Number Of Newborns Addicted To Painkillers Rising

[nervousone]

Your point? Posting the definition of NAS aint exactly an argument here....

The person above me asked what NAS was. Nodding to hard to read the thread?

 

[...]

I've been reading alot on this since this article, trying to learn more about methadone.... and it seems like there simply is not enough research to fully support either side of the debate (on whether it is safe for pregnancy).

Conducting this type of research on human infants and fetuses is complicated. The amount of evidence for or against is likely to remain limited. I'd listen to common sense on this matter: acute withdrawal seems traumatic for fetuses. Keep it as gradual and controlled as possible: i.e. methadone maintenance through term followed by a supervised taper after birth.

There are studies suggesting withdrawal may not be so dangerous for fetuses, but these do not correct for the very high risk of relapse.

 

[gingerbutt]

LacyK - I think we both are misunderstanding each other.

This article was not about methadone ONLY. I have said this several times now... it is about babies born addicted to prescription drugs.

I have done extensive research on that topic in the past, however they were generally not focused on opiates - rather depression, anti-pyscotic meds etc. Since my first posting - I have been reading as much as I can find on methadone and pregnancy.

I am not saying that methadone will destroy your childs life but I do not believe that is is completely safe, as you claim. There is one site saying it is ok, one site saying it is not. (FDA says no) And because of the complication in this type of research - we may never know. I do not think that saying it is harmless is responsible.

"I understand and we all do that a mother who continues usin heroin or oxys or watever recreational drugs due to ADDICTION, durin her pregnancy, is bein mad irresponsible, and a child born to a mom who cant even stop doing that shit to protect her childs life , IS sad.

But im just pointing out that not ALL babies born with NAS are in a bad situation. NAS itself aint an indicator of a irresponsible mother, it can just be a sign of a mother on mmt or pain management, and aint got nothin to do with addiction in the mother. " - Agreed.

This is a very emotionally charged piece because we are all affected by mothers. It can be hard to take a step back and look at things scientifically or logically at first. I know I have learned more from this.

 

[Dragynfyr]

I'm not judging you for loving dope more then your child and one day I hope you can grow out of it

That's a pretty fucked up thing to say to a person. The doctors told her what the safest thing to do is, and she's doing it..

 

[nervousone]

Truth hurts huh? I guess it is too much to ask a drug addict use a condom while having sex.. I find it sad when a child is born to uneducated drug addict and is going to have to be supported with my tax dollars.

Drug misuse in pregnancy: losing sight of the baby?

Abstract

Maternal drug misuse can seriously affect the health of the fetus and newborn infant. The association of maternal drug misuse with prematurity, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is well recognised, and there is growing concern about infant visual development and longer-term neurodevelopmental outcome. Drug misuse is associated with changes in the visual system as measured by the visual evoked potential (VEP) in adults and animal models. A recent study has shown abnormal VEPs in newborn infants exposed to methadone in utero, consistent with reports of delayed visual development in this population. Since visual abnormalities and neurodevelopmental abnormalities can be predicted by abnormal VEPs in infancy, it is postulated that the VEP may be a valuable tool in the detection of the adverse effects of maternal drug misuse upon the infant. This review summarises the impact of maternal drug misuse upon the health of the fetus and newborn infant, addresses the specific effects of maternal drug misuse upon the developing visual
system and discusses the potential role of the VEP in the assessment of these infants.

Relationship of maternal substance abuse to subsequent sudden infant death syndrome in offspring.

Abstract

To assess the possible relationship between maternal drug use during pregnancy and subsequent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), we identified 1760 cases of SIDS from a population of more than 1.2 million infants (1.45/1000) born in New York City between 1979 and 1989. The SIDS rate in drug-exposed infants was 5.83 per 1000 infants, compared with 1.39 per 1000 infants who were not drug exposed. With control for known associated high-risk variables, the risk ratio for SIDS in each individual drug group (methadone, 3.6; heroin, 2.3; methadone and heroin, 3.2; cocaine, 1.6; cocaine and methadone or heroin, 1.1) was higher than in the non-drug-exposed group. Higher rates of SIDS were found in infants exposed to opiates alone than in cocaine-exposed infants, but increasing rates of SIDS in cocaine-exposed infants toward the end of the decade suggested that "crack" cocaine may be linked to these increasing rates. Declines in the overall rate of SIDS during the decade were observed for both the drug-exposed (11.28 to 4.09 per 1000) and the nonexposed groups (1.70 to 1.05 per 1000). Differences in rates of SIDS between major racial-ethnic groups in nonexposed infants were not apparent if the mothers used drugs during pregnancy. Seasonal variation and distribution of ages at time of SIDS death did not differ between the drug-exposed group and the nonexposed group, suggesting that drug-associated SIDS may provide clues as to the cause or causes of SIDS.

