PLEASE HELP

[mamaof4410]

PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME!
I am 20 weeks pregnant with my fourth child. I get very bad tooth aches caused by a hole I have in my molar.I went to the e.r. and was givin hydrocodone for pain which i have been taking since i was 9 wks pregnant. I only take about 3 a day no more than that. I just ran out this morning and i dont want to get anymore but i have been reading that the effects of withdrawl are worse than the side effects of the medication. I do not consider myself an addict because it was perscribed to me and i take less than the dossage on the bottle recommends. But im starting to feel the symptoms of withdrawl they are manageable but im worried what effect will it have on my baby please help!!!

[Melissa_1982]

I wasn't assuming you would, but posted it to the woman (Mandleine) claiming they don't cross over.  I'm going through it for the 2nd time now & have gotten some nasty comments from members cuz I had no choice but to do it again.  There is A LOT of conflicting information out there, but after speaking with the head of our NICU, & one of Canada's #1 rated Peds Dr's I assure you that ALL narcotics pass through the placenta.  Some babies show no ill effects at birth, & others suffer horribly.  
It's a great idea that you are having the tooth pulled & good that you are looking into the effects it may have on u & ur baby. Wish you all the best with your dental appointment. :-)

[mamaof4410]

I wouldnt judge you based on the choices you made. we all as women and mothers should be able to enjoy are pregnancies and we confided in our doctors to help us with that. I take my prenatals everyday, i excercise and eat right and see my OB once a month I know in my heart that im doing everything possible to have a healthy baby. And all of my prenatal tests have come back perfect. Im not passing judgement on anyone we all make choices for different reasons like i said before.

[anwright]

I would think that the first 3m are the most important the baby is developing allot that it needs to be normal. I was always told never take any meds before your 3rdm. I have had gall stones during pregnancy and did not take anything for the first 3m and it is worse than labor the pain. I then was but on darviset don't know how to spell it, but it is not a narcotic. I only took maybe 15 pills my hole pregnancy because I was worried still about the effects so I suffered threw the pain and let me tell you it was hard I mean hard I would walk for hours trying to stop my pain. After the birth I took many pills to stop my pain after 2 years I got it out and I never once went threw withdrawl. But everyone is different I guess. Good luck it just was not worth it to me. Even now I deal with a twisted spine and have not taken any med yet. Just let me say on thing, You are all the baby can depend on for the first 10m after that do what ever you want but that 10m do all you can to make your baby healthy and let your needs come second. Hope all is well good luck with the pull I hate going to the dentist hope that goes well too.....

[Melissa_1982]

narcotic painkillers DO cross the placenta !!!!! I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant & on strong pain meds for my back. I've seen multiple specialists this pregnancy & ALL have said that narcotics cross the placenta.  I've already had 1 child who was born suffering withdrawals due to the meds in 2008 & before ANYONE criticizes me for doing it not only once but twice I made sure to take BC to avoid pregnancy & BOTH times got pregnant.

I wish you luck
Melissa

[renee82]

Good luck and you will feel so much better and not be in any pain. Its to bad they could get you in any time sooner. I wish you and the baby the best.

[mamaof4410]

That  is true. but i already made the appt to have it pulled so i feel better knowing im doing something. its on the fourth of march so wish me luck LOL

[Leyisel21]

ive heard that infections can cause preterm labor, and if you have a hole in there, it get infected if i were you i would get it fixed.

[mamaof4410]

I have already made an appt. with the dentist to have my tooth pulled on march 4th. Im nervous about that now! LOL. I had taken the meds frm  sept.25th through Oct.27 (yes persrcibed by my doctor) but when i found out i was pregnant on oct.27 (only about 4wks pg) i completely stopped taking them and made an appt with my OB he knew what i had been givin by my primary and said it was safe for me to continue but i stopped. And when i went to go see him when i was 9 wks he put me back on the meds but when i stopped for those 5wks i never had any bleeding or cramping or anything. but thank goodness MELANIE2400 your baby girl is healthly that makes me feel confident my little boy is fine.Thank you all so much. AND I GUESS quentinswife DID FEEL EMBARASSED..HER MESSAGES ARE GONE

[melanie2400]

I had to take pain meds my entire pregnancy. When I tried to quit cold turkey in the first trimester, I started bleeding. The doctors decided to keep me on my pain meds. I was really scared but everything turned out ok. My baby girl is a week old today and is amazing and healthy :)
You should not feel guilty or let anyone else make you feel guilty about taking the meds. Only you know how bad you are hurting and some people just dont understand.
Take care of yourself and I hope you are having a great day :D

[Mandleine]

I am exactly sure why it doesn't but I will definitely ask my doctor tomorrow at work :)

[JoyRenee]

Mandleine - I'm interested to hear more. Because I have heard drugs like Methodone can cause baby to withdrawal and if a mother is taking this prescription, or a similar one, baby can indeed have severe withdrawal symptoms. I wasn't disagreeing with you to be a jerk by any means. There's always room to improve and to learn new things. So please do share when you have time.

[Mandleine]

Also I definitely think you should have a dentist check your tooth out I have heard dental problems can lead to low birth weight and/or preterm labor.  

