Pregnant & addicted to opiates

[moony84]

Hi everybody. I was hesitant to post on here but after reading other responses I am more comfortable. It seems that you all are genuinely helpful. This is my situation... I am 31 weeks pregnant with a little girl. I kicked her father out of my house when I was 2 months pregnant because he chose to be a meth addict rather than be with us. I have had severe depression since I was about 12 or 13(I am 26 now). I also have serious back and joint pain from Lupus, Syringomyelia. Fibromyalgia, and a herniated disc. I have been taking large amounts of Norco off and on throughout my pregnancy. My prescription has been coming from my primary care doctor and I am afraid to tell him I am pregnant(even though I'm almost 8 months I do not look very pregnant). My prescribed dose is 6 10mg pills a day but I go through those in about 2 weeks. I also have a prescription for Ultram and I take that to avoid withdrawals when I am out of my Norcos. I hate this. I know it is not good for my baby and I will never forgive myself if there is anything wrong with her. So far everything seems good but my ob/gyn does not know that I am taking Norco. He is against me taking pretty much any kind of medicine while pregnant. Every time I try to go completely clean off the Norcos and Ultram I go into horrible withdrawals and my depression gets very bad. 2 weeks ago is the last time I had withdrawals and I ended up self-harming due to the depression and anxiety. I am already a horrible mother and my baby hasn't even been born yet. What can I do? My ob/gyn did prescribe me 24 Flexerils, will these help with withdrawals? I am determined to stop taking my pain meds, I do not want my baby to suffer through withdrawals after I have her. My Norcos are almost gone and I will not be refilling them again.

[Anonymous]

for your babies sake, you should be up front and honest about what you are taking, if you only have a month to go, it could actually do more harm than good by going cold turkey... there are many ways they can help you, and your baby..
i had a friend who was on methadone, and they sorted out the baby after he was born, they actually prefer women to be stable even if that means on some kind of drug, than unstable, which it sounds like you are if you are self harming....

please tell your doctor the truth,

norcos are opiates, and so are ultrams, you are double dosing, and your baby will suffer along with you if you dont get some help....

all the best
cheeky

[yezdegerd]

It would most likely be too dangerous for you to detox this late. You need to be honest and most likely switch to methadone. Keep us updated and good luck. Congratulations also!

[newyorkgal]

The WORST thing you can do right now is try to kick a drug habit. The shock to the baby would be too great. You must talk to your doctor right away. There are many pregnant women on methadone, under a doctor's care at a methadone clinic. It is a standard treatment nowadays for pregnant women to be on methadone. It's better than taking handfuls of pills because you will be on a stable dose. Tell your doctor ASAP so they know what they're dealing with when the baby is born.

[Robert_325]

Hi everybody. I was hesitant to post on here but after reading other responses I am more comfortable. It seems that you all are genuinely helpful. This is my situation... I am 31 weeks pregnant with a little girl. I kicked her father out of my house when I was 2 months pregnant because he chose to be a meth addict rather than be with us. I have had severe depression since I was about 12 or 13(I am 26 now). I also have serious back and joint pain from Lupus, Syringomyelia. Fibromyalgia, and a herniated disc. I have been taking large amounts of Norco off and on throughout my pregnancy. My prescription has been coming from my primary care doctor and I am afraid to tell him I am pregnant(even though I'm almost 8 months I do not look very pregnant). My prescribed dose is 6 10mg pills a day but I go through those in about 2 weeks. I also have a prescription for Ultram and I take that to avoid withdrawals when I am out of my Norcos. I hate this. I know it is not good for my baby and I will never forgive myself if there is anything wrong with her. So far everything seems good but my ob/gyn does not know that I am taking Norco. He is against me taking pretty much any kind of medicine while pregnant. Every time I try to go completely clean off the Norcos and Ultram I go into horrible withdrawals and my depression gets very bad. 2 weeks ago is the last time I had withdrawals and I ended up self-harming due to the depression and anxiety. I am already a horrible mother and my baby hasn't even been born yet. What can I do? My ob/gyn did prescribe me 24 Flexerils, will these help with withdrawals? I am determined to stop taking my pain meds, I do not want my baby to suffer through withdrawals after I have her. My Norcos are almost gone and I will not be refilling them again.

