So.. if you get oxys from your doctor or buy heroin off the street during your pregnancy you are mad irresponsible.. how is methadone any different? If anything methadone is more addictive then those drugs. It is a full agonist drug just like the other two and it is certainly addictive. A mother who can't stop doing methadone too protect the childs life is any less sad? Sounds like the same junky on a different drug to me.
Please. Who takes methadone during their pregnancy but isn't an addict? You are either a junky and can't quit (you say addiction doesn't apply) or you just choose not to quit and would rather risk your child's brain chemistry be forever changed so you can catch a buzz every day. So.. either an addict or just admittedly care more about yourself then your child.
I still find it laughable you claim methadone has nothing to do with addiction when the drug is given out to treat addiction. If you aren't an opiate addict you aren't on methadone maintenance..
How can you possibly claim doing oxy and heroin is wrong but methadone is OK in the same sentence? Double standard much?
That argument has zero logic behind it.
Riiight. First of all, you honestly dont know that methadone is used for things other than addiction treatment? Its extremely common to use in pain management, pallitative care for cancer patients, and even off-label used for shit like Restless legs syndrome. Its kinda disappointing that a user of this site, which is here to increase your knowledge of drugs, really didnt know that theres more uses for it than addiction treatment.
Second, Its clear you are absolutely ignorant about the overwhelming agreement of the medical community in america that mothers on maintenance should STAY on it throughout pregnancy then.
It seems like you aint aware that opiates aint teratogenic. That means that they aint neurotoxic to a developing fetus and have negligible effect on development. There are no birth defects or issues directly caused by methadone or the majority of opiates. Its understandable for you to think the way you do , since you didnt know that. Lots of people dont. But anybody who knows the facts about it can tell you that Im right. If you think its so laughable the things Im saying, let me tell you a little bit about those facts, and maybe it wont be so funny.
The reason there is a difference between somebody who is out there using dope or oxys or WTFever, and a person who is prescribed opiate medication and is not abusing it and takes it on a steady, regular schedule, is well known to anybody who bothers to do research on this and dont just blindly assume and accuse based on gut reactions and emotion.
The reason that a woman whose shootin dope, doin oxys, or other recreational drugs during pregnancy is dangerous is the WITHDRAWAL. The lifestyle and things associated with it are the reason that its bad to keep using during pregnancy, NOT the drug itself. If that sounds crazy to you, why dont you do a little research of your own and youll confirm that.
I think we all know that its a very unstable lifestyle when you are an active addict. You rarely got a steady, certain supply of the drug. You constantly are withdrawaling or at the verge of withdrawaling. That environment in the body is very dangerous and damaging to the fetus. Withdrawal can cause miscarriage in severe cases. Also, the majority of people who are seriously addicted to opiates usually aint getting good nutrition and care for themself, which means that the baby aint getting great care. all the money goes to dope/drugs. Theres barely time to do things like go sit in the social services office from 7 am to 4 pm waiting to sign up for medicaid...So, theres a good chance that theres no prenatal care for the baby.
Theres a whole boatload of problems in the life of most addicts...bad nutrition, little or no medical care, a enormous amount of constant stress, always bein on the run, being exposed to all kinds of diseases if you share needles which almost every addict I ever met does do at least once in a while....The list goes on. Those are the things that are harmful to a baby in the womb.
Everything I just listed there, the chaotic, stressful lifestyle of active addiction, added to constant ups and downs of gettin high and getting sick, is the thing that hurts a developing baby. NOT the opiates themselves.
Also, your childs "brain chemistry" is absolutely NOT " changed forever" -- Your baby is born, detoxed (if necessary--not every baby born to a mother on opiates is dependent at birth) and thats it. And also, it definately aint "just so you can " catch a high." Have you ever even been on methadone for anything? You sure as hell dont catch no high from it. It looks like you are reacting on a emotional level, just hearing "drugs" and "pregnancy" and automatically gettin angry. But emotion or opinion , neither of them is relevant to this subject--the shit thats relevant is the facts, and science. Both of those support the things Im sayin.
Another thing you should consider is that at least half of pregnancies are unplanned, in general. That number is probably much higher in a population of people who probably aint ready to have a kid just quite yet. But, sometimes shit happens. If you were planning to have a baby, of course you would want to be off drugs first. But, if its unplanned, and you are already on MMT, its another story....Which leads me to another important point....IF YOU ARE ON METHADONE WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOU ARE PREGNANT....you pretty much HAVE to stay ON it. Detoxing is incredibly dangerous to the baby and its strongly recommended by all the major medical org's that focus on pregnancy to STAY on it thruout the pregnancy.
It aint got a god damn thing to do with "not stopping to protect the childs life." In reality, once you are pregnant, STOPPING is the thing that risks the childs life. Staying on maintenance keeps your life, and your body, stable. The level of drug in your body stays constant, and none of the dangerous ups and downs of being addicted are in the picture. A baby can develop perfectly fine with a mother on MMT.
It cant do that while in the body of a mother going thru active addiction who aint taking care of herself and is gettin dopesick every other day and spends all day chasin. And it cant do that in the body of a woman who is detoxing. In reality its selfish to detox becuz instead of considering the babys health you are considering "wat will people think of me? Im on methadone during pregnancy!" The safest, best thing to do for your babys health is to stay on it.
Between 10 and 30% of babies born to mothers on methadone dont even experience any NAS. Of the ones who do, many of them dont need any special treatment or medication, they just stay in the hospital a extra couple days for observation and then go home.
The situation aint as black and white as you think. Women on MMT, OR on opiates for other reasons such as pain management, can absolutely be caring, responsible mothers. The fact that you are on the drug says nothing about you as a mother--the choices you make do. If you choose to keep using and be irresponsible and be out in the streets, doing shit that can get you arrested and can get your kid took away from you, that says one thing. If you stay on a drug that keeps you clean, stable, and healthy, that says another. You are incredibly judgemental, based on absolutey nothing factual. Its unfortunate that so many people also see it the way you do and are totally oblivious of the truth of the situation.
I should know about all this. I been on methadone for pain management for 2 years now after I got in a bad car accident. I found out I was pregnant 2 months into it. Of course I stayed on the methadone--it was the advice of every doctor I talked to.
I had my son at full term. My pregnancy was completely normal, and when he was born, his umbilical cord was fuckin enormous. (the size of the cord is a sign of how healthy the mother was during pregnancy--it determines how much oxygen and nutrients get thru to the baby.) the usual size is about as wide as your pinky finger. His was almost as big around as a golf ball. The staff all said they never seen a bigger one, and that I must have been taking amazing care of my body and my baby during the pregnancy.
He was a normal weight and size, and I had a natural childbirth, with no epidural, no labor inducing drugs, and no interventions of any kind. It was a textbook "perfect" birth.
My son also had almost zero withdrawals. The hospital uses a scale of 1-10 to rate the NAS symptoms. His were between 1 and 3 for the majority of his stay there. He didnt need any medication to get weaned off or nothing like that.
Hes home now with me and everytime he goes to the doctor they just have a fit over how healthy he is. He aint even 2 months old yet and hes over 10 lbs. I also breastfeed him , no formula, and he is the absolute picture of perfect baby health.
Once you know a little more about the subject, and maybe get some experience in it, you earn the right to pass judgement. Till then.....You might be suprised at how little you actually know about this topic.
