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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Telling dr about hydrocodone use while pregnant

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bliz62

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
79
Hi all! If you were using hydrocodone, both prescribed and buying on the side as well to supplement the habit, and got pregnant, would you tell your dr about the side usage? Here's the scenario...my good friend is pregnant, she quit smoking (which I was amazed at lol) but has had a few now that she's in her 2nd tri (I can't blame her really, I quit when I was pg but it was awfully hard)....and while she's greatly reduced the number of pills she takes daily, she hasn't quit completely. She gets some prescribed (like maybe 1-2/day I think? not a lot) for migraine issues...and takes all those, then buys on the side to keep up til she gets a new RX. She has not told her dr. about the side pills.

I guess I'm just nervous for her....I know she said she wants to taper off before the birth to reduce the baby's withdrawal issues, but...she hasn't told her doctor about it, or even her BF. I just think she needs to come clean at least to the doc for the baby's sake!

So my question, besides...would you tell? is, does anyone know what a safe dosage is while pregant, or any other studies I can pass along? I dont' want to look like a nag, but I'm concerned enough to post here. Thanks!
 
Is your friend you?

Either way, you (or your friend) need to speak to your (or their) doctor about this ASAP. There are certain measures that must be taken and the doctors must know ahead of time if the fetus has been exposed to chronic opiate use by the mother.
 
no thank god it's not me lmao. Yeah I know, I just dont' know how to approach her...I need better info I think before I go starting to freak her out!
 
All I can tell you from my chair right now (I'm not able to dig up some sources - but other posters probably will be able to - give this thread some time) I can tell you that withdrawaling from opioids while pregnant puts a massive amount of stress on the fetus and the mother. I'm pretty sure that is is safest for the mother to contact her doctor and be honest about her opiate usage. The doctor can then make a judgement call about if the mother needs to WD during or after pregnancy. If the doctor says so - it may be better for the fetus for the mother to maintain on opiates (usually a maintainance opioid such as methadone or buprenorphine) and then taper off after pregnancy....and have the fetus be tapered off after birth.

Again, this is a topic that I'm not 100% on off the top of my head. However, I can tell you that your friend should speak to their doctor(s) and be honest about their opiate usage so the doctor can help both them and the fetus...
 
Honesty in this instance can mean the difference between the baby living or dying. Not a difficult decision to make IMO.
 
Ok so I told her I thought she should tell the dr. about the side use, and she said "No, bc I don't want to get my RX cancelled". Yikes. I don't know exactly how much extra she takes, I know she's only prescribed like 1-2 a day bc she complained that it wasn't enough (well it never is of course for us addicts).
Sigh. Man this is an awful drug to be addicted to if you can't even slow down while pregnant. I'm going to do some more research on my own for things, but I have a feeling it will fall on deaf ears. Thanks anyway guys.
 
As others have said, she definitely needs to tell her doctor. WDs during pregnancy can certainly be harmful, and often the mother is kept on opiates throughout her pregnancy as a result. The baby will require monitoring, additional care and tapering off opiates once it is born (depending on dosage of course). Does she plan on tapering her baby herself? I would hope not! If she neglects to tell her doctor then she will be denying her child necessary care, and forcing it through cold turkey WDs. Her baby is not going to receive adequate care whilst the mother is lying as she is, and this is horribly irresponsible and selfish of her. Also, if the doctors are unaware of the extent of her opiate tolerance then she may not receive adequate pain relief during labor.

Her child's life is more important than her prescription 8o I hope this lady wakes up to herself soon.
 
I would be very surprised if they would cancel her script. It can be extremely harmful or lethal to a fetus for the mother to experience withdrawals while pregnant and the doctor should be aware of this. If anything they would probably increase her prescribed dose or give her a longer-acting or maintenance opioid. Please ask her to reconsider.

Taking opioids while pregnant (or more than prescribed) is much more dangerous if the doctor is not aware of it. The mother may be going through a pattern of high-sick-high-sick while pregnant - which is dangerous to the fetus - if she is not prescribed the opioid or takes more than prescribed and runs out early, etc. The baby will be born dependent on opioids, and might need constant monitoring, a longer hospital stay and to be tapered off opioids, and if the doctor doesn't know the baby is dependent on opioids or thinks the mother was taking less than she actually was, then this may not be done and serious complications could arise. The doctor can much better help her and her fetus if she is honest about the extent of her drug use, and I highly doubt her meds would be taken away or she would be made to quit when she is in her 2nd trimester. Telling the doctor could benefit her in more ways than just her health and the health of the fetus - she may get prescribed more opioids. Try telling her this and see what she says.
 
