is it safe to take narcotics while pregnant?

[doggroomer1783]

My husband's best friend's girlfriend is pregnant with their second child. She has khrons disease, smokes at least a pack of newport cigarettes every day and is taking perkosets and oxycotin... is this safe for her unborn baby? Im concerned that her lifestyle choices are negatively affecting her kids.Their first child is 2 and has crossed eyes and has not began to talk yet, she still babbles and yells and screams and the only thing close to a word Ive heard from her is mmmm. Could this be realted to her mother's use of pain meds and cigarettes?

[caellie]

I don't know about the meds but smoking is definitely dangerous.

I'd also suggest using an eyepatch on her 2 yr old to correct the crossed eyes.

Poor babies... =(
Its good that you're concerned though. Just offer her support when she needs it and do take her to a doctor just to check if whatever she's taking is indeed safe. =)

[JoyRenee]

That's just so sad.

[miraculous]

Hello

Just to begin with you mentioned that she is taking percocet AND oxycontin together, If that is correct then does she realise percocet contains oxycodone, the same active ingredient in oxycontin. So in effect she would be doubling up on the dose which may be harmful to her or her unborn baby. Secondly percocet is category C which means that there haven't been enough long term studies done to state weather it is safe during pregnancy so it then becomes a case of risk versus benefit. Does the benefit of giving these meds to the mother outweigh the risk to the baby?, a decision for the doctor to make. Crohns disease is not a nice thing to have so in that respect I feel very sorry for her as those people suffer greatly with a lot of pain. The smoking is also extremely harmful to the fetus not to mention to the health of the mother. It is also extremely addictive and not easy to give up so perhaps if she wanted to really give up she could get help there are a lot of methods available today to help people give up. The lady that posted she smoked all through her pregnancy and her baby is" healthy as healthy" can be should consider herself just lucky because with all the knowledge people have today of just how bad smoking is for you AND especially an unborn child I think it not very wise to give people the impression that it is okay. It's a bit like playing russian roulette isn't it? you're really just taking  a gamble that everything will be okay. As to weather these habits may have caused any damage to her 2 year old no one can really say for sure but it something I probably would always wonder about. She needs to see her doctor about a better pain management plan for her crohns disease and she really really needs to think about trying her hardest stop smoking there is so much help available now for people who want to give up. I wish her the very best of luck

[martikadragoon]

By the way.. the meds don't cause birth defects for the most part but as i said, dependancy at birth and some depressed breathing that may need a little oxygen blown by baby.

Crossed eyes are normal for some kids, it happens. it's due to the ligaments being too tight or too loose in the eye and can be fixed with a mild corrective surgery (ok all surgery is major... but it's not as bad as open heart)

the talking thing can be normal also... I have a family of kids/adults who are friends of mine. The youngest was 2 when I moved here... he didn't speak til he was 4 years old and his development in everything else is normal. He's now 7 or 8 and talks fine.

[martikadragoon]

OK~ As long as doctor knows about the meds... YES They are OK.
the ciggy's NO.

Women sometimes HAVE to be on high doses of pain meds. I myself am currently getting started on Norco, 4x the strength of a single vicoden (I am to take 2 and 1 norco= 2 vicoden except less tylenol).... Due to a back injury that's getting more and more aggrivated/painful each day as I get further along (4 mo on friday).

I just got referred to a pain mgmt dr, and they will likely start me on something a bit stronger since even norco isn't doing much these days.

BY THE WAY~ I HAVE TO TAKE THE PAIN MEDS EVERY 6 HRS EVERY DAY and will be on pain meds the remaining 5 months of my pregnancy.... My doctors are NOT concerned.

It's safer to take the meds and deal with a little depressed breathing or possible dependancy in baby, rather than be in so much pain you can't function, eat, or do anything for yourself, because yes... stress is ok when your pregnant, but not to the point that it causes preterm labor or the inability to eat (pain causes me that much stress/physical adverse affects)

but, again... the smoking is not good definitely

[penggal1]

Correction i meant to say above, i DO THINK LARGE DOSES ETC....

[penggal1]

Unfortunatly Dr are percribing Vic and or percocets, i trust my dr, but i do not think large doses or taking it a long period of time is def harmful, esp cig and oxy. Lets face it, this women is not just taking the occasional vic or perc while preg. she def has problems if she is taking all this and smoking, but i don't judge her it is tough what ever sittuation she is in and im glad it is not me. Hopefully she will wake up and try to ween down from everything.

[Mumita]

Let me add also.
Would you give a 6 month old a prescription of percocet or oxycontin? I bet the answer is no.  Why?  Because it drugs them and makes them pass out, right?  Exactly well, how would you think that would affect a developing fetus when all drugs that the mother takes are passed through the placenta?

People need to understand that the mother and fetus share the blood supply and whatever the mother consumes, whether its something good or bad, the baby consumes also.
In other words IT IS UNSAFE

[Mumita]

Well lets see...about 40,000 people die a year from using narcotis specifically oxycontin and percocet...so yes it could deffinitely affect a growing baby during pregnancy.
The problem with narcotics is that they don't test them on pregnant women so they can't verify if its safe or not during pregnancy.  Most of what is known of the effects of oxycontin and pregnancy is from women that take it and report some side effects, not from specific studies.
She is poisoning her baby with the cigarrettes and the narcotics.

[penggal1]

i also heard from my dr that vic or percocet are okay, prob not large doses, and the more she takes it closer to delivery there is always a chance the baby will be born addicted. Cig are bad def!!!! And im sure cause many prob for both mom and child. Becareful what you say to your friend, because she may be very defensive, try and talk to her nice about it and see if you can have a constructive conversation with her, unless it is not your place, but it is nice that you are concerned. As far as her baby not talking it is okay, the baby will talk, my nephew is 3 and is not talking a lot but does talk, def a late  bloomer, but the dr say he is coming around, The cross eyed thing im not sure about, could be smoking, google it.

[Charity22]

The drugs i think she should def get off, but smoking on the other hand, well i would be a hyprocrit if i said to stop, because i smoke cigarettes and i am pregnant and i smoked with my last pregnancy. Ive cut down alot though. Absolutly nothing was wrong with my last baby, he is 9 months and is healthy as healthy can be.

[luvkayln]

I would definately think so! :( That's horrible about her other child! I would say she needs to for sure quit smoking... on the meds, I'm not sure. The only way to really know is to ask a doctor. Good for you for being concerned! We need more people like you out there! :)

[Kim1989]

sorry....ment to add that she should have talked about any medications with her doctor

[Kim1989]

i think your allowed to have percocets when pregnant however she should stop smoking  and im not sure about oxycontin