Sudden Deaths in Infants Born to Methadone-Maintained Addicts

Abstract

Two confirmed and one possible case of sudden and unexpected death in infants less than 3 months of age occurred in a group of 14 infants of mothers who received methadone for opiate addiction during part of their pregnancy. In view of the increasing use of methadone to treat opiate addiction and the resulting increasing number of infants who will be at risk, this high incidence of the "sudden infant death syndrome" in this particular population cannot be ignored even though it may be fortuitous.

Maternal methadone may cause arrhythmias in neonates

Abstract

Methadone treatment is a well recognised cause of QT interval lengthening in adults. In this case report, we present for the first time, clinically significant QT interval lengthening in a neonate secondary to maternal methadone treatment. Neonatal paediatricians should be aware of this important and potentially serious clinical phenomenon.

 

[AfterGlow]

reminds me of the crazy media hype in the 80's warning us that a generation of crack babies was gonna doom society!

 

[gingerbutt]

^ That media "hype" does have a certain ring of truth to it, but agreed - unfair to place all the blame on the babies.

 

[nervousone]

I'll contend a baby is better off with a methadone mother then a heroin mother but being a mother on methadone is far from ideal.

As to your argument methadone doesn't get you high -- it doesn't get you high anymore because you have a tolerance. It is a full agonist opiate and gets a user just as high as heroin or oxy.

 

[Herbal~Jah]

I understand opioid addiction completley. But I would never even consider having a kid if I am on ANY drug, and im a freaking man.

 

[Khadijah]

As to your argument methadone doesn't get you high -- it doesn't get you high anymore because you have a tolerance. It is a full agonist opiate and gets a user just as high as heroin or oxy.

Exactly. It gets non experienced users with no tolerance high. That has absolutely nothing to do with me. I dont get high off it, so saying shit like "are you nodding too hard to pay attention" and shit like that when you know perfectly well that somebody who been on it as long as me or you dont get high, is just meaningless provoking. I never was speaking for new users with no tolerance. Im talking about long term MMT and pain management patients, who definately dont get high, therefore "getting high" has nothing to do with their ability to be a parent, and "getting high" is definately NOT a goal of them being on the medication, since they dont get high. To say "you love getin high more than your kid" to somebody on MMT or PM, when you know damn well they aint getting high off their dose, and aint taking it to get high, is irrelevant, and a way to distract people off the real point. Once again, you are just appealing to peoples emotions instead of looking at the reality and the facts.

Truth hurts huh? I guess it is too much to ask a drug addict use a condom while having sex.. I find it sad when a child is born to uneducated drug addict and is going to have to be supported with my tax dollars.

It definately dont hurt, becuz it aint the truth. I dont do dope, at all. I dont use ANY recreational drugs. I dont drink, or even smoke cigarettes. I am not on methadone maintenance. I am not on methadone for addiction treatment. I aint sure how many times I gotta explain that. I am on painkillers for pain management becuz I have a spinal injury that prevents me from being able to do simple basic activities in life without being in pain meds. Methadone is extremely common as a pain management drug for people requiring long term PM. Not everybody on it is on it for addiction.

And your tax dollars aint got nothing to do with this. I have private insurance, and my sons father who I been with for the past 8 years, has a full time job with benefits who supports us while I stay home to care for the kid and raise him.

