! If you put your body through that kind of stress while the babies brain, heart, and everything else is actually being created then you have MORE of a chance of causing damage, not saying any names.... And the last few months they are MOSTLY just growing. All the people who criticized her were right when they said "im not an expert", yeah you arent an expert and thats why you arent the ones with a masters degree in obstetrics, so keep your criticism to yourself. Nobody deserves to be criticized by the people they come to for help in the time they need their support the most. Thank god shes obviously a strong person and won't let these people get her down. If your reading this ode2shel, just know that there are some people on here that want to help you through this and we won't think that your any less of a person, we want to help answer your questions. You would have been stupid to not listen to your doctors, they know more than any of these people on here combined, so don't take to heart what these people say, your baby will be fine.

[Two222]

wow you guys are sharp and listen so well. Ode2shel and I have communicated back and forth since this thread and actually helped each other out. So you can stop now.

[lashamummyof2]

I am sorry you keep getting criticized by others...I JUST spoke to two doctors (my neighbours), one studying to be an OB and both of them told me - that in their opnions, narcotics are safe which is why they are prescribed over other forms of medicaton. It has a lot to do wth molecular weight and what passes through the placenta. Dr. who prescribe for valid reasons are not stupid. I broke my tailbone - I was immense pain. My Dr. prescribed what he thought was safe. He is not an idiot.
My baby is fine. My baby never suffered withdrawals. I was a week early b/c my alcoholic brother went into a coma and the baby was stressed...had nothing to do with the meds.
Ode2shel needs support and kindess. Her baby will be fine. if she's scared off from coming here, then she won't get the support she needs.
Ode2Shel - please listen to the positive posts on this forum. I spoke to more than 50 women during my pregnancy and ALL of our babies were fine. some of the women had horrible health issues and had to deal with pain, and stigma thru/out their pregnancies.
You will be fine as will your baby.

[beautiful0609]

how long does it take for pain meds to get out of the babies system if you quit while you're pregnant...

[DandD423]

I am in the same situation as you and I am in the procss of weaning myself off!!