Infant Withdrawal

[brklyn208]

I would like to know if anyone out there has had to expierence their newborn go through withdrawal either from drug abuse or a maintence program? PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[JoyRenee]

I haven't sorry! What's going on? If your baby were to be addicted at birth, my thought was that they took the baby away?

[brklyn208]

I am not abusing drugs.. I am on a drug called Suboxone it's like methadone. I don't know if you've ever heard of it! My doctors know that I am on it...and know it's a maintence program for opiates. It's a long, long story on why I got addicted to painkillers. Basically a stupid doctor and me being uneducated on painkillers. I had alot of problems with my jaw and some surgeries and was on painkillers for a long time b/c of the pain. (not while i've been pregnant though) And not knowing that even if you take them as prescribed your body still gets addicted to it! So when I it came time to not take them anymore I got really, really sick. And at the time I had no clue what was going on. And my family doctor put me on this Suboxone and I trusted him and now I expeirence the same thing when I don't take the Suboxone and was told that if I detoxed myself now while pregnant that it would be too much stress on the baby and  that if the baby detoxed it should be when she is born. I just wanted to know if anyone out there ever went through this  and what to expect!!! I am literally losing sleep over this!!! I don't want you to think that I'm this drug addict or anything I have a 5 year old and as far as I'm concerned a very good mother! And I love my child and can't wait until my new baby girl comes!!! Except for this whole situation!!!

[girlybuff]

Th treatment for babies addicted to Suboxone would be the same as if the baby was born addicted to opiates.  They can treat the baby rather easily although it will most likely suffer from a pooor sucking relfex, excessive crying, sleeplessness..... but not necessarily.  The amount of withdrawals the baby would go through depends greatly on your dosage and for the amount of time you've been taking it.
Sub is best used for a quick detox.  The docs are only now finding out that the longer you stay on it, the harder the withdrawals are after you try it which really defeats the purpose since it's used to avoid withdrawals from opiate pain killers.
I know a bit about this so I sguesst (since your drknows) that you don't stop taking it until after the baby is born because if you go into heavy withdrawals it will put way too much stress on your body and that can cause an elevated heart rate and a pre-term labor.
When you do decide to come off the drug... I won't lie, it's going to be hard.  Make sure you have someone to help with the newborn and your other child.  You might even want to consider staying onit until you're stabilized with the kids.  
You need to do a VERY slow taper.  Taper your dosage back by 2 mg every 3-4 days.  It has a long half life so you wouldn't feel any discomfort until about the second or third day or your taper.  Taper down to the point where you are taking barely a crumb of the drug, then jump off.  Yopu might even want to visit the addiction forum on this site.  May people have expeiences with tapering off.  WHen you finally stop that crum..... get valium or xanax or klonopin.  It will help tremendously.  Take vitamins, drink tons of water, talk to a therapist.  Emotionally it's going to be a bit hard especially if you're dealing with post partum depression.
My advice is to do what the dr says.  Stay on it until after the baby is born ifnot for a while after the baby is born.  
I am a mother of a 17 month girl and I couldn't imagine detoxing while she was newborn.  I would not have been able to care for her.
YOU CAN DO THIS.
Good luck to you!
PS, if your doctors know about all of this, your baby cannot and will not be taken away.
    

[brklyn208]

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you...god bless you. I don't mean to sound corny or anything but you really helped me ALOT. I am going to just stay on it until I am ready to detox myself off of it...like you said when I get stabilized with the kids! Another thing is the doctors know and have known that I have been on this drug so they won't take my baby right? I know you said that they can't but I just need to hear it again! Do you know anything about a baby going through w/d and how long it takes? And how long my baby will have to stay in the hospital? And they give the baby something to help come off of it...that's what I read. I really appreciate your help!! THANK YOU!!!!

[JoyRenee]

Oh, hon! I wasn't judging you, just asking for clarification. So glad someone was able to answer your question because in the end I really didn't have an answer. Congrats on the new bundle of joy! I hope everything works out for you!!!

I guess my advice to you is to let your doctor know NOW that you are addicted to pain meds (as hard as that is) so they know beforehand and can help you through this, whether it is to wean off of the meds and so they know at birth (becasue they will test their blood for substances).

[ponderousmom]

you might want to go visit the nicu where youre going to deliver.  if you spoke honestly with the nurses there, they would probably be able to help you alot.  they could help you prepare, they could give you examples of what theyve seen, and let you know from experience how things typically go.  i wish you luck!!!!