You can't stop opiates cold turkey at this point in your pregnancy unless you expect to harm the baby. I have four autoimmune disorders myself and understand the pain situation. But you are about to have a baby! You need to forget about YOUR problems and get to the OBGYN immediately and tell the dr what is happening so the dr can protect your baby. Otherwise the dr can't do anything to help your little girl. The baby is going to be born dependent on opiates, that is a fact. But you will do permanent damage to her if you stop the opiates abruptly and there is not time to do a taper off the opiates. Why did you wait until almost the eigth month?

You will not be the first mother the OBGYN has ever seen that is opiate dependent. But you are running out of time. Can hardly believe you waited until you are eight months pregnant and think you're going to cold turkey off the opiates. That doesn't even make any sense. Your dr will most likely put you on methadone through the time you deliver the baby for her safety. But you need to act now.

All those norcos are also loaded with acetaminophen as well as the opiates. The acetaminophen is metabolized in the liver. You are doing absolutely EVERYTHING wrong. You need to get to the dr and spill your guts for the baby's sake and do it NOW, no later than MONDAY morning first thing!!!. The baby is my concern here. I hate to sound cruel to you but the most important thing is the welfare of your little girl!

I sincerely hate to be harsh but you haven't shown much responsibility for the baby waiting until eight months and thinking everything will be okay keeping yourself quiet about this. I am helping another pregnant mother-to-be right now also with tapering off her opiates. But she is barely past the first trimester and is doing everything she can do to handle this appropiately. She is almost clean now and her baby will be born with no dependency whatsoever as the mom is almost totally clean already.

Everyone on this forum understands how people can make mistakes as we've all made them. But there is another life involved here and it's your responsibility to get to the OBGYN and take care of that baby properly with what little time you have left. You walk into that delivery room and haven't done the right thing and CPS will be on your case big time I guarantee you. If you do the right thing NOW they will cut you some slack but you've taken this as far as you can and expect to have any chances legally with the baby. And that isn't even the most important thing, the baby's well-being is what is important, not your problems that you've created by deceiving your OBGYN.

I am pretty sure that you're probably totally pissed at me by now for telling it like it is. You probably think that I am a jerk. I can't help that. I am trying to help your baby and believe it or not also trying to help you avoid legal problems. But if you refuse to do the right thing immediately you are bringing it all on yourself.

Please let us know what action you take. I will be praying for both you and your baby. I just pray in Jesus' name that you get to the OBGYN on Monday morning first thing and spill your guts to the dr for everyone's sake here that is involved. Your dr can't help you if you don't tell him what is going on. God bless you and the baby! I pray to God in Jesus' name that He has His mighty arms wrapped around your little girl protecting her. God bless.

[Exhausted]

Please take a moment to let Robert's reply sink in. As harsh as it may seem, it is the God's Honest Truth! You NEED to talk to your doctor and be 100% honest. You are running the risk of losing your child (and possibly facing criminal charges) if you do not act now. I am not an addict and can't offer advice on what is best, but from what I have learned, you are too far along to quit cold turkey and not risk the baby's health. Your doctor may be angry at first, but they will be able to help you and your baby if you are honest.

Please do not get discouraged by what seems to be harsh replies. Everyone on here is very helpful and really wants the best for those that seek assistance. Sometimes it takes hearing the truth (which hurts at times) to do the right thing! Best wishes to you and your baby!

[ComingHome]

You have been given some great advice given the situation you are in. People make mistakes. Try not to look at your past mistakes, and instead look at doing the right thing now and going forth. But, the fact of the matter is that this situation requires doctor's help and supervision in order to salvage the situation and do what is best for your baby and you. If you get with them first thing Monday morning, they can implement the best medical course of action. If you don't tell the doctor, that is the most dangerous thing you can do. So, like I said, focus on doing the right thing NOW. We will be praying.

