MY SON WAS BORN ADDICTED TO METHADONE WHAT LONG TERM SIDE EFFECTS MIGHT I BE FACING

The moms have enough guilt so no need to be like that. And before they were on methadone they did go through withdrawals 

Although this isn't my post, i really appreciate your response to it. I have two sons who were born opiate dependant. My oldest is 7 and my youngest is almost 2. They are bright, active, happy boys. Despite their obvious good health and above average intelligence I still indulge in extreme guil on occassion. Right now my youngest has pneumonia and although I know it is not connected to my methadone use during pregnancy i still silently blame myself, despite my best efforts.

I am currently a nursing student and logically know the falicy of my thought process but still, guilt occasionally wins out over logic. It is incredibly helpful and reassuring to read your post.. I will spend every bit of energy and focus I have to build a healthy and happy future for them. Thank you for sharing your story. It is a gift of hope and motivation to continue working hard and building the future.

1st off congrats on staying clean for u and your child! My daughter was born on methadone, yes she stayed in nicu for 30 days. She is my 2nd child,my 1st was not born on methadone, I do compare their milestones and development, all in all there is no difference. My 2yr old is a little more active, but I have a busy house with 3 kids. Each child is different, I did ALOT of research about the issue before she was born,spoke to several doctors, they are normal, smart, and beautiful just like a child not on methadone. Your son will be absolutely fine, and shame on people who say otherwise. Good luck,and remember both of you are special and God does everything for a reason

URGENT MESSAGE - PLEASE READ ALL:
Thank you for this. We adopted our grandson now 11. We have had him since birth. Our daughter was on herion at time of pregnancy and was instructed to get on methodone. She didn't want to because she was worried about her baby. SHE NEVER INTENDED TO BE ADDICTED TO HERION OR GET PREGNANT BUT IT HAPPENED. Unfortunately she is still on methodone, not to my liking but on a low dose. It is the lessor of two evils. She herself as a child struggled with issues which caused her to seek other forms of acceptance and yes we did try to help her, it did not go untreated. She has since turned her life around, graduated from college and is able to be a part of her sons life. He will never live with her and she lives with that every day of her life. As parents to our daughter and grandson, to love is to forgive and to forgive is to accept what life gives you. Yes he has some issues that she had but we are more prepared but these problems may not be related to his birth but might be genetic. He is a well adjusted child who knows the situation and he was adopted because his mother was sick and could not care for him. Right now that is all he needs to know, but that is in reality the real truth. He will learn more as he gets older and can forgive and love his mother regardless. My hope is that her mistakes will benefit him for the future. I never thought she would live long enough to enjoy life but determination on her part proved us wrong. We as parents are proud of her for her accomplishments in life. My relationship with her is strained but we are able to say we love each other.

I agree my son is four I went to the clinic my whole pregnancy he's so hyper he wo t even watch TV. His attention span is so bad if I Communicate with him he says something random like my truck not even five seconds later u wi need lots of patience but I wouldn't trade him for the world. But just work with him its like he's in a terrible two stage if not worst

so...your saying if one accidently gets pregnant/is addicted at beginning of pregnancy or pregnant for whatever reason, it would be KINDER to kill said baby and give them no chance at life?

I love your post. OUr father God is the great healer! THank you for reminding me. :)

My son was born addicted to methadone, I was two years clean off heroin and was working really hard to get off methadone, I was at 120mg. By the end of my pregnancy, people can judge and say bad things, but they never been in our shoes.. my son went home with me, I was blessed with a pediatrician who jumped right in when he was born, yes we went through the withdrawls but again my pediatrician was by my side the whole time, after about 4 months we had him off the meds and he was healthy and met all his milestones, he is now in kindergarten and gets smarter everyday...
People struggle and make mistakes, some choose to do something about it others don't, it takes a lot to stand up and admit you have a problem, the guilt we feel when we see our kids struggle is hard, but not many understand what this struggle does to a mom who seeks help just to feel like you failed in the end.. Don't let judgmental people get to you, they are "mothers of the year" lol
Be patient and talk with your pediatrician about anything and everything even if it seems foolish, my son is active, smart, and everything a little bit should be...

My grandson was born on 95mg of methadone, and is now 10 yrs old and each year more problems surface. He is completely hypo, in trouble all the time at school, cannot sit still, was 4 before was toilet trained, cannot remember anything, which is why he has learning difficulties. Now he is getting angry and feels stupid at school because he is so below the other kids, so he is acting out and getting into trouble. It is so sad, but I am absolutely convinced this is because of the effects of the methadone. My daughter was assured as a 22 yr old that there would be no long term effects and was mislead in this regard I believe, because no long term studies had been made. But we believed the medical advice and thought it was ok. She took no other drugs during her pregnancy, but alas relapsed when he was about one. Since then I have been his main carer. It is just wrong, and the studies were not complete. She would have not carried on with the pregnancy had she know these things. Now the poor little fellow is destined to a difficult life, and at risk of drug addiction himself, especially with the inability to learn to read and write well. How will be get good employment? This is all wrong. All very well to defend the 'mothers' but how about the child, did they choose this life, NO! Abuse me if you will, but it breaks my heart to see this darling child finding life so difficult. He has anger issues and when he is really upset, says "I hate my life my parents are drug addicts, they ruined my life". These are his words, has anyone thought of this? How will the child feel as he grows and realizes the cause of his problems? He has screamed at his mother, who is now in recovery and doing well, off the methadone which is amazing, but he says to her " Why did you have a baby on drugs?" He is a very angry boy.

