getting pregnant while on methadone

I recently found out that I am approximatly 8 weeks pregnant. I have been on methadone for about 4 months now, recovering from heroin. Before I talked to my doctor at the clinic I attend, I was convinced that I needed to get off the methadone asap. However, when I got my facts straight, I realized that it was perfectly safe for my baby. I also found out that methadone out of all drugs is the most studied. Doctors over the years have studied and learned more about methadone that any other drug, which made me feel a lot more comfortable. Im still a little concerned with whether or not my baby will be born withdrawling, because there is no garauntee, however, no matter what I know I and my baby's father will do whatever we can to make sure we do eveything that can be done.

hi this is my first time so bare with me. I have just found out i'm pregnant 10 weeks and 5 days to be exacted it has come as a shock as i thought i coudent have kids. Im 27 and been on methadone for nearly 10 years on 75mg and im really worried about my baby having to come off the done i know what its like to hang out and there is no way i wont my baby to go through that, This is my first pregnancy and im lukey to have my mum there for me she has been grate, but i carent help but be scared i just want the best start i can give my bub just cause im on methadone doesn't mean im not going to be the best mum i can be .

I am not sure what kind of death tolls you are referring to when you speak of methadone use? Prescribed or street use? Fetus or mothers? Regardless, I have been on methadone maintenance for nearly five months now and have not picked up since I've started. I tried to detox myself several times and it just isn't going to happen. Maybe there are the select few that do have the willpower and personal strength to go through the horrible feelings of withdrawal, but I believe that most people cannot withstand all the effects of the withdrawal. As for being pregnant, I recently found myself in that same situation and I believe that methadone maintenance is far better than feeding my baby any illicit narcotics. Especially drugs that are bought off the street even if they are pills. We as addicts are always gambling with our lives, but we as addicts do not have the right to gamble with the lives of unborn babies. From what I have researched this far and understand, methadone maintenance is a much better options for my baby. Certainly, if I could choose between having a baby born totally drug-free or a baby born possibly addicted to methadone... I would choose the latter, but I do not have that choice at this late date. What's done is done and I have to deal with the consequences of my actions from this point on... If I were you and in many ways I am you (both being drug addicts) I would get myself to a methadone maintenance program. I never imagined the freedom I could feel being freed from the enslavement of active drug addiction. Life can and will get better if you give yourself a chance to allow someone else to guide you in the right direction. Take care of yourself and remember, if you are pregnant you have someone else who is depending on you taking care of yourself so that you can take care of them!!!

Just wanted to respond to some of the posts here- as others have said, once you are opiate dependent and pregnant, it can be very harmful to try to taper or cold turkey and can result in miscarriage, fetal distress, and/or premature labor. I know many women's instinctual response is to get off it for the baby, but think about it this way- you and the baby are both dependent already. If you come off it while the babe is in utero, they will experience withdrawals while they are still growing and developing, and where they cannot be seen or treated by medical professionals. It is risky and not beneficial. If you wait, however, the baby will be more fully developed at borth and have more strength and resources to combat withdrawal, in addition to the care of medical professionals who can take proper measures and use meds if needed. Another thing to consider is that the health of the mother is essential to the health of the baby- to come off opiates can put a lot of physical and emotional stress on mom and can cause to recurrence of pain and/or addiction issues, which you do not want to deal with while preparing for a little one. Just wanted to encourage those in this situation, again, to become informed on the issue and take all the proper steps to ensure that you (and therefore your baby) are on a stable dose and free from withdrawal. Once the baby is born, there is a 40-65% chance s/he will experience neonatal abstinence (withdrawals) but this has been shown to have no long term physical or mental effects, and requires only several days to several weeks of medication (usually a taper with morphine tincture) to resolve. If your healthcare provider says you should come off opiates while pregnant, please find another doctor who is informed on the research surrounding this issue and will not put you and your baby's health and safety at risk.

While there is no correlation between dose and NAS (meaning, that a "high" dose or a "low" dose has no bearing on the odds of the baby having withdrawal, one cannot predict this and the most important thing is simply to stay comfortable and avoid withdrawals, whatever the dose) there are some factors which are believed to decrease the risks of the baby experiencing NAS. These include split dosing (every 8 or 12 hours instead of only once a day- creates a more stable blood serum level) and also breastfeeding.

For those mamas who have mentioned using oxy or other opiates, I would definitely recommend getting onto methadone during a pregnancy. Since methadone is long lasting, it creates a more stable environment for the baby than a shorter acting opiate, and additionally it is extremely well studied and has a long history of safe use in pregnancy. If you cannot get on methadone from a physician or pain doctor, try a methadone clinic- many clinics will prioritize admission for pregnant women and ensure you get the treatment you need asap.

