Percocets and pregnancy

[willowd]

Hi, I am 15 weeks pregnant, I am on 3-4 percocets a day for my back, it is Category B so should be safe for the baby, the only thing is this baby hardly moves at all. I've had two ultra sounds and everything looked fine but I'm thinking maybe it is the narcotics that are making the baby this calm. When I was pregnant the first time I was not on any pain killers and my daughter was very active. Has anyone else been on percocets and noticed that their unborn babies are very calm?

[Flickan]

I agree with adgal. If in your place, I would find an ob that actually seemed concerned about things instead of shrugging them off. Especially since you are obviously concerned! As for calm. Everyone reacta different. With me, Percocet is like speed.

[adgal]

If you are taking them as prescribed and under medical supervision, usually things are fine.  What you do not want to do is just stop them cold turkey, or even change your dosage without first talking to your Dr.  With medications such as this, your Dr. should be weighing risk vs. benefit - it's maybe not ideal to take percocet in pregnancy, but it's definately not a good thing for you to be in constant pain either.  And if it's your back, that is going to be aggravated by the pregnancy right?

It does sound to me though like your OB is less then interested in addressing your concerns.  I might find another Dr.   Best of luck to you.

[willowd]

Ugh, I didn't know it would stop the natural drug to relieve pain no wonder it seemed like my back hurt that much more after I started taking them. Was the girl also on percocets? No one said anything to me about serious withdrawal only that there might be withdrawal in the form of some restlessness and it would only be 3-4 days.
No the info isn't coming from a back doctor and the ob doesn't seem concerned.
I've read a lot on discussion boards and every post i saw the mother was saying how their baby was fine even though they were on up to 6 percs a days, what i wonder is if anyone else found that their baby was very calm while they were taking this cuz technically this pain killer is supposed to make you feel calm as well

[nichole75315]

I agree with Flickan.  When taking percocet your body stops producing the natural drug to relieve pain, hense why so many people have issues coming off of it.  I would see if you can get some type of physical therapy or nerve blocking medication.. something or anything that would have less affect.  Actupuncture?  I'm not sure what the options really are but Class B doesn't mean it's safe for pregnancy -- that would be a Class A drug.  While it's considered "ok" theres no real evidence that its not harmful.  I know a girl who just had her daughter at 3lbs 4 oz in early January that was due the same time as me (March 7th).  Her daughter is going through serious withdrawl and won't be home for awhile.  I'm not trying to scare you I'm just thinking you might want to see if ANYONE can offer you some pain relief another way.

[Flickan]

Have you thought about getting a 2nd opinion? Maybe this ob isn't the right one for you. If the info is coming from your back Dr, I would talk to an ob. There has to be another option. All Percocet does is trick your brain. It doesn't actually relieve any pain. I hope you find the right answers. Keep me updated.

[willowd]

He knows but all I ever get told is to go to the mother risk website. It's just weird that this baby is so calm when even the pregnancy websites say that at 15 weeks they are moving a ton. The problem is with my pills it is not short term I've been on them the whole pregnancy and my back is not going to get better. If there were other pain killers that would also work I would take them in an instant, but I tried everything before I had to resort to percocets.

[Flickan]

I had some time where I was on Percocet with this pregnancy and it was explained to me that its ok as long as its not long term. That it lowers the babies heartbeat. Does your doctor know this is a daily medication for you?