That's not the point.. I'm not going to relapse, I have a child growing inside me. I'm not prepared to be another statistic for these doctors annual papers. Apparently Naltrexone is a class C drug meaning there could be harmful effects to the unborn child. My question is does anyone know of any doctor I can see who will stop railroading me? I'm Australian, living in Richmond, Virginia. Any help would be greatly appreciated. ^_^
I'm not going to comment on your right to remove the naltrexone implants, but I do think that you would benefit from a better understanding of the risks associated with naltrexone use during pregnancy.
First off, FDA Category C doesn't mean it will cause harm to your baby. What it means is that
doctors don't conclusively know if the drug is harmful or safe because not enough research has been done. Also, it is important to understand what the word
harmful means. It doesn't have to be birth defects - it includes anything considered outside the range of normal, like low birth weight, high birth weight, or born prematurely (even 1 week premature would be considered a "harmful effect"), etc. Many OTC drugs are category C (advil/ibuprofen, aleve/naproxen, etc).
I also thought I'd research what medical information there is on naltrexone in pregnancy for you:
- There are no clinical trials proving its safe, but there are at least 25 published cases of women with implants becoming pregnant. In all 25 cases, the babies had normal birth outcomes.
- When rats are given 50x the normal human naltrexone dose, their babies are born fine. When given 200x the normal dose, there is a small increase in miscarriages
- According to a 2012 opinion statement published by addiction specialists and obstetricians, "While potential confounding factors were not controlled, the results suggest no evidence
of an increased risk for poor neonatal outcomes with prenatal naltrexone exposure" (
reference here)
Disadvantages:
- The biggest concern about being on naltrexone is to you, the mom, is that naltrexone will block the effects of pain killers used during childbirth (epidural fentanyl) or in a worst case scenario, c-section.
Advantages: (assumes that you relapse)
- You don't want your baby born addicted to opiates
- Opiates
have been proven to increase risk of birth defects. No such "hard evidence" exists for naltrexone.
- Opiate withdrawal can kill your fetus (spontaneous abortion), or induce labour causing the baby to be born prematurely.
**This is general information and is not my medical advice to you**. I agree with others in thinking you should see obstetrics and addiction physicians, and have a long, open, and honest conversation about the benefits and risks specific to you.