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On methadone & newborn - Dealing with dr's?
  • AnonUser24
    Posts: 2,610Guest
    .
  • shadylaneshadylane
    Posts: 3,071Member
    Well thanks lol its not something I'm proud of but I really didn't have much choice in the matter. Its the law that clinics can't reduce ur dose if ur pregnant, so I either had to follow their rules or just stop taking it cold turkey and risk killing my baby. They actually wanted to increase it but I refused. I did not want her to be born on methadone at all, and was prepared to sue if anything happened to her but she was fine. And still is.
    ~slim shady~
  • AnonUser28
    Posts: 2,083Guest
    @shadylane My mother is also an addict who was clean a few years before we kids were born. It is something she shared readily with us once we were old enough to understand, but no one who doesn't know could possibly guess it. She is the most caring, responsible, empathic mother I could imagine, and I am grateful every day for the example she has been for me. She taught me how to be a mother, and I strive every day to be more like her!
  • jezebeldelilahjezebeldelilah
    Posts: 338Member
    Well you guys are lucky because my friend had her dd on methadone and Cps was the first place the doctors called. I am only speaking from what I have personaly seen and experienced. I hope the best for all addicts and it is a disease that so many do not grasp. I hope everything goes well for baby and mom. The amount taken will play a huge role in the extent of withdrawals. Again I only hope the best possible for anyone especially one trying to stay clean and seek help.
  • chaosmomchaosmom
    Posts: 3,865Member
    @freedomlover, from what I have read, the actual amount of methadone you are on makes no long term difference as long as the mother does not have any cravings or withdrawal symptoms while pregnant. They do tend to increase the amount late in pregnancy because your blood volume and such is increased. Again, just to minimize withdrawal. Breastfeeding is actual encouraged at some hospitals as long as no other substances are being used. The small amount of methadone excreted in the breast milk minimizes withdrawal for the baby but you have to wean them off of the breast when you are done with nursing just like they have to wean the baby off if not nursing. The main problem with that is that these babies tend to have problems with the latch/suck/swallow.
  • MegsueMegsue
    Posts: 1,864Member
    The only time I have ever seen CPS involved was if the mother was on methadone illegally (she had no prescription for it.) Other than that there is no reason for them to become involved.

    http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2010/nida-09.htm
    This ^^^ is why we treat pregnant women with suboxone and not methadone. And I'm not sure why you were told that suboxone has more severe withdrawal symptoms than methadone @chlomom because any study I have read I've seen just the opposite. Maybe you were confusing the two? Not being snarky. Just want to see something if you have different info than what I've read, and seen firsthand, time and time again.
  • jezebeldelilahjezebeldelilah
    Posts: 338Member
    I have researched both withdrawals and Suboxone is longer and causes major depression. Suboxone has a 3 day half life meaning it last 6 in your system causing up to 10 days of what a normal opiate does in 3. Suboxone fully attaches to all receptors in brain fully
  • jezebeldelilahjezebeldelilah
    Posts: 338Member
    Sorry my phone cut off. Ok listen Google Suboxone withdrawals. Tbere is a website dedicated to how horrifying they are. 9 out of 10 addicts say they would rather come off of any other opiate. A properly done taper is not as bad but is still long and severe. Doctors at first were told that it had no withdrawals at all and called Suboxone a miracle drug. New research shows it is worse to come off than others. Again I learned most of this doing research for college. Suboxone though can be used for maintenance is ideally only used for 4 days. To manage the severe withdrawals from opiates. I will post some links here in a little bit. I'm feeding dinner and being repetitive sorry.
  • MegsueMegsue
    Posts: 1,864Member
    Lol! No worries @chlomom. I know how that goes! If I'm able to type a sentence that is readable I'm a happy girl. I really am interested in what you have to share. If there's one thing about the medical world, it's that it's ever changing. What we thought was true yesterday gets turned on its head today!
  • jezebeldelilahjezebeldelilah
    Posts: 338Member
    I'm not saying it doesn't save lives and is worthless it can be a miracle for people. Just so many are not aware that it does this. Again this is personal knowledge and a matter of research I did. So I do not want to offend anyone or provide misinformation. I am speaking only from what I have learned. Addiction to opiates has no easy cure. It is complicated and all the meds used have risks and benefits. It is up to the individual and there case as to what will work for them. It is a valid option. Just like cold turkey and no meds is an option. I watched a close friend suffer for weeks after stopping Suboxone. They puked and cried daily for 6 weeks and ended up in the psych ward from the
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,209Member
    there should be no reason for cps to get involved...this is not a situation where a pregnant woman is coming in strung out and in labor, this one where she's handling her addiction in a medically (and should be socially) acceptable manner.

    I do think the hospital may assign a social worker just in case the baby does have withdrawal issues, as well as a psychiatrist for mom if she doesn't already have one. 
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • pdxmama
    Posts: 1,489Member
    Here they will often notify CPS, but CPS won't open a "real" case. More of like a 30 day investigation where they'll verify through the tx provider that all UAs during pregnancy weren't positive for any illicit drugs, and that mom is following her treatment plan.
  • AnonUser28
    Posts: 2,083Guest
    They probably will assign a social worker. Even my little neice who is in the hospital has been assigned a social worker... that's not a big deal.
  • jezebeldelilahjezebeldelilah
    Posts: 338Member
    That really amazes me about Cps. It is the first thing the local hospital where I live does no matter if the meds reported to doc or not. Its to put it on the record in case there are future issues. It helps build stronger cases for the social worker. My fil always had hospital calls for the methadone clinics patients all the time. Idk he had different names for the addict mothers based on drugs they used. Methadone moms were called meth moms, crystal meth moms were called mean moms for methampheta"mean". Maybe its different everywhere and depends on how the system works where u are. I really do wish the very best for the baby and mother. Also I do not know at all what will happen or how it will play out but I felt like I should share what I have seen happen to friends and what I have learned from my own research.
  • SqueakyTweaky
    Posts: 39Member
    Icansellouttoo said:

    Okay, let me put things in perspective then. She is trying to give away her child she just got back from child protective services and she seems to be more concerned about her doctors being judgemental of her past than she is about them saving her baby's life.



