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Suboxone use in pregnancy

I had been on suboxone for a year and got pregnant my doctor lowered my dose but did not switch to subutex wich does not contain the naloxone that the suboxone has in it I have read that it can be dangerous and was wondering if any one could tell me anything about it
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358971 tn?1330888975
Methadone is not very new, but suboxone and naltrexone are. Methadone Maintenance has been used since the 1960's for heroin addiction....
I'm sure they teach precaution in OB school, I'm just advising on the difference b/w methadone and other opiates, particuarly as pregnant women are at high risk of fetal complications if they use other opiates (abuse other opiates) while pregnant.
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568659 tn?1256139982
I'm not offended if I am wrong, just trying to help....
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568659 tn?1256139982
My sister is going to school to be an OB nurse and she learned about methadone in pregnancy about a week before this post was made, he professor said it is VERY new information.
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358971 tn?1330888975
i'd also like to add that most mothers of babies born to methadone simply choose to breast feed to wean their baby if necessary
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358971 tn?1330888975
your information about methadone being worse than heroin during pregnancy is incorrect. Go the the NIH website and you will see that this is in fact a myth that unfortuantely, too many women/families buy into and it ends up being a justification to use opiates like heroin. I work at a MMT clinic (methadone maintenance) and we have had pregnant women on methadone who have delivered perfectly healthy babies.
Difference b/w methadone and other opiates is that on a stable dose (which differs for everyone), a pregnant woman (or any individual) is able to go 24 to 36 hours without having ANY physical withdrawals whereas with heroin and other opiates, the half-life is 4 to 6 hours so the individual experiences withdrawals unless they continuously use. Additionally, pregnant women should be wary of the risks invovled in using heroin, especially as it may be laced with other illicit substances such as cocaine, which obviously is harmful to the fetus.

The reason that pregnant women continue to use heroin and other opiates is because there is too much misinformation out there. Methadone use during pregnancy may result in pre-term labor, low birth weight and the baby may need to be weaned but as this is a synthetic drug and one in which individuals can reach stability on, it is MUCH safer to use than other opiates. You can find this information within any professional article on methadone
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Avatar universal
Ok I am on suboxone now and was once on methadone and also I am pregnant. I mean it's best to be on nothing while pregnant but some just can't do that without being extremely sick. From what I've read methadone has been studied for years and has been proven to have no danger to a baby accept that your baby will likely go through withdrawl and you might even have to give it morphine when it comes home. Now suboxone on the other hand hasn't been studied like methadone but from my personal experience I know lots of women who have babies on both suboxone and methadone and those babies are all fine. I had a friend tell me just today that she has a friend who is 4 months pregnant and is on suboxone and they found out her baby has down syndrome and she is saying it's from suboxone. Now whether that's true or not....who knows. But I haven't found anything about babies being born with downsyndrome so.... take it from there.
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568659 tn?1256139982
I would talk with your Ob and you doctor that you see for treatment and see if there is something else you can be taking. I found this for you,

Buprenorphine (suboxone) and naloxone is in the FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether buprenorphine and naloxone will be harmful to an unborn baby. Use of buprenorphine and naloxone during pregnancy may cause withdrawal symptoms in a newborn baby. Do not take buprenorphine and naloxone if you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment.

Contrary to what you may have heard methadone is not safe during pregnancy, it is actually more dangerous to a baby than heroin. I am not sure why doctors prescribe it but they shouldn't.
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