Aa
Nervous and scared
Hello friends. I have been taking Norco and MS Contin for the past 4 years for diabetic neuropathy. It is bad and inconcsistent so I am pretty much always on norco and the morphine. I stopped the morphine 8 months ago when I found out I was pregnant and now I am 2 weeks away from having my scheduled c-section and my dr insists that it is quite allright that I am taking the norco and I should stop stressing but something tells me I should just stop a week beforehand... but I am so scared of being in pain. The pain that I have been feeling without themorphine is bad but the norco helps.. but it is getting worse as I get bigger. I am taking 70-80 mg og hydrocodone a day! My dr says that is fine and no withdrawals with come by sometimes I have to take 90-100 and it stresses me out.. I really have the worst back, hip, and leg pain this pregnancy and I can't imagine going a day in pain without relief. What in the world are my options?!?!?! I feel backed into a corner and could use a word of comfort. Maybe someone that has taken this amount and given birth to a child before also that could give me some insight. Maybe someone that has diabetic neuropathy that has nerve pain EVERYhere that can help me understand how much pain I will be in without the painkillers.. Thanks...
When I have my child I plan on going back on the norco with my usual dose, it has never effected me being a mother to my 4 year old daughter, so I can't imagine why it would effect my happiness with my newborn =) everyone has different effects on this drug, I don't get it cuz I never get sleepy or elated or high, I don't get withdrawal like everyone says either.. like the thrwing up or sickness when they go down a couple doses. I have been on 12 a day sometimes for a couple months then went back down to 6 a day and never had issues. Maybe having kids you dont have time to think about anything else but them lol haha when you are concentrating on every single feeling you have then I can understand maybe y some people are so sensitive lol
I post on that forum, but no one seems to be in the same type of pain I am... Like chronic pain? They seem to be on pain meds from like car accidents or accidents. I have been on the medication for years.. like you guys right? So I was hoping to talk to someone. My pain is acute, or it seems like it is LOL it is sharp and hideously inconcsistent. So long term pain meds dont work.. I was on mscontin and still was taking the same amount of norco. Didn't make sense lol But the norco helps when I have pain, because the pain is mostly from sleeping the wrong way, going on long walks or walking in the store, carrying groceries, lifting anything heavy, pretty much any strenuous activity.. So I am a pretty lazy person now! but I still get pain so I take it and my dr said if I take oit consistently the tylenol works in a way where it gets ahead of itself and helps also. Do you have diabetic neuropathy? You seem to know a lot about what meds work.. Or maybe you know someone. If that is the case message me because I don't know anyone that does and never talk to anyone =( I wish I had more support systems but being young I don't relate to older people that are the usual demographic of this illness... Thankyou for the info I appreciate it =)
Just FYI...but Norco is not recommended for Diabetic Neuropathy...Not only is it a short term pain med for 'acute' pain and not chronic....but it doesn't work to help with nerve pain at all...
It may 'seem' to help a bit because it's a narcotic which works for general pain which tells the brain to 'not care so much'...LOL...
There are many very effective nerve pain medications that you can look into after you deliver.
If your pain is so great than not breast feeding so you can take this medication is best for you and certainly will not harm your baby...
Once you get on the correct medication for this, hopefully your pain will be reduced greatly and you can enjoy being a mother:)
Best wishes...
It may 'seem' to help a bit because it's a narcotic which works for general pain which tells the brain to 'not care so much'...LOL...
There are many very effective nerve pain medications that you can look into after you deliver.
If your pain is so great than not breast feeding so you can take this medication is best for you and certainly will not harm your baby...
Once you get on the correct medication for this, hopefully your pain will be reduced greatly and you can enjoy being a mother:)
Best wishes...
We had a member here last year in a similar predicament. I can't remember what her underlying pain condition was but her doctors had her on percocet (oxycodone). I know that's a commonly accepted narcotic for pain management in pregnant women. I believe she did have a high-risk OB though. Her baby was just fine but I don't recall if there was a withdrawal issue. Have you tried posting on one of the pregnancy forums here at Med Help? You might have more luck finding someone dealing with the same problem.
I am taking less then 4 grams per day. I stopped it before I didnt experience any withdrawals. I guess I am just a lucky person lol honestly I felt a little icky but nowhere near like some people express it to be... I was more in pain then anything, They say that norco is really the lesser narcotics and I have nothing to worry about but if he does have any withdrawal symptoms breastfeeding might help.. because of the small traces of hydrocodone. I thought it was like a huge deal but they said that it is more of a concern with people that are on long term pain medicine like morphine and methadone.