    WHOA, whoa, whoa, hold up here!!  I see you're referencing another thread I posted, but you have your info wrong.  The CPS situation was a very complicated one and it certainly does NOT involve me wanting to "give away" my child!  I would never have "worked services" and completed everything CPS asked me to do, had I not wanted my daughter... What actually happened was, because of my particular circumstances (not having my own stable place to live, not being able to properly financially support a child on my own) CPS would NOT give my daughter back to me on my own merits, despite continued efforts on my part to do what they asked of me.  So my parents got involved, legally intervened & became her legal guardians.  I still maintain my technical parental rights, and despite the problems my parents & I go through with dealing with the change having my daughter here... I can go to sleep each night knowing she is safe, healthy and well cared for! 

    And I couldn't care LESS about the doctors judging me, my concern here was that in Waco TX a lot of the medical personnel I've encountered in the past have not been fully informed about methadone or have personal bias against people on it and I did not want my newborn baby to suffer because of this... I'm here merely trying to gain any sort of wisdom I can about what I could do to make sure that my daughter won't suffer just because a doctor might be reluctant to give her 'addictive' medications.  It has nothing to do with me.

    And the thing is, of *course* I realize that being on methadone and thus having to risk the baby going through any kind of withdrawal is not an ideal situation!  However, I'm not ashamed to be on methadone; it has worked for me 100%, keeping me sober and helping me to live a normal & stable life I never would have had otherwise.  It is far better and safer for the baby than if I had risked getting off methadone and relapsed at a time in my life when I desperately needed to be clean.  Also, I don't know if you know this, but methadone withdrawal has a major potential of causing a miscarriage which is why both my OB, primary care doctor AND clinic physician ALL recommended I stay on my dose for the entirety of my pregnancy.  It's simply not the time to go fooling around with your physical health, putting the baby in serious jeopardy with the major physical and mental stress of going through withdrawals.  In fact, at my clinic even if you don't have the $ to pay for the medicine, they will continue to dose you until you give birth due to the high risk involved with getting OFF it once you are pregnant..

  • SqueakyTweaky
    Posts: 39Member

    And to answer the question about my dose, I was on 65 mg (which I'm told is a low dose) for most of my pregnancy; I went as long as I absolutely could without going up on my dose until it got to the point where the clinic doctor called me in and said he thought it was medically necessary for me to raise my dose a little because I had gained so much weight.  I was underweight when I started out (about 5'2" and 93 lbs) and at my last OB appt I was 115 lbs, so I did finally (about 3 weeks ago) go up to 75 mg and noticed a major improvement as far as not feeling like my medication was wearing completely off by night time.  But I'm not on so much that I actually "feel" it as in getting any kind of "good" feeling from it, it just does what it's supposed to do - keep me off opiates and craving-free. 

    Both the doc & the nurses at the clinic were very reassuring to me when I voiced concerns about having to go up on my dose...They let me know that it was best for the baby if I did indeed have adequate medication because if I were to start going through withdrawals then so would the baby, which wouldn't have been a good thing -especially since I've been on bed rest for at least 3 months already due to pre-term labor concerns.

  • momofdbbmomofdbb
    Posts: 9,059Member
    @SqueakyTweaky  first I will say I have no clue how methadone works, I get that it helps a person stop taking more severe drugs, so it's like a stepping stone back to not using right? I am glad it is around to help. Keep doing what the drs say and I will pray for an easy delivery and a easy transition for you baby. ( If you don't mind, I don't know your religious views, I just pray A LOT ,lol) 
    And second I am glad you and your DD are safe and she is well taken care of, by you ( when your able to , bed rest makes it hard to do things with a little one) and your parents. Trying to find the balance between you/children/grandparents living in one space especialy if the parents/grandparents have diffrent parenting ideas is HARD ! Trust me I know. 
    " Wibbly wobbly timey wimey ......." The Doctor
    " I'm a leafe on the wind..watch how I soar ." Wash :((
    " Oh the wall had it comming.' Sherlock Holmes
    yea I am geek !!
  • blkrosemommablkrosemomma
    Posts: 297Member
    Ok, So I have to ask, what are your plans after the baby is born? Are you going to breast feed? Can you while on Methadone? Are you going to try to wean from it?

    I am just curious. I had a boyfriend and dear friend that was addicted to heroin years ago. He's clean now but it was a hard process. I can't imagine going through rehabilitation while pregnant and with a toddler. But good on you.
  • pdxmama
    Posts: 1,489Member
    Breastfeeding is actually recommended in this situation bc it helps to lessen the baby's withdrawal symptoms.
  • shadylaneshadylane
    Posts: 3,071Member
    Idk about that, it might help at first but continued breastfeeding would keep the baby from getting totally off of it. Unless the mother was coming off of it too. If not the baby would go thru withdrawal when being weaned off breast milk and it wouldn't be a medically supervised withdrawal. I've ways been told u can't breastfeed on methadone, I'm sure its fine while the baby's still in the hospital but after that I wouldn't. I have a feeling that's what ur doctor will say, they will probably want the baby to have nothing in its system when u bring her home and she will be totally past the withdrawal (if she even withdraws at all, 75 is still pretty low. If she has no symptoms they might not want u to breastfeed at all)
    ~slim shady~
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