CH

[moony84]

Thank you all very much. I was afraid to post but you guys were nothing but helpful. And thank you Robert for being honest with me. I guess the reason I have waited so long is because every month I told myself I was going to quit, but I couldn't. Selfishness has never been a trait of mine until now. My ob/gyn is very old fashioned and I am scared to tell him the truth but my daughter needs to be my first priority. She already has the odds against her with her biological father not being a part of her life, I need to do everything I can for her. I can't believe I let myself go this far without getting help. My pregnancy is already considered high risk because of my health problems so I go to ob/gyn appointments once a week. My next one is on Tuesday and I will be truthful with my doc. Thanks again and I will keep you all updated.

[HenryNCBA]

At this point in time it is not about you but of your baby. The baby is the unfortunate victim of this situation and for the sake of the babies and yours let your medical professionals know now. You don't want any complications and then while being treated all the medical professionals get blind sided and find out your addiction to narcotics. You need to get then in the know now! Not in a couple days not in next week or next month but right away. Forget about her Father as he isn't even in this equation. He has the easy part of this so do the right thing and let your doctors know. Believe me that this will not be the first nor last time they have encountered situations like this. They have seen it all and are best suited to helping you and your daughter.
Keep us posted okay?
Best to you and your daughter!

Henry

[Robert_325]

Thank you all very much. I was afraid to post but you guys were nothing but helpful. And thank you Robert for being honest with me. I guess the reason I have waited so long is because every month I told myself I was going to quit, but I couldn't. Selfishness has never been a trait of mine until now. My ob/gyn is very old fashioned and I am scared to tell him the truth but my daughter needs to be my first priority. She already has the odds against her with her biological father not being a part of her life, I need to do everything I can for her. I can't believe I let myself go this far without getting help. My pregnancy is already considered high risk because of my health problems so I go to ob/gyn appointments once a week. My next one is on Tuesday and I will be truthful with my doc. Thanks again and I will keep you all updated.

I'm glad that you took my post in the manner in which it was intended. I care about that baby, as well as yourself and you have to take action now for everyone's benefit. I didn't want to sound mean, just trying to get you to see the graveness of the situation. Everything willl work out witht the dr. He is there to help, not to judge. He will know what to do when you tell him even if he is bothered by what has happened. Main thing is taking care of the baby and the dr willl have to deal with his own problems. Keep us posted. Good luck and God bless.

[ComingHome]

Moony84, I'm curious as to how this is shaping up. Please keep us posted....

[just_a_mom]

Moony,

I have been pretty silent on the forum recently (My RL is hectic), but I saw your post and decided to throw in my 2 cents.

First, I was exactly in your shoes. I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was about 22 weeks along (long story). Anyway, I was using anti-depressants (Lexapro and Wellbutrin) as well as opiates (oxys). I too used a bit of Ultram to help with w/d when my oxys ran out.

Well, when I went to my ob/gyn and then a high-risk ob/gyn, they both told me that I needed off the meds but didn't give me any way to do that. I didn't want my baby in the NICU w/ withdrawals. SO, I got on the forum and tapered down. I didn't have horrible physical problems, but the mental ones kicked my @ss. My mantra was "for the baby, for the baby".

Definitely tell your ob, they need to know in the hospital nursery to check your baby.

BTW, my baby is almost 18 months old. And she seems fine even though I completely poisoned her (unintentionally) for half my pregnancy.

Best of luck

just a mom

[Zoe Zoe206]

im writing in response of your letter you are a good mommy and its only natural to feel the ultimate guilt of being a mom addicted but opiate addictions are no joke and if you try to quit cold turkey your chances of miscarrying are extremely high sadly but true your baby is addicted as well but hey there is hope its called the methadone program try as low a dose as possible and your little one wont have to kick such a high dose ,they have a baby hospital you can call it for addicted babies its called pic located in kent and believe it or not there very very good there ,well think it over and youll be in my prayers and little mamas as well may god bless you and your family always

Always around w/listening ear
another mommy