Taking Suboxone while pregnant

[suznrick4ever]

I have been taking suboxone for 3 years now and I just found out I was pregnant with my second child. I am just really worried what Suboxone can do to my unborn child. I know the first trimester is the riskiest and I am extremely stressed out. I have began lowering my dose because i do not want my child to go though withdrawal when it is born.  On the other side of things I am worried I might have a miscarriage trying to get off of Suboxone. Does anyone have any suggestions. Has anyone been through this? Are there any doctors that can offer some much needed advice? Please help. I am scared & stressed out. Thanks.

[Grandmatobe]

You should really talk to your doctor, but they might be able to switch you to a drug called Subutex, which has the same active ingredients as Suboxone, but without the Naloxone, which can be harmful during pregnancy.  It is generally not suggested that people on Suboxone switch to any other medication (i.e., Methadone, etc), because it can cause withdrawals, which increases the chance of miscarriage.

The best thing would be to discuss this with you doctor as soon as possible, so he/she can give you an informed decision, based on your situation.

Good luck!

[LoandTansMom24]

I have been taking Suboxone for 3yrs and I am pregnant w/ my 2ND child while on suboxone. I also know of another girl who has had 2 babies while taking suboxone. My 1st child I had while taking suboxone is ABSOLUTELY perfect. He will be 2 in Dec. He weighed 7lbs. and 3 oz @ birth. When I had him, the hospital knew I was on this medication and monitored him just to make sure he was ok and he never showed any signs of WDs. He is on the level he should be as far as talking and his mental development. He's actually very smart. My doc told me it was best NOT to stop the suboxone while you are pregnant. It was better to continue instead of stopping. Of course, this medicine hasn't been out but for several years so there hasn't been much research done on taking it while pregnant, but I am currently 34 wks w/ a lil girl and u/s show she is growing and she's measuring a little above average. 57th percentile! So, as far as my experience goes w/ this...its better than being on the other "stuff" and my babies so far are perfectly healthy! GOOD LUCK!!

[Mr_Brad]

I don't know how much you are taking per day, but you should get off of it. The only way to do it is to slowly taper down. This takes a couple of months and if you do it righ you will barely feel any withdraw symptoms. If you are taking 8mg a day, you need to get that to 4mg a day. start taking 6mg a day do this for a week then go to 4 mg a day. Do this for 30 days then go to 3 mg a day do this for 2 weeks. then go to 2 mg a day (a quarter of an 8mg pill) do this for 2 weeks then go to 1mg in the morning and one mg at night do this for 3 days on the 4th day don't take your morning dose just take one mg at night. You're done. the next day you will feel fine once you wake up day 2 you will feel great day 3 some mild symptoms may be present don't panic, eat some meat get in the sun and stay active. Eat alot during days 3, 4 and 5 and stay active (walk, lift some light weights, ect.). If you have access to xanax you can take up to 2 mg a day during days 3, 4 and 5. You can do this without xanax but some people are weaker than others. At this point after weaning down to 1 mg the way i said to, any withdrawal effects will be so slight you probably won't even notice them. If you have trouble sleeping try some tylenol PM or some other over the counter sleep aid. By day 7 you'll feel great and by day 30 you will be thrilled that you have a beautiful life to live and that now you can truly be a Loving mother. So many things are so much better with out that drug in your system. Things you don't realize now. Your family desrves the real you, if you know what I mean. GOOD LUCK!!!!! You won't need it....

[suznrick4ever]

My family has the real me!!! Suboxone does not change who I am in any way shape or form. It keeps me safe from relapse. I am taking suboxone b/c I was addicted to pain pills & heroin once upon a time. I also do not think it is safe to take sleeping aids and xanax while pregnant. Suboxone may be a "drug" but it is sure better than relapsing & is also monitored by a doctor. Sure, I would would love to stop taking it, but I dont know if that would be safe for me or my baby. What you are suggesting is def not for me. If I go into w/d I could lose my baby and then it would never "see the real me" as you say. Thanks for trying though.

