Serious matter! Helping friend to detox -SHE'S PREGNANT!!

[Nicsdragon]

Hi there. Ok so my BFF is a drug addict as well as I am and she's about 13 wks pregnant! We sniff roxi's and eat oxys. Her and her hubby used to sniff dialuids but since her pregnancy her husband has banned her. She went through rehab before and NO ONE knows shes using again but me and my husband. She has a plan to quit cold turkey in may when her husband will be away for a few days on business. I plan on staying with her the whole time to help her in any way I can. I'm sooooooo scared to do this and so is she!

Has anyone had any experience helping a friend detox? I know what to expect and I'm freaking out. I've begged her to tell her ob/gyn and she won't. She also said that if her baby is born addicted her husband will leave her and file for custody and her parents and family will disown her.

I've already told her that if she starts cramping or spotting in any way I'm taking her to the ER and my husband was going to physically pick her up and put her in the car if he has too. And if she won't go ill call 911. I was very serious with her about that.

Anyone have any advice? This is how it is and she will not seek outside help so don't even try and talk me into it. Haha. I've begged her and her answer is NO.

Thanks friends

 

[tentram]

she NEEDS to see a doctor! dependent on how long through the pregnancy it is, it may be too late and unsafe for her and her tiny little fetus to go through detox. she may need to be stabilised on a maintenance program throughout her pregnancy to limit the chances of losing the baby, keeping it as healthy and safe as possible throughout this period in time.

though the baby may be born dependent the medical staff, as safe and comfortably as possible, will start weaning the baby from what is most likely going to be methadone after having given birth. slowly and comfortable as possible with the babies health the primary concern with it already being born dependent on opioids, making it that much more vulnerable to anything with its immune system already compromised.

regardles of ANYTHING you read here your friend MUST see a doctor ASAP and explain the situation.

congratulations to your friend and the best of luck to her and bub

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Please, absolutely convince her to see a doctor.

Keeping this secret is not worth risking potentially losing or harming the fetus. Cold turkey can be dangerous for a pregnancy. She needs to see a doctor so they can determine if she should go on a supervised taper or maintenance or what.

I don't know what else to tell you, she at the very least needs medical supervision while she detoxes. It might be possible for her to detox by slowly tapering or something, but this is not something she should attempt on her own.

EDIT: Here is some info you can tell your friend.

If a pregnant woman stops using an opioid "cold turkey," the fetus will experience that withdrawal in the womb, potentially leading to death of the fetus, miscarriage, premature birth, and other negative effects. The best thing for the mother to do would be to consult a health care provider or drug treatment center about options which will be less harmful for the fetus. Going through abrupt withdrawal is a huge physical stress and taking her to the ER after the fact if she starts bleeding is unlikely to solve anything, the damage may very well already be done at that point (not saying that you shouldn't take her to the ER if she goes ahead with this bad plan and something noticeable happens, just saying that planning to take her to the ER is certainly not a fail-safe). Rapid miscarriage while in withdrawal is not the only thing she should be worried about - other problems that are not readily apparent may happen.

If she is that terrified of telling people in her life that she has been using again, perhaps there is some way to get help confidentially.

I really hope your friend gets medical attention. I'm going to close this thread because I don't want her to be delayed from getting help by waiting for people's responses. There is a very real risk of fetal death or other serious problems. Please send me a private message if you have any questions.