Ima suggest to you that in the future , when you try to insult somebody, you say something that actually applies to them. Right now you are doin the eqivalent of calling a skinny person fat just becuz you dont like them or disagree with the shit they say. Call me a irresponsible drug addict who loves dope more than her kid all you want, but that aint gonna change the fact that I aint a dope addict and dont use, abuse, or in any way come anywhere near dope, or any recreational drugs. If you honestly believe people on pain management, OR mmt (In case youre still confused, Ill remind you again that I aint on MMT and am not in addiction treatment) aint capable of being good parents, then maybe you shouldnt be a member of bluelight. I know that Im a great mom and am 100% secure in that knowledge. So for you to think that your baseless comments that have nothing to do with reality even slightly upset me, nevermind "hurt" me, is really flattering yourself.

I been nothin but civil to you. if you aint capable of doin the same, then theres nothing else I got to say to you. This is a serious discussion, and wasting my, and everybody elses, time by flaming, is incredibly immature.

 

[Khadijah]

LacyK - I think we both are misunderstanding each other.

This article was not about methadone ONLY. I have said this several times now... it is about babies born addicted to prescription drugs.

Right. But methadone is a prescription drug. The study said the number of babies born with NAS.

"Nationwide, from 2003 to 2008, the number of babies diagnosed with newborn withdrawal syndrome more than doubled to almost 12,000, according to a survey by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

That is the overall number of babies treated for NAS. A baby born to a responsible mother on MMT will most likely have NAS. So my whole point was that NAS ITSELF aint an indicator that a baby is born to a drug addict mom. The headline, and the way the story is reported, makes it sound like that is the total number of babies who are born into a life of addiction and chaos, you know? They sensationalize it to make it sound a certain type of way to get people all worked up.

But I dont see anywhere in the post that it says its only a study of babies born to mothers addicted to painkillers that they abuse and/or werent prescribed. It looks like its just a basic breakdown of the numbers of babies who had WD symptoms.

So any MMT mother or PM mother would be included in that number.

My point there is that skews the study data, making it look like theres more babies born to drug addict mothers than there really are since with the study data there, the healthy, responsible women on painkillers for watever reason, are mixed in with the addict ones who are using to get high. Their babies would have the same symptoms, in different degrees of intensity. It aint like there is a different kind of WD for babies born to addicts than ones born to women on prescribed meds who use them safely.

So, if we really want to find out how many babies are born to addicts who used during pregnancy, youd have to subtract all the responsible mothers on a monitored prescription drug from those results. That was my original point, but my kid just woke up and started fussin at the time I was postin so i had to finish my post before I had time to go more in depth with the shit I was sayin. Hope its clearer now.

 

[Khadijah]

I'll contend a baby is better off with a methadone mother then a heroin mother but being a mother on methadone is far from ideal.

OK. Think however you want to about it. Nobody says its ideal. But to say its "far" from ideal is stretching it.

eating a poor diet can cause a baby who is more unhealthy than one born to a woman on methadone. A woman on methadone living a healthy lifestyle, gettin good prenatal care, and eating right and not smoking, her baby is much better off than a baby born to a woman who dont take care of herself, eats a shitty diet, and dont get prenatal care. How well you take care of yourself while you are pregnant has much more to do with how healthy the baby will be. I heard that over and over from my doctors. I was so concerned about the safety of being on it before I started to do my research. I got nothing but reassurance, from every doctor I saw. They always told me to quit worrying, that being on methadone if you are a healthy person who otherwise has no pregnancy complications, and are taking good care of yourself, is really not much to be worried about.

If you are a ex addict who got clean a month before you got pregnant and your body is still malnourished and you been sharing needles and shit like that, then its gonna be much different. But a woman who takes good care of herself, who has a healthy diet, exercises, dont smoke or drink, etc, and is on methadone, especially if like me she is on it for reasons NOT related to addiction, will have very little to worry about if she gets pregnant.