Abortions are sometimes a better option in the early stages than risking the legacy of mental issues and learning problems which in turn lead to risk behaviour in the child, and why should an innocent child who had NO CHOICE suffer because the mother is an addict! I had to resign my job, to care for my grandson from 2 yrs on or God only knows what would have happened to him, as both his parents continued to use all sorts of drugs. My little grandson is a beautiful boy, but is starting to hate life and his parents because is cannot learn like the others, cannot sit still, constantly punished at school, now getting into bad behaviour because of these things, NOT HIS FAULT!! Take responsibility for your own behaviour do not inflict on an unborn. Sorry, but my heart breaks every day for this little boy. He is not good at anything, no good at sport, his motor skills were not good, nor his muscle tone. He wants to be good at everything, but he knows he is not. Now he is feeling like a failure and a freak because everything he tries to do, he is not good at. He did soccer for three years, and at the finals, the coach did not let him play for even 5 mins. He was heartbroken. He is getting bitter at society because he is always somehow punished for things he cannot change. Thanks to the methadone forced on him before he was born.
He also got punished and had to miss the grand finals of his football match at school, for being naughty! Society does not cater for these kids later on, and although some escape the effects of methadone, From what I see, many suffer hyperactivity, poor memory, anger learning difficulties, etc, etc. and many other things. Why is this fair, so yes, kinder not to produce babies while on a horrible drug like methadone.

I have a similar situation to your situation. Only my daughter lived with me, and for a long time her addicted partner also, the baby was beautiful, but as time has gone on his problems are becoming more obvious, Hyperactivity, learning difficulties, anger issues, feelings of hopelessness that he will never be able to learn like others, thinks he will have to drop out of school, resents his parents, his mother, for leaving this legacy to him. He was born on while she was on methadone.
She is finally in recovery off the methadone, which is amazing and took many years, but sadly, he is now 10, and although lived with me, she also lived with me. He has been let down many times, she would disappear for a week at a time, etc.
Now she is doing really well, but he is the real victim of her addiction. She can recover, and full credits to her, but he cannot recover from the damage caused before he was born. Her brain can recover and she is very intelligent, and academic, but he poor little darling never will be. He struggles to read and write at year three levels, and he is in year five!
So, yes of course she feels guilty, and rightfully she should, her addiction caused his brain not to develop as it would have otherwise.

You seem very fortunate that your children suffer no effects from the methadone, but if you do your research, which you say you have, you may find a lot of very different cases of children born to mothers addicted to methadone and other opiates.
I have found many researches that have studied groups of children born while mothers on MRT compared to groups of children not exposed to opiates and the findings are showing significantly more developmental problems, hyperactivity, learning difficulties, and many other neurological issues with the children exposed to opiates. The percentage is frighteningly higher.
My little grandson is one of these, and you are so fortunate if your children are not affected in any way.

Just because this child's biological parents used drugs doesn't mean he's an addict nor does it mean he ever will be. Children are what they see, what they hear & act accordingly to how they are raised.

I just want to say that alot of people are very ignorant to the drug. I was on Methadone when I found out I was pregnant with my son. He was far from hyper. He is very smart, He has such a long memory its unreal. He is now 9 yrs. old and was put in the News Paper as a Math Prodigy. Do not believe everything you here. Do notice its the grandmother saying these things and not the mother. Was her son perfect and do everything perfect and on time with his age. Its very convenient to blame everything that goes wrong in this childs life on the fact that the mother was on Methadone.
To the Grandmother who wrote that statement needs to learn more about the drug before she goes blaming.

Hello. I was abused by my boyfriend and while being treated in the hospital for some injuries, I was given Vicodin. I stayed with the abusive father and continued to get Vicodin for a broken rib. In 2009, I was taking Vicodin as prescribed for 5 months and inbetween that time I got pregnant. I told my OBGYN at my first pregnancy appointment and he suggested to get on methadone immediately.
So, I began taking methadone at 1 1/2 weeks pregnant. I seen the methadone doctor from the methadone clinic every week and my OBGYN every month. I did NOT take 1 Vicodin or anything harmful during the rest of my pregnancy. The methadone doctor from the methadone clinic and my OBGYN both said my baby would have a slight chance of withdrawal and I made the best decision for both me and my unborn child!
To our dismay, my daughter, withdrew from methadone and was kept in the NICU for 3 weeks! She screamed and she shook uncontrollably. They had to give her morphine every 4-6 hrs! She also had a small hole in her heart. I never felt so useless. I was treated like a criminal from the nurses at the hospital and my family oh my family, hated me!! I never felt so alone! Today, my daughter is healthy, beautiful and very smart. She also has some behavioral problems such as she still isn't fully potty trained. (She has accidents in the night and sometimes during the day) but the psychologist told me it has nothing to do with methadone. Her small hole in her heart closed up on its own when she was 8 1/2 weeks old.
In conclusion, I wish I would've never taken methadone while I was pregnant because it has caused so much pain to my daughter. She's so innocent and I felt tricked by the doctors because they both assured me that she would be fine. If you are addicted to Vicodin or any opiates, just stop!! I don't suggest Methadone to anyone pregnant or not! It's a dangerous synthetic opioid that will make you dependent on it. I consider methadone to also be a gateway drug. A lot of the people at the methadone clinic drank alcohol and took Xanax to increase the effect of methadone. Moreover, a lot of people also used meth or crystal to "stay awake" because methadone made you real drowsy. When it was time for me to get off methadone completely, I felt like someone was beating me with an axe! My bones ached so bad. I had fever, nausea, diarrhea, etc. and the entire time I thought this is exactly what my baby had to go thru when she was born!! I hope someone can learn from my experience and not take any type of drugs especially while pregnant! I have to live with the fact that my daughter still may be diagnosed with ADHD and or Autism and it's all because I made bad choices and trusted people who call themselves Doctors!!