As for pain management I am not on any.. they wanted to put me on really high long term pain medications and I felt like that would have been like signing my death certificate. I take the norco daily.. and my tolerance has gotten this high and it hasn't changed.. when the pain gets bad I just bear it and think wow it could be so much more worse without the norco, and if something were to happen I don't want to depend on a pill!! Think of how ****** that would be if you lost your pills or they got stolen and you had to go without them being so dependent on them... I don't ever want to depend on anything like that heck no... so I said no to the higher meds and they said that is fine to just take the norco it isn't a huge narcotic. maybe they are just downplaying it, but I feel like it is enough and any more pain means I need help from a hot bath and rest. Not more meds. This wil be lifelong for me seeing as how type 1 diabetes is lifelong, so pain management is just a problem for me.. i don't like dealing with them. I have a great dr that listens to my pain and I feel like she understands. My ob/gyn too.. I guess i am just blessed with great dr's!! As far as the info I read all that stuff online already.. and the dr's gave me info too. I don't know what I am looking for on here.. maybe just a person who goes through this and had a baby. I have spoken to one or two women that went through this and their children were so healthy and no withdrawals, and getting so close makes me want to talk to more just to be more comfortable.. maybe hear how they dealt with the pain too
As for pain management I am not on any.. they wanted to put me on really high long term pain medications and I felt like that would have been like signing my death certificate. I take the norco daily.. and my tolerance has gotten this high and it hasn't changed.. when the pain gets bad I just bear it and think wow it could be so much more worse without the norco, and if something were to happen I don't want to depend on a pill!! Think of how ****** that would be if you lost your pills or they got stolen and you had to go without them being so dependent on them... I don't ever want to depend on anything like that heck no... so I said no to the higher meds and they said that is fine to just take the norco it isn't a huge narcotic. maybe they are just downplaying it, but I feel like it is enough and any more pain means I need help from a hot bath and rest. Not more meds. This wil be lifelong for me seeing as how type 1 diabetes is lifelong, so pain management is just a problem for me.. i don't like dealing with them. I have a great dr that listens to my pain and I feel like she understands. My ob/gyn too.. I guess i am just blessed with great dr's!! As far as the info I read all that stuff online already.. and the dr's gave me info too. I don't know what I am looking for on here.. maybe just a person who goes through this and had a baby. I have spoken to one or two women that went through this and their children were so healthy and no withdrawals, and getting so close makes me want to talk to more just to be more comfortable.. maybe hear how they dealt with the pain too
I'm horrified that your doctor said you would not experience withdrawal if you just stop taking the hydrocodone. You WILL experience withdrawal and that is the very last thing you and your baby need right now. Withdrawal could very easily put you into labor so don't even think about quitting cold turkey.
I'm actually more worried about the tylenol component of norco rather than the hydrocodone. My pain doc won't prescribe more than 8 per day due to the tylenol and how hard it can be on the liver. The FDA-approved maximum daily dose of tylenol is 4 grams (4000 milligrams). I remember early this year they were discussing lowering that to 3 grams but I'm not sure they actually changed the recommendation.
I can't usurp your doctor's orders and tell you what to do (nobody on the internet can). I am, however, somewhat concerned that your doctor doesn't really understand much about pain management and isn't keeping a close enough eye on that or your noco use. A second opinion never hurts but it may be impossible to get one this close to delivery. If you have a regular family doctor, it wouldn't hurt to run in for a visit and a talk about your pain management and pregnancy concerns right now. Is your OB prescribing the norco or is another doctor handling that?
Once you get past delivery, I hope you'll find a pain management physician to manage your pain. There are far better medications to treat your pain than norco. Therapy with a pain psychologist is always a good idea to try. My pain shrink has been a tremendous help in learning how to better manage my pain and all the areas of life it interferes with.
Here's some info I found about norco and pregnancy at rxlist *******:
Pregnancy
Teratogenic Effects: Pregnancy Category C: There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. NORCO (hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen) ® should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
Nonteratogenic Effects: Babies born to mothers who have been taking opioids regularly prior to delivery will be physically dependent. The withdrawal signs include irritability and excessive crying, tremors, hyperactive reflexes, increased respiratory rate, increased stools, sneezing, yawning, vomiting, and fever. The intensity of the syndrome does not always correlate with the duration of maternal opioid use or dose. There is no consensus on the best method of managing withdrawal.
Labor and Delivery
As with all narcotics, administration of this product to the mother shortly before delivery may result in some degree of respiratory depression in the newborn, especially if higher doses are used.
Nursing Mothers
Acetaminophen is excreted in breast milk in small amounts, but the significance of its effects on nursing infants is not known. It is not known whether hydrocodone is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from hydrocodone and acetaminophen, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.
I'm actually more worried about the tylenol component of norco rather than the hydrocodone. My pain doc won't prescribe more than 8 per day due to the tylenol and how hard it can be on the liver. The FDA-approved maximum daily dose of tylenol is 4 grams (4000 milligrams). I remember early this year they were discussing lowering that to 3 grams but I'm not sure they actually changed the recommendation.
I can't usurp your doctor's orders and tell you what to do (nobody on the internet can). I am, however, somewhat concerned that your doctor doesn't really understand much about pain management and isn't keeping a close enough eye on that or your noco use. A second opinion never hurts but it may be impossible to get one this close to delivery. If you have a regular family doctor, it wouldn't hurt to run in for a visit and a talk about your pain management and pregnancy concerns right now. Is your OB prescribing the norco or is another doctor handling that?
Once you get past delivery, I hope you'll find a pain management physician to manage your pain. There are far better medications to treat your pain than norco. Therapy with a pain psychologist is always a good idea to try. My pain shrink has been a tremendous help in learning how to better manage my pain and all the areas of life it interferes with.
Here's some info I found about norco and pregnancy at rxlist *******:
Pregnancy
Teratogenic Effects: Pregnancy Category C: There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. NORCO (hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen) ® should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
Nonteratogenic Effects: Babies born to mothers who have been taking opioids regularly prior to delivery will be physically dependent. The withdrawal signs include irritability and excessive crying, tremors, hyperactive reflexes, increased respiratory rate, increased stools, sneezing, yawning, vomiting, and fever. The intensity of the syndrome does not always correlate with the duration of maternal opioid use or dose. There is no consensus on the best method of managing withdrawal.
Labor and Delivery
As with all narcotics, administration of this product to the mother shortly before delivery may result in some degree of respiratory depression in the newborn, especially if higher doses are used.
Nursing Mothers
Acetaminophen is excreted in breast milk in small amounts, but the significance of its effects on nursing infants is not known. It is not known whether hydrocodone is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from hydrocodone and acetaminophen, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.
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