Personally I have been sober and maintained on methadone for two years, and am pregnant with my first baby due in three months. I found that my periods stopped with heroin use, but resumed, rather irregularly, with continued MMT. I think many of the factors affecting this with opiate use are not the opiate itself, but the other issues that surround active use- stress, poor eating and sleeping habits, etc. Many women find that when they go from active addiction to a stable maintenance dose of opiates their period returns, although it may take months or years to return to a normal monthly cycle, this does not mean that one has suffered any long term damage to their fertility. I too had these concerns that I wouldn't be able to conceive, and was only menstruating about 4 times a year, but lo and behold.. so don't worry, and do see a doctor if you want some reassurance that everything is in good working order down there :-)

Anyway a really good site with information and resources for moms on methadone is:
http://www.methadonesupport.org/pregnancy.html

My Daughter is on Methodone and the doctor wants to switch her to soboxone, Is this safe?

I am about 8 weeks pregnant and on 40mg of Methadone. It sounds like the best advice is to stay medicated and maybe increase but I am so hopeful that I can reduce. Apart from withdrawal and miscarriages are there any other possible complications such as birth defects using this drug? it breaks my heart to think my baby could detox (especially when I can't deal with it myself).
I have just given up weed with minimal side effects, eating healthily and taking vitamins . in a perfect world I would have been off Methadone before pregnancy.
I have a condition called endomitriosis (which causes infertility) and pregnancy is the cure so at 36 I think this almost a miracle in itself so I would not at any stage think of anything but keeping my baby.
I would appreciate any positive feed back this forum can offer.
"mumtobe"

I am 22 yrs old and currently six months pregnant on methadone it was ofcourse unplanned and if I had any other choice would be clean while pregnant or before I got this way but we all have our own path,but I can tell you from personal experience if you just find out you are pregnant while on methadone stay on it 2 months ago I tyried detoxing and switching to subutex which requires you to go through withdrawel for a few days beforehand and due to my pregnant condition the subutex did not work what so ever I was miserable and stayed lying in the bathroom floor;not good for me or my baby in the end I had to go to the er and obtain some fluids because of the dehrdration from not keeping any fluids down for the time and return to the methadxone clinic emmediately all iI did was put me and my unborn child in danger and if you are using and on heroin oxycontin or any other opiate get yourself to a clinic or in a docters office to obtain yourself a script of methadone and get on a stable dose no matter what that dose is emmeditly you owe this to yourself and your unborn baby!but if you currently arent pregnant and are planning on it detox first this would be the absolut best option for you and your baby,expecting and concerned :-)

It is generally regarded as safe to be on buprenorphine (suboxone or subutex) while pregnant, but there is much more research and history supporting the use of methadone. I wouldn't say it's unsafe, but is there a reason he wants to switch her? Methadone is considered the first choice during pregnancy, and switching meds may not be a great idea if what she is on is working for her already, for the sake of stability and recovery. That said, if they have decided it is a good option, I believe it to be safe and comparable with most other long acting opiates, but I would pick methadone as first choice.

I have been on methadone for 1 year and 6 months now...for the past 5 months me and my fiance have been having unprotected sex trying to get pregnant..but nothing has happened yet..any ideas on what i should do?

Hhi my name is Ashley, I have been on methadone for 7+ years now. I have 2 boys and another baby boy due in June. I was on 120mgs with my first son john who is now 4 years old. I then went DOWN to 69mgs, my son was in the hospital foe 10 days. No extra meds and they said thye were keeping him for prodacall reasons. My 2nd boy cody who is now 18 months old, was born on 35 mgs. I found out i was pregnant on 125 mgs. I then again went down. He was in there for only 4 nights and 2 of them was with me.Then they moved him to barbra bush, he had nO complications because he was born on such a low dose. Now with this baby I was on 50 when i found out i was pregnant and now i am at 28mgs. I will always think that the lower the mgs the less the baby suffers. I am going down to 20mgs and if i think i can do more then i will. I want my baby to feel nothing. We all know how it is when we detox, what the hell were these girls thinking when they go up on the dose???
I love my babies and there is no way io will ever go up to make myself feel better then the baby feel better. Thats true love for the baby!!!

I got off of pain pills and started taking methadone 3yrs ago. I think there is a lot of great advice on this board. Except the woman who was saying that she lowered her methadone dose with all 3 of her pregnancys and that she wanted to know what the hell these women were thinking to be upping the dose while pregnant. I'll tell you what they were doing, listening to their doctors and being smart mothers. You ask any doctor that specializes in methodone and pregnancy and they will tell you its a danger to the fetus if you are lowering your dose while pregnant. Methadone is metabolized and as a woman gets farther along in her pregnancy it is sometimes necessary to up the dose to prevent withdrawals. My main point is that everyone should get advice from a doctor to be sure of what to do. I love advice, but remember not all advice is correct. Best wishes to everyone here. chancie

My brother died as a result of methadone, yes I know that these results may not be typical. But the number of methadone related deaths have more then tripled in the last 10 years. I believe this is because of long term use. If you are useing methadone to get off drugs that is one thing but this is not a long term treatment. My brothers wife was also on methadone while pregnant, which she lied to us about untill the baby was born, she knew we would not aprove. The baby was born addicted and spent the first two months of her life on morphine. As soon as she was weined off the morphine the seizures started. She had 10 or more seizures a day for over a year before they found a med to stabilize them. She now takes 4 or 5 meds a day to combat seizures. She has massive brain damage and at 2 yrs old has the function of a 4 month old. She is almost completely blind and is going to have to have brain surgery before her 3rd birthday, she will likely never live a normal life. I know that this is probably the worst case, but it can happen. So weigh the risks. What is more important your comfort or your babies health. Even if you are worried you will lose the babie if you completly withdraw, please try to at least lower your dose. I cant even begin to tell you how much methadone has taken from my family. I miss my brother everyday! I cry everytime I think of what my neice is going through. She didnt get to choose what her mother injested while pregnant but she sure is paying for it now.