Like i said before, my pregnancy was great. There was no complications, the birth was perfect, I didnt need any interventions or assistance and had a natural birth. I had no epidural, labor-inducing drugs, or any interference of any kind. Everything went as well as it possibly could, and my son had no side effects from the methadone like low birth weight or small head circumfrence or nothing like that. He was just perfect. His NAS scores were around 2 and 3 on the Finnegan scale on the 5th day, which is the worst day for WD's for babies with NAS. On the other days, they were mostly 0's and 1's and 2's. (Scores that low mean the baby is showing small signs of slight WD, like sneezing. They dont start to "suffer" from the WD till the scores get up to the 6s and 7s, so he didnt suffer or experience any pain from the WDs, which made me really happy. His symptoms were just minor ones that dont really cause discomfort, like slight tremors, watery eyes, and shit like that. None of the painful aching, etc.) He didnt need any assistance or special care--They didnt have to give him any medication or wean him off or nothing. he even went home earlier than they expected him to becuz he was in such good health.

And saying that being on it is far from ideal...Are you sayin that about bein on it during the pregnancy, or just in general? If your opinion applies to bein on it at all, and not just simply during pregnancy, Id love to hear why you feel that way....


By the way....your whole 'if youre a drug addict why couldnt you use a condom" question is off base for 2 reasons...one of them bein (ill remind you again) that i aint a drug addict, the second one being you can get pregnant with a condom, and guess wat...it happened to me. over and over every assumption you made about me has been wrong, so maybe youll learn to stop judging before you got the whole story.

 

[Dragynfyr]

^haha awesome, I didn't know you already popped, thought the lil bugger was still baking =p
congrats =) did you post any pics?

 

[Khadijah]

Thanks yo! Na, that is a part of my life thats sacred to me, so I aint puttin his little face all on the internet, you know? i just feel so protective towards him and you know how BL is. post a picture and next thing you know people are photoshopping it with pedobear and shit, so I didnt put pics of him up here. Hes 2 months old today Im makin a cake later, even tho he cant eat it yet, Ill eat it for him. I been doin wii fit with him all day, I hold him while I do the aerobic step thing and it puts him right to sleep

Anyways....Sorry to post somethin off topic. I guess it is relevant in a way tho. If i was a drug addict who was noddin off all day and rather get high than love my kid I dont think i would be spendin every waking second with him. I leave the house like twice a week to go out and get food for me and diapers etc for him. There aint nothin I love more than bein with him and lovin him and takin care of him. Hes the most important thing in my life, and if bein on methadone had ANY effect on my ability to care for him or made me less of a parent that would be a problem. But it dont. Nobody knows Im on it if I dont tell them, nobody even suspects. I dont act no different than anybody youd meet on the street. It makes me normal so I can take care of him and be a good parent. if i didnt take it, I wouldnt even be able to do things like pick him up out of his bassinette or hold him for more than a little while, or carry him around the house with me while I do chores, etc. The difference is like night and day. bein on it makes me a better parent so I aint in too much pain to be a good mom.

Its easy to understand why anybody would think a person in active heroin or drug addiction would be a unfit parent. But when people think that people in drug treatment, who are on maintenance, are unfit, its just closed minded....Even more confusing to me is why anybody would think a person on painkillers for pain management would be a unfit parent, like just becuz you are on the medication it somehow means youre a sneaky junkie or some shit like that. It just honestly baffles me sometimes that people can be so ignorant about shit....I would expect that kind of opinion from the super conservative old-timer racist bigoted type people that usually have judgemental opinions about anybody who aint white, married, and employed in a job with high pay havin kids. But when young people who are supposedly educated , who are drug users themselvs, who are posters on a website all about spreading knowledge and stopping the harmful myths and bad stereotypes about drugs and drug users, say shit like that, I just cant understand it. Shit never fails to amaze me.

 

[23536]

does anyone know why methadone leads to cardiac arrhythmias? I've been bouncing around clinics for almost 10 years and I've never seen anyone with a pacemaker.

 

[LunaInFurs]

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..



.

8)

Do you know how dangerous it is to detox while you are pregnant, especially at the very beginning of pregnancy? Most clinics will not detox pregnant women , and if they do, its against medical advice. I know a women that requested a detox, was denied and as a result ended up with an acs case because her clinic reported her for medical neglect.

I am on methadone , and believe me , it is not because I want to "catch a buzz everyday "...

Also, I know plenty of people that are not addicts and are on methadone for medical reasons. It is often prescribed for chronic pain and lately has been used as a treatment for leukemia

 

[LunaInFurs]

The person above me asked what NAS was. Nodding to hard to read the thread?

