pain pills, VERY WORRIED

[beth000]

Hi my name is Beth and my sister in law is 6 months pregnant and is abusing pain pills. Her and my brother have been addicated  to them for some time. I am very worried about her and my nephew, she has no perscription for them and I am just wanting some information for her. Is this hurting the baby? Can they take the child when its born with this in its system? Will she go to jail? I dont know what to do!!! Any advice you have would help!! Thanks!!

[babygirl32]

Absolutely , if these pain pills were not prescribe she is harming the baby . She should consust her MD because she has a serious problem of addiction to pain killers. She will not go to jail .

[MomNpain]

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this but just because she's taking medication she's not prescribed, that alone doesn't mean she's doing harm to the baby. What kind of pain pills is she taking? Vicodin and perococet are safe to take during pregnancy. Something you should try to understand though - with pain killers, especially if she's been on them for a long time like you say she has, while you can be addicted (which it sounds like she is), you can also just be dependent. I have been on these pills for quite some time, and I DO NOT consider myself addicted and neither does my doctor because I take them as prescribed BUT I am highly dependent on them and at this stage in her pregnancy, it would be safer for her to continue taking them and just weening herself off SLOWLY. Since you're not having to take them, you don't know what they do to your body if you miss one. If she were to miss one right now, she would not only be putting herself in for a world of hurt, but her baby as well.

Many women that have chronic pain or illness when they're pregnant are prescribed these medications and most of them are advised to ween themselves off in the last months so their baby doesn't detox when born. This means that many babies are born with it in their system and as long as they don't detox, it does no harm to them.

Her best bet is to consult her doctor. If she explains to them what is going on, they can't tell her to just stop taking them cold turkey. They will more than likely put her on a step down method, which is ultimately safer for her AND the baby. Just let her know of your concern and hopefully she will get help. I wish the best of luck to the both of you.

By the way, I don't want you to think that in no way am I defending her, because I'm not. But you need to understand what's going on with her body and what could happen if she just stopped taking them so abruptly. What kind of pills are they? The only narcotics that are even remotely safe to take during pregnancy (unless otherwise prescribed) are Vicodin, percocet and Tylenol 3's. Find out what she's taking and do some research on the effects it has on them. Good luck.

[Angel54]

I was taking percocet through my entire pregnancy, up until the day I delivered. I was taking about 40mg every day. My twin boys were born on Dec. 1 2007 and they are both perfectly healthy and have no withdrawls. The placenta is a great filter and I had a doctor tell me that you have to take 80mg or more a day for the babies to be addicted. If she is taking enough for them to become addicted, then it is important that she try to wein herself down to a safer amount. It is not a good idea for her to stop suddenly because her going through withdrawl can hurt the baby and possibly cause a miscarrage (miscarriage). So tell her to take only the amount she has to in order to not go through withdrawl. If you have any further questions please let me know. If she needs someone to talk to, let me know and I will give you my e-mail. I was really scared for my babies and she probably is to and may be afraid to talk to anyone. Having someone who has been through the same thing as you to talk to really helps.

[njeosys]

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/narcotics.html

This explains what the pills ARE doing to her baby and if she doesn't stop her baby could be born mentally challenged.

She needs to ween herself off of them slowly because baby will go through withdrawals, too. Her baby will be born addicted and if she is using illegal narcotics, her child can be taken away from her at birth.