[GRose]

I would just talk to your doctor about how much is safe to be taking or if you could switch to a different med. I understand that you can't just stop, my b/f has been clean thanks to suboxone for over a year now because of heroin and oxy addiction, if it wasn't for sub who knows where he would be right now. Just make sure you DO disscuss this with your doc because there are meds that are OK for a pregnant women to take to prevent w/d.
good luck and have a healthy pregnancy

[Mr_Brad]

Oh wow you're lucky. Suboxone changed me big time. I can't even begin a list of ways because I don't feel like wriring for hours. If you're happy on soboxone then by all means stay on it. You should switch to subutex (while pregnant) which is straight buprenorphine, it doesn't have the naloxone in it. Talk to the doctor, Once you have the baby you should really get serious about your recovery, life is short. Drug use is a symptom of the disease. Are you currently in a 12 step program or regularly seeing a therapist. Do you have a support group. Anyway good luck to you and your unborn child.

[Ziggy_7]

First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy!!! Secondly, I have given birth to 2 babies while on suboxone.  With the first pregnancy, I was told to wean off of the Sub- bad idea. I ended up going back on pain pills (yes, while pregnant), but THANK GOD I soon found an awesome doctor who agreed to put me back on the Sub. for the remainder of the pregnancy.  I was able to get by on only 1 mg. of Sub. a day during that pregnancy.  I gave birth to a full-term, VERY healthy baby! He was not "addicted", had no withdrawals, and is extremely intelligent and advanced for his age.  I decided to stay on Suboxone after that pregnancy (who knows- maybe for the rest of my life after all I've been through with the pain pills).  I became pregnant again 2 yrs. later, but was on 6 mgs. of Suboxone at that time.  I was (and still am) with the same awesome doctor that monitored me through the 2nd half of my last pregnancy- so I knew he would keep me on the Sub. again (and he did actually switch me to Subutex while pregnant- although he said it really wasn't neccessary to change).  We talked about tapering down to a lower dose by delivery, but later decided against that decision.  So, I gave birth to my 2nd child on Sub.- once again, healthy, no withdrawals, and exceeding all of his milestones at now 9 months old.  Oh, and I also breastfed both of my children with no problems at all either (since Sub. is dissolved under the tongue, obviously receiving any of the medication orally wouldn't be effective anyway)- and with both of them I had to abrubtly stop nursing at a certain point for 2 different reasons (the only reason I added that bit of information is to let you know that they did not go into any withdrawals from nursing either).  

Ultimately, it's your choice to make, but I feel I made the right decision by staying on the Suboxone and it had no ill effects on my children at all.  Just make sure you are upfront and honest with all of your doctors, and make sure the hospital knows upon delivery as well (in case of a C-section- pain control would be an issue).  

Best wishes to you and GOOD LUCK!

[chris123391]

I have been on suboxone for over 5 years now and am currently taking 8 mg a day. I weaned myself to 1mg a day 3 yrs ago when I got pregnantwith my son and he came out healthy and is still healthy. I just found out I am pregnant and feel like at this point I don't know if I am going to be able to wean myself again. Will it effect the epiderrul? I do relate to what she said above about wanting to be yourself again because i def am not myself on suboxone. I studder, cant think at times, find myself rambeling on with people, have trouble breathing and more. I think i would be fine as far as not wanting to get back on the pills if I could just get off this suboxone

[carebearvip]

Well, I am also pregnant and on suboxone. I was recently told suboxone can cause down syndrome (not by a doctor just by a friend). So I have been searching and searching and have yet to hear a story saying that any woman had a baby come out messed up in any way from it. I like suboxone. I was on pain pills for 3 years, and methadone for 2 years. While the methadone did its job the suboxone is a life saver. I have a good job, have a great man in my life, and will soon have a great baby in my life. I have no intentions to get off of it any time soon. I am 100% me, it may give me a little boost when I take it but I never feel "high", I have no side affects, I feel more like "me" than I have in 5 years. I know this comment doesn't really help you because you posted a year ago. But I just wanted to say a few things about suboxone. Oh yeah, my parents have been through this whole rollercoaster of drug addiction with me, they went on pain so I did, they went on methadone, so I did, they went on suboxone so I did and they too say it was the best thing they ever could have done and are so greatful that they helped me clean my life up and get it together before it was too late.