[brklyn208]

I did talk again today with my doctor and she said to just stay on the lowest miligram I can with out going through withdrawal.....she said to go through the withdrawal now would  not be good for the fetus and would cause alot of stress....but she also said that there may be a chance that my baby would go through withdrawal! but she also said that  b/c I'm not abusing illegal street drugs i am taking my meds at the lowest possible miligram that there is still a chance that my baby may not go through any withdrwals. I feel alittle better but I am still worried about my baby having to go through that and I'm really beating myself up over this. My family is supporting me and telling me to just pray and have faith in God. But I just want to tell everyone that I thank you very much for being here for me!!! But don't go away I may need you again   :)  

[JoyRenee]

We won't leave!!! When is your little one due?

So glad your doc is your advocate and is going to help you through this.

[brklyn208]

I am due the 15th of Feb. and my son's birthday is the 8th. He keeps on saying that if she was born on his birthday that would be the best birthday gift ever!! It's so cute.

Oh about my doctors I see a different doc almost every visit which I do not like but every time I go to an appt. I always remind these doctors whats going on. Like I'm trying to keep them all on the same page so when it comes time for my delivery they know whats going on and don't make any stupid mistakes. But today when I spoke with her she made me feel alittle better. She reassured me that everything will be ok and that no one was going to even question me as a parent so ithelps a little. But there is still that quilt there..ya know?

[tatmomof5]

I have been on pain meds for 2 years due to a spinal injury. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy 4 months ago. He did have a withdraw period, or at least that is what the nursing staff told me. He is my fifth child and just seemed to be little fussy. Before I delivered my midwife and the docs that she practices with suggested breastfeeding to help ease the babies symptoms and it worked wonders. With breastfeeding the baby is only exposed to very small amounts of the drugs and you can wean them slowly as you and they are ready. You may talk to them about that. I take narcotics so I do not know how that compares. Best wishes!! PS Feb 8th is my B-Day also, tell your son I am pulling for him, that is a great day!

[JoyRenee]

A Valentine baby! How sweet!!! You're almost there, just a couple more weeks. Mothers feel guilty all the time, about all sorts of things. The fact you even care means you're  a great mom! I know nothing I can say can make you feel better in this respect, but you have to stop blaming yourself and feeling guilty. There isn't anything you can do to change it, so you need to look forward with hope and just make new resolutions. Relax, your baby is going to be fine. Your docs think so, you should trust them. ;-)

[brklyn208]

thank you...if you don;t mind I would like to ask you a few questions. and thats a great idea about breastfeeding to help withdrawal...i will def say something to the doctors and try it! suboxone is also considered a narcotic so I think it would help the same way!! what  were some of the syptoms (symptoms) your baby boy had? did they give him any meds besides the help with your breastmilk? and about how long did he go through withdrawal? oh and if you don't mind what pain meds were your taking?

[tatmomof5]

He was a little fussy according to the nursery staff, but he was a newborn, I didn't think was anything unusual. It took a few minutes to get him to latch on for his first feeding, but after that he did great. He did nurse a little more frequently that most, but that helped get the milk flowing also. If the nurses wouldn't have said that it was withdraw I would not have thought anything of it. His breathing and heart rate were all with in normal ranges and by the time we let the hospital (less than 48 hrs after birth) he was fine. If you don't mind me asking what is the suboxone substituting? I am on norco which is like vicoden with less tylenol but the same amount of codein. I had been on other meds until I found out that I was pregnant. The norco was the only one that I took regularly  during the pregnancy. He was not given anything for symptoms. I was told as long as is symptoms were managable the risk of giving him anything else was too great. I hope this helps. Just be sure that you keep your dosing to minimum until that special day!

[angelt70]

I was on methadone while pregnant with my daughter.  After her birth, she did stay in the Nic U for about two weeks.  This is a relatively short time, many babies stay for at least a month.  She was put on a small dose of methadone(I mean miniscule) and weaned off during her stay there.  The withdrawal symptoms were extremely  mild if at all.  My child is now three and extremely smart.  She counts to 20 in English and 10 in Spanish.  She works her way around this internet better than I do.  She shows no signs of any affects from the methadone.  If your doctor is aware of what's going on and can monitor your pregnancy properly,  they should be able to tell if anything is going on that shouldn't be.  I had two level2 ultrasounds while pregnant.  After birth, your baby may have to stay in the NIcU, but the nurses are well trained to take care of these situations.  My baby['s nurses were wonderful with her.
Good luck.