Oh, goodness, that was terribly long! I'm sorry. I meant to include a link to my journal where I have some more of my personal story and a link to some great information about pain medications and benzodiazepines in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
No need to contact me, I found you! ;) Although please feel free to message me privately if you're more comfortable.
I have been on the same medication since I became pregnant last March. It is absolutely possible to have a healthy pregnancy while taking pain meds, as the other ladies have stated. My baby is not born yet so I can't tell you from experience like Ashelen can. She was right about it all, though, and I am encouraged by her success story.
The first thing you should do, as the other ladies said, is see an OB. They will probably referr you to a high-risk OB. Not because of the baby, more because of your condition that causes the pain. In my case it's herniated discs and brain aneurysms.
It's best to be honest about what you take partly because they take urine samples at many or all pre-natal appts. and will be able to detect the opiate in your urine. Another reason to be honest about it is that the OB needs to know what you take in order to treat you accurately.
Some OBs want to take over your pain management for the duration of the pregnancy. Some will not, as in my case and I have to see a pain management specialist as well, which I did before I became pregnant. I will warn you that it's very hard to find someone who will treat a pregnant woman for pain issues. There is so little information out there about pregnancy and pain meds and it's difficult to find a doctor who is informed and comfortable treating non-obstetric pain in pregnancy.
That is all assuming you are taking it by prescription. If you are not taking it by prescription then it's very important to tell the doctor about it so that you can taper off of it safely. I don't know much about suboxone and subutex except the basics. Methadone is a commonly used med for opiate withdrawl and pain control in pregnancy. It is generally as safe as oxycodone and very effective for pain control. I took it for 8 months and had a few respiratory and other problems and had to switch.
The biggest issue with opiate pain management in pregnancy is dependence in the baby. Some doctors are more concerned than others about it. If there is a major dependence issue in the baby they can give him/her medicine after birth to help with withdrawls. I have read many stories about babies being born with no withdrawls with the mother taking many different and strong medications. Personally, I am trying to taper off my medication even though my high-risk OB and my pain management doctor have said I don't need to. I want to taper as much as I can, though, even though I know it will be painful. Having brain aneurysms, though, it's a difficult situation for me because they don't want me bursting an aneurysm because of pain/high blood pressure related to pain.
One additional thing is that you may want to be selective about who you tell about taking pain meds while pregnant. I don't mean doctors, just people in your family or friends who don't need to know. People without chronic pain can be very judgemental to people who need to take medication for pain.
I'm sorry this is so long. I know we all just want to let you know you're not alone. Definetly tell the OB about the issue and the sooner the better. You may be surprised how compassionate they can be about it. Even if you are taking them without prescription the OB or PM doctor can help you get off the medication in a way that still helps control your pain. I wish you all the best and feel free to message me privately to talk about it.
Oxycodone is frequently prescribed for severe pain during pregnancy...although generally not during the first trimester. However, if you speak to your OB they can come up with a treatment plan for you. it is dangerous to quit narcotics cold turkey while pregnant, so most likely you will have to be tapered off of it or kept on it.
I personally would NOT recommends witching to subotex unless your doctor chooses that for you...the reason being that, for example...oxycodone will clear out of your system effectively in 6-8 hours (you will no longer feel the effects)...subotex lasts much longer. while this is a GOOD thing because you don't get the "highs" and "lows" associated with the short-acting narcotics, it also takes significantly longer for it to clear out your system which means that withdrawals last a LOT longer; and a newborn who is born dependent will be subjected to more than twice the length of time required to go through withdrawals.
However, only your doctor and you can decide this. You need to have this talk with your OB because if they DO choose for you to keep taking the oxycodone, you will need to be monitored and the dose wil need to be controlled near the end to make sure the baby is born without withdrawals.
I had to take pain meds during both pregnancies; during my first pregnancy for kidney stones, and during my second pregnancy for debhilitating migraines..and near the end they had me on percocet (oxycodone). I was able to taper the dose both times and neither baby had dependence issues or withdrawals, and they're both HEALTHY and NOT MESSED UP :). The key to pain management during pregnancy is speaking with your doctor, communicating openly and honestly.
Please contact JadedSweetheart; she is currently pregnant AND taking oxycodone. So she will be able to tell you what she's dealt with as far as doctors and experiences go; I didn't take it until near the end for myself.
But you are absolutely right; quitting cold turkey has the possibility of causing miscarriage and you don't want to risk this, so please speak with your doctor ASAP. if you are taking a prescription, you will NOT get in trouble and they will help you do the best thing for you and the baby. You do NOT want to hide thisf rom your OB, because then you WILL get in trouble.
there are a lot of horrible judgmental people who will tell you horror stories, but if you read the studies associated with taking narcotics during pregnancy you will see that the BIGGEST risk deals with the newborn being born dependent, and this can be avoided by careful monitoring and tapering of dosage near delivery. Like I said, both of my babies were born without withdrawals and dependence issues, so it's entirely possible. as far as affecting fetal growth and development, it is thought at this time that narcotics do NOT affect either....because it merely supresses signal activity between nerve receptors and binders in the spine; it doesn't actually change the way your chemicals release or anything like that.
I would avoid googling until you speak to your doctor; you'll just scare yourself. make an appointment monday and see them as soon as possible, and tell them all of your concerns, tell them what you've been taking and how much...just be COMPLETELY honest...and ask them for advice on what to do.
Good luck sweetie msg me if you need to, and please msg JadedSweetheart she has first-hand experience with what you're going through. there are a LOT of women on this forum who have had to take pain meds while pregnant, and I don't know of any messed up babies! :)
Is the drug perscribed?
I would go to your doc Monday, and say HIII. I'm 10 weeks pregnant and I am on this medication... Is it okay? He/She will probs say... you can take i untill babby is like 7 months, or they will swaap it with something else. But you are more likely to harm baby in the last 3 months of pregnancy than at the start. As told by my doctor! And the only thing your OB (you have now) Can do is forward your records over to the new doctor! :)
:)
x
I agree that you should tell your current OB. In order for them to best help you throughout your pregnancy they need to know everything.
First of all, I think that you should tell your doctor everything and second of all, isn't there laws about what he can and can't disclose to another doctor?
I've never been through this, so I can't give you advice/personal experiance. But just speak to your current doctor. Is there a reason you don't want to speak to your current OB and just want another doctor? They hear things like this all the time (and have seen and heard people on much worse medicine) and just want to help you have a healthy pregnancy and baby.