[Mandleine]

I'm glad you ( or herself) deleted those comments! That lady was just downright rude! You should not feel guilty if you're in pain and you need something to help and a Doctor okayed it then why should you feel guilty. Good for that lady that IBU is all she took. That isn't what you were asking. The exact opposite you asked not to be judged. I personally won't take anything (although I haven't been in pain other than migraines so it's hard to say), but that's not your question.  People are just do rude sometimes. But I know there is always going to be conflicting information on any and every subject. I'm just telling you what I know. If you really are that concerned I would call your doctor ( a trusted one) sometimes ER docs aren't the best. They kinda just want to get you out of there.  So talk to your doctor and see what's right for you. Good luck!

[renee82]

I wish you all the best and a happy health  the rest of you pregnancy, Take advantage of the sleepy feeling as much as possible it will be the best way for your body to recover and do what your body needs to do for the baby. I believe that every woman is different and every pregnancy is different, and I do think that some time things do pass the placenta and than again they dont, depends on the pregnancy/person. They all say there is a "chance" of it happening. My opinion on some other women: There are women who TRY to concieve for years with no luck and there are women who pop them out every year (unwanted), and with the WANTED ttc they do everything in there power to do things perfect and than the one who have UNWANTED, I have seen drinking, smoking... everything unhealthy and guess what there baby is healthy.Some peony could have the perfect pregnancy and still end up with complication with he baby and vice verse. Dont worry about what the negative people say, we know that you want your your baby that why you are trying to ask for help and you do have the best interest of your child, We all question the dr opinion no matter what it is. But I would really try to see about trying to get that tooth fixed some how. I hate tooth ache. I am one of the ones that would rather have a baby via c esction over having tooth aches and dental work done... GOOD LUCK and I wish you the best and pain free the rest of the pregnancy

[LittleBlondeMomma]

You really ought to check with your doctor. It isn't safe to just stop taking a narcotic, especially due to withdrawl symptoms. I'm 22 weeks pregnant & have 5 autoimmune diseases. They had to slowly take me off several of my medications for safety. Hope this helps.

[mamaof4410]

The sypmtoms have gone away. I havent taken any meds since friday night. I wouldnt go out and by pain meds off of the street just to have them and regardless of what anyone thinks you deal with pain your way i went to my doctor with the confidence he would do what he thought was safe for ME AND MY BABY. and to Mandleine i trust what you say but the reason i wanted advice is because the info is so conflicting. some say it does cross the placenta and some say it doesnt. Im not a doctor so i cannot disagree with you. But everyone has there own way of dealing with what happens to them and i did what i thought was best and i do not feel guilty about that. If god forbids something happens to my baby i will NOT dwell on the fact that i took these meds i will embrace what happens and do my best to move on and deal with the situation to the best of my ability.

[Mandleine]

Well whether you agree with what I said or not it is true. I've worked in pain managment for the past three years and these medications do not cross the placenta to have any effect on the baby. It can make you withdrawal and depending on how severe can cause distress to the baby (the baby itself will not withdrawal). And from the situation you described your withdrawal symptoms do not sound that severe.

[mamaof4410]

Thank you all for your support. I spoke to my dr earlier today and he said that it should be fine because the dose wasnt high that i was taking. but he did say if i felt any decrease in the movement of the baby or any uterine pain for me to call him right away but so far everything is fine and i'm feeling some of the withdrawls so im sure the baby is to by now. But they said everything is fine for me just to stop so its very reassuring. and i agree with that not only street drugs cause withdrawl symptoms. I have taken it for more than two months and it is normal how i feel and i dont feel guilty for taking what was givin to me by a doctor. I just want to have a happy healthy baby like any mother out there.

[SunWorshiper_26]

In addition to what JoyRenee said, withdrawal can be harmful to the fetus causing miscarriage, fetal distress or stillbirth. Please speak with your OB right away to decrease risk to both you and baby

[JoyRenee]

You can get dental work done while pregnant so I would suggest dealing with the tooth problem. You can get local anesthetic (Lidocaine, Novacaine, etc.) and get your tooth taken care of. You'll need to speak with a medical professional about not taking the medication anymore in the event baby does go through withdrawal.

And I disagree with the above commenter that only street drugs cause withdrawal. That is not true at all. Prescription pain relievers can also cause withdrawal symptoms to both mother and baby.

[renee82]

I am so sorry that you are going through this, is this the only way to take car of the tooth is through pain meds?, I had asked my dentist  about getting treat while pregnant and they assured that there are ways of getting it taken care of and it wont harm the baby. The bad things about any kind of pain pill it can cause you to depend on them because its easier than to deal with the pain. I sure how you feel when it come to tooth aches I have had my share of them. I would really recommend you seeing the dentist, the ER is really based on medical physicians. GOOD Luck and hopefully they can do something

[mamaof4410]

yea i had to take them once before when i was 15 for a bad car accident i was in and i remember feeling the withdrawls afterwards. If your body gets used to taking it for long periods of time you will go through withdrawls because you dont have it anymore even when taken as perscribed. which i took less than recommeded. I just dont want anything to happen to the baby because of the withdrawls  

[NicMom]

If you have used them for the last 11 weeks it could cause withdrawals. Talk to your dr about it, but the effects are short-lived. I had that problem after a back injury once and I just felt really sick for about 4 or 5 days. Good luck with that tooth!