LACEY : YOU DONT HAVE TO PROVE OR EXPLAIN ANYTHING TO ANYONE !!!! Especially not to people like nervousone
And thank you on your advice / info on courts and acs!

But when young people who are supposedly educated , who are drug users themselvs, who are posters on a website all about spreading knowledge and stopping the harmful myths and bad stereotypes about drugs and drug users, say shit like that, I just cant understand it. Shit never fails to amaze me.

You took the words out of my mouth. I could not have said it better myself.


nervousone : im soooo sorry , but judging from your posts you are an ignorant , judgmental , closed minded person.

 

[Simona19]

Personally, I would choose not to have a baby if I were on any potentially harmful substance. Bringing a life into the world is a really big thing. I think a lot of people don't put much consideration into this before doing it. I'm not just talking about people on drugs, but people in general. I can see how that would sound slightly offensive. But the only one it's really not fair to is the life being born. Kids being born with a complication or disadvantage resulting from the parents own actions? Can we do anything selflessly? That is my only point against it.

I'm definitely not one to say who should have kids and who shouldn't...I just know the decisions that I would make and the basis for them. Probably there are actually some great methadone mothers out there. I can't say I've seen them all or that I could even judge them.

 

[nervousone]

im soooo sorry , but judging from your posts you are an ignorant , judgmental , closed minded person.

I find it ironic you are judging me as judgmental.

That being said we are all entitled to our opinions and yours is no more valid then mine.

Look on the previous page for studies regarding the use of methadone in pregnant women. I will let everyone make their own decisions on the topic.

I stand by every comment I've made in this thread. I do not equate daily opiate use during pregnancy with being a good mother nor will I begin to anytime soon.

 

[nervousone]

Here is some more information about the drug you think is no big thing to run through the brains of a developing child.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2000.9556874.x/abstract
http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...34a0e3fc84872874b3aefea9d3ace860&searchtype=a
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteD...oduktNr=224233&Ausgabe=225635&ArtikelNr=19004

Those are just 3 studies, cognitive issues are well documented with methadone maintenance and I can show you more if you'd like. Another thing worth mentioning is that people who were on methadone scored lower on cognition tests then controls even after the cessation of methadone treatment. This doesn't mean that the changes are permanent per say, but it does show that the effects can take a long time to reverse.

Check this out:

http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/19/3/242

Young drug abusers are up to three times more likely to suffer brain damage than those who don't use drugs, according to research published online by Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh studied the brains of 34 deceased intravaneous drug abusers of heroin and methadone and compared them to the brains of 16 young people who were not drug users. Their examination revealed brain damage in the drug abusers normally seen in much older people.

The damaged nerve cells were in the areas of the brain involved in learning, memory and emotional well being, and were similar to damage found in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

"Our study shows evidence of an increased risk of brain damage associated with heroin and methadone use, which may be highest in the young, when individuals are most likely to acquire the habit" said co-author Jeanne Bell Professor of Neuropathology. "We found that the brains of these young drug abusers showed significantly higher levels of two key proteins associated with brain damage."

"In a previous study we found out that drug abuse causes low grade inflammation in the brain. Taken together, the two studies suggest that intravenous opiate abuse may be linked to premature ageing of the brain," Bell said.

Heroin and Methadone Cause Damage
The average age in these two groups in the study was only 26 years and included some drug abusers as young as 17.

"Tau protein, which in its soluble form is essential for communication and transport within brain cells, had become insoluble in some cells, causing nerve cell damage and death in selected areas of the brain," the authors reported. "Other nerve cells showed an accumulation of the amyloid precursor protein, which suggests that protein transport had been disrupted and the nerve cell functions affected."

Severe Nerve Cell Damage
"This study shows that drug abuse can lead to a build up of proteins which cause severe nerve cell damage and death in essential parts of the brain. This is very worrying as there are strong indications that drug use in the UK, in particular opiates like heroin and methadone, has continued to rise in recent years" says Professor Bell.

"The drug abusers we looked at in the study sadly died at a young age, but there are many others who don't realise the long-term effects that these drugs may be causing."

How is it fair putting this poison in a child? You tell me. You seem to think its OK.