pregnant and on methadone-CAN I SAFELY DETOX??

[jaymejj]

i am 23 yrs old...been addicted to opiates for 2 years now, been a methadone patient since may 09...i recently went into the hospital for chronic opiate-induced constipation....and before my xray they stopped and told me i am pregnant. this complicates the whole situation because pregnancy only causes MORE problems with your digestive system. (gas, bloating, constipation, pressure, etc.) ANYWAYS... what my question is... i am on 50 mgs of methadone daily.... and i know that if i start now, i can drop down 10 mgs every 2 weeks... by the time 2 months go by, i should be almost if not completely- done with methadone. but my question is- if i do this detox, how will it affect the baby? they say as long as you are comfortable so is the baby.... and i know i wont feel bad or sick detoxing at this rate....i just want to know how it affects the pregnancy. ofcourse all the clinics will say this is a bad idea...but thats just because they dont want to let go of a money-paying slave ....and of course if my baby comes out addicted ...its prone to be a junkie itself, and thats just what the clinic wants is another junkie patient in 20 years from it being born... so i need some TRUTH. i know i need to detox, i just want to know how safe it really is. please people give me your most educated and honest opinions and experiences...im all ears, with no where else to turn really.... please help!!

thanks all...jayme.

[mellie4]

Talk with your doctors and find out what's the best way to go.  Try getting an appointment with your OB-GYN as soon as possible and get his or her input.

If you're having trouble with constipation from the methadone, pregnancy can certainly make it worse.  I had a terrible time with that with my last pregnancy.  So uncomfortable ... actually, it was beyond uncomfortable; it was downright painful.  My mom told me how to get rid of it but I thought she didn't know what she was talking about, but turns out (as usual) she was right.

Prune juice works wonders for constipation, even for impaction.  If you don't care for it, heating it to room temperature makes it a bit more palatable.  You don't need that much even.  Maybe a half a glass.  And it doesn't take long to clear you out, either.

Once you get rid of the constipation, try drinking a small amount every night, maybe two ounces.  (Find the amount that works for you.)  If you take the small amount every night, chances are you will not get constipated or impacted again.  Makes a huge difference in how you feel.  (And unless you love prune juice and pulp, make sure you get the pulp free kind.)  The trick is to stay ahead of it.  Drink lots of fluids during your pregnancy and try to remember to do the prune juice every night.  (Increase/decrease the amount until you find what works best for you.)

Good luck with all of this.  Try not to worry as stress isn't good for you or the bambino.  Try to eat right and get plenty of rest and make sure you have someone to talk to.

Congratulations.  All babies are a great blessing.

[missy577me]

Hello,I can honestly tell you it is unsafe for you and the baby to detox off methadone while pregnant,I had my baby girl in 2000 and i was on 120 mg. of methadone daily and she's a healthy 10 year old now,when she was born she was in NICU for 7 day and did fine,and now i'm 40 and am 9 weeks pregnant and still on methadone and again my OB says no way to detox,it's safer to stay on it than to detox while pregnant,I know the methadone won't hurt you or the baby during pregnantcy,from experience,I hope this helps and try not to worry you both will be fine,if you need to ask me anything else just e-mail me back.But it is safer to stay on the methadone.Congragulations and take care and God bless,Missy

[LateAugust]

I hope you will find some clarity to realize that the last thing a doc wants to see is another drug addicted baby...   clinic or not......  does that not just give you one iota of a clue of how messed up your thinking is right now????    My God I can't imagine any human being, medical or not, enabling or wishing for a babe to be born into addiction..... anyone that has seen just one baby born under those circumstances, would never wish that pain on their worst enemy. It is so beyond heartbreaking....  

I am  sorry if I sound harsh to you,  but you really need to get straight with your medical doctors and give this baby the very least it deserves, and that is to be born not addicted to drugs.   And going thru w/d's with their first breath.    

[gnarly_1]

Hi welcome to the forum....well im with avisg talk to your OBGYN and I can tell you from experence tapering off methadone 10ml drops are going to be to much to fast you and your baby will feel it...I used a taper given to me by a neo/natal nurse that brigs babys off heroin methadone oxy ext and it worked good for the most part it goes like this
10% drop in dose every 72hr ...now if you ask a clinic they will tell you its to fast but after using it it was very doable with a few exceptions ...some times it takes a few more days for your body to adjust to the difference in dose let your body be the final judge in when to lower your dose...when you get down to 10ml you go 1 ml a week I walked it all the way down to 1 ml but don't recamend it tapering below 5ml is miserable and only prolongs the agony so jump off at 5ml...DONT DO ANYTHING
WITHOUT TALKING TO YOU OBGYN but if you wind up tapering that one worked good for me...tapering comes with a certain amount of discomfort any way you do it but if you take your time it is very doable...good luck and God bless....Gnarly  

[avisg]

This is something you need to talk over with your OBGYN ... They are the ones that need to advise you ... PLZ talk to them most doctors I do know keep you on it while PGT but discuss that with your OBGYN