So her hydrocodone Rx is more important than her new baby. Yeah. That is beyond selfish, self centered, childish. Sounds to me like she lacks the maturity to be a proper mother. I'm not saying that to be an ass, I'm saying that because it's what I actually think.
 
seriously I hope the baby is healthy and all but lets be real here, theres a decent chance that baby is going to have problems at birth. Selfish as anything imo
 
nsauce said:
So her hydrocodone Rx is more important than her new baby. Yeah. That is beyond selfish, self centered, childish. Sounds to me like she lacks the maturity to be a proper mother. I'm not saying that to be an ass, I'm saying that because it's what I actually think.
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you can't properly raise a baby while in pain.

if she admits that she needed extra pain relief to the doctor, he would probably unnecessarily take her script away after delivery.

at times, it's unfortunately quite rational to be dishonest to an unhealthy health care system.
 
^It sounds like this woman is not just using for pain relief anyhow, in the scenario you describe the Dr could probably tell the difference in whether she abusing her meds or not (hopefully).

There are two ways to go about this:

1) keep using hydrocodone without telling the doctor. Baby ends up in withdrawals and there's no way to end suffering, this can cause a whole host of problems later in life.

2) tells Dr about hydrocodone. Dr will either keep her on the meds or switch to methadone and the baby will receive adequate care when he/she is born. The mother may or may not lose her script, but that depends on the doctor. If she was abusing her meds then the Dr can either help her or she can probably get on methadone.

It's not really a catch 22 situation, just selfish bullshit. If she is only using her meds for pain control then it's a different story though.
 
It sounds like this woman is not just using for pain relief anyhow
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why?
in the scenario you describe the Dr could probably tell the difference in whether she abusing her meds or not (hopefully)
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doctors are using computer games to try to spot people "just after scripts." that's how confident they are in their decisions to switch people from legal to black-market medicines.
The mother may or may not lose her script, but that depends on the doctor.
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doctors are using computer games to try to figure out whose scripts to pull. that, and doctors' dealings with the DEA, suggest her chances at being treated fairly if she reveals she didn't follow the doctor's instructions exactly are not very good.

many people do not get adequate pain treatment... red flagging yourself is one way to make this worse.
 
i see where you are coming from. I suspect she may not be using it for pain releif as OP said she buys on the side, of course this is an assumption, but you also assume she isn't abusing the meds, either way, we both don't know.

My only concern is what happens when the baby is born and is in withdrawal. I think that problem outweighs the woman's need for pain relief. There was a part of the Natgeo drugs inc documentary on opiates that showed mothers who were pregnant and using and things didn't seem so grim, the doctors made sure the mother didn't withdraw during the pregnancy and then properly weaned the baby off after. I guess it's just a tough situation as your chance of keeping your script after would be small, but in that case, couldn't methadone be a choice?
 
Well to address the abuse...I believe it is part pain management, but I think also part abuse. She just doesn't seem to be in enough pain to warrant extra, and I'm even worried that she's doing that illegally while pregnant. But she had/has back issues, so it may be that the pain is exacerbated right now, who knows. All I know is I'm worried bc you all are right, it IS selfish and stupid to lie about narcotic useage when your child is at stake.
I'm going to share most of this (except the part about her being a possibly crap mum lol) with her and hope to help her see reason, for the baby's sake. I'm pretty sure from past experience of my own that the doc would pull her script maybe after she tapers off, and she will get red flagged for the future, but to me, that can be dealt w/later. Right now is about the baby, not her addiction.
Thanks guys.
 
bliz62 said:
I'm going to share most of this (except the part about her being a possibly crap mum lol)
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Yeah, I was just going to ask if people could try to refrain from making harsh personal judgments towards this woman. Addiction and physical dependence to opioids is an extremely powerful thing and it isn't helpful to judge her, if anything that could just reinforce the idea that she should be dishonest about her drug use.

I'm pretty sure from past experience of my own that the doc would pull her script maybe after she tapers off, and she will get red flagged for the future
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Have you been in that situation while pregnant though? Generally they don't want someone to quit opioids while pregnant, especially when that far along. Also, I think that she could just say (regardless of whether it is true or not) that she was only taking extra because her Rx was not relieving her pain. It may look better that she was just taking the same drug and not, say, injecting heroin or something. Even if the doctor does want her to stop using the hydrocodone at some point, she still has the option of methadone or buprenorphine if she is not ready to quit opioids (not that I would generally recommend those for a hydrocodone addiction, but I think it could be better than just continuing the hydrocodone illicitly, especially while pregnant or a new mother). Maybe being honest with her doctor and getting some form of proper treatment can be helpful to her in beginning motherhood as well. Best of luck to you both :)
 
Absolutely you must tell the doctor, no question whatsoever.

Hydrocodone is not likely to be the drug of choice for pregnancy, I am not a doctor but I REALLY don't think combination APAP products would be good for the baby.
 
well no, i haven't used while pregnant, so you could be 100% right on what the doc will do. I think I have her convinced to tell the doc at her next appt (which is next week luckily) that she has been taking extra, she isn't going to offer up how she got them and she said she's going to be vague on how much exactly, but I gave her your thought swimmingdancer of just saying it's not enough for the pain, and see what happens. Hopefully the doc is understanding and she can get through this with the baby in good health. Thanks!
 
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