hello im 25 been using oxys,percs,vics,ect as well as drinking @ least 15 or more beers with it and benzos meaning xanaxs ect sence i was 15 and about 3 years ago i had had enough of all of the withdrawls throwing up,diarrea,sweats,and supper anxiety attacks when i would try to stop so i went to a methadone clinic and i am not kidding sense that day i have been clean of all of the other things that i was doing mabe by the grace of god or loosing so many people from overdoses or mabe it was in me to just stay faithful to the clinic im not saying its for everone ,but if you cant stop and really want to you have to be ready to, because if your not ready then i dont know how far you will suceed. anyways im 25 doing great im 17 weeks pregnant my first pregnance

and we are doing great i have been thew a lot of ups and downs but its all so worth it really if thats what you want in life is to kick it . i forgot to mention i was snorting the pills like 3-4 80's + drinking and benzos what a combo not.

anyways im well i plan to eventually get out of the clinic i was at a really high doses the first year in a half 260mls but then i decreased very slowly down to 180mls now im @ 130mls that may sound high cause it kinda is id like to be lower , when i found out i was pregnant i was on my way out i was @ 110mls but the doctor thought i would be better of with my baby to go up a little to make sure i would be comfortable for the most part i am. all i am saying is its possible to get well but only if your ready i wish you all great health and good luck on your journeys because thats what it is its a battle for life but one you can overcome. there is light @ the end of the tunnel stay strong :)

First I'd like to say it's is really helpful for me to have found this post. I'm a 27 yr. old recovering addict with two beautiful healthy children a 4 yr old son and a 2yr old daughter. Luckly for him, my addiction didn't start until after my son was born. But by the time I was pregnant with my daughter I was already using works(needles). When I found out I was pregnant I imediatly cut back and luckly I was using herion at that point to fill in when I couldn't get pills, my husband didn't know about the herion at the time and would have exploded to find out I was shooting, but he did the pills too. At the time I didn't even consider methadone I was scared to think about that option so I regulated myself down on perks and hydros, just enough so I wouldn't hit withdraw and didn't risk losing the baby. I never told my Dr. or anyone, I was to ashamed. And I was so scared about what might happen to my baby after she was born. But I got lucky and she was perfectly healthy, never showed any signs of drug exposure or dependancey. Unfortunatly as scary as it was it wasn't enough to pull me out of it. Because the drugs made me energetic and enabled me to ignore all the depressing and imperfect situations in my life I deluded myself into thinking I was a better wife and mother on them. By the time my husband and I realized we needed help and couldn't put it off any longer I was shooting up 5 6 7 times a day. Now I'm on 90 mgs of methadone a day I've been clean for over a yr. I realize that even though I was using for almost 3 1/2 yrs my situation could have been worse. Fortunatly my children never suffered, they never knew, my family was supportive when they found out, and my husband and I are closer and stronger than ever. I still dedicate myself to my recovery and I know that it's going to be something I actively have to work at for yrs to come. Methadone is not the cure all, it may keep you from withdrawal and kill the cravings. You have to break the habits, learn new behaviors and techniques for dealing with pain, anger, guilt and the bumps in the road. And you have to try to eliminate or fight the temptation. Will I ever stop taking methadone? I hope so, I want to. Am I ready to do it now? No. I want to have another child and move on with mylife, like I said my husband and I are closer than ever. But like many others, the methadone stops my period for awhile then it will come back irregular for awhile; and the same thing happened every now and then with the drugs. But don't be fooled those of you who don't want to get pregnant, don't stop using birth control just because you think you think your not ovulating or something. Most Drs and studies say women are more fertal at times like that, if your trying to concieve and don't seem to be having any luck it's probably stress or diet and nutrition related. Must people don't know that even a healthy person who is trying to concieve on thier own without fertiity drugs is playing a game of chance. You have to be ovualating, your core temp has to be up in a certain range, your hormones have to be balanced and your body has to be nutritionaly sound. And even then if you concieve if your body detects a genetic defect with the fetus it will commonly spontaniously abbort it, thats why its so common to miscarry in the first trimester. So my advice is if you want to get pregnant on or off methadone leave it up to God if its ment to be it will. Good luck to everyone. And don't worry about others judgeing you, just don't judge yourselves to hard.

WOw, thanks so much for posting your experiences! I am sorry that you suffered so much but I'm glad that you were able to get better, and I think a lot of people could benefit from your experiences. I especially enjoy the line where you say not to worry what others thing. That is totally accurate. It really helps. Thanks for posting and please let us know how you're doing!