Methadone withdrawal in babies
Common Questions and Answers about Methadone withdrawal in babies
methadose
She still had awful withdrawal the first 24 hours even on methadone. And some mild withdrawal after the methadone tapper had ended. Irritable, shakey, low grade fever and lethargy.
t been studied like methadone but from my personal experience I know lots of women who have babies on both suboxone and methadone and those babies are all fine. I had a friend tell me just today that she has a friend who is 4 months pregnant and is on suboxone and they found out her baby has down syndrome and she is saying it's from suboxone. Now whether that's true or not....who knows. But I haven't found anything about babies being born with downsyndrome so.... take it from there.
The most common are smaller head size, low birth weight, and withdrawal symptoms that varies in severity. The majority of these babies will develop in the normal range and size throughout childhood.
I plan to stay under 50 mgs between the to meds and my doctor tells me they usually don't see withdrawal in babies at that dose.
Staying on your methadone will also ensure that you do not relapse on whatever it was you were taking to get you on methadone in the first place and that you are comfortable and withdrawal free during your pregnancy.
Women who are on methadone and feel they need it and also want to have children decide to get pregnant and have healthy babies on it every year.
Stopping methadone in any way causes withdrawal symtoms in the mother and the baby. During the first trimester this makes having a miscariage much more likely and in the 3rd it makes premature birth and stillbirth much more likely. In the 2nd trimester there is less risk but its still there and methadone causes some of the worst withdrawal of any medication and not only is the mother's body stressed but he baby goes through it as well..
In my 11 years experience at the bedside, there is a definite correlation between dose and withdrawal symptoms in baby. We treat our babies with phenobarbital for seizure control and morphine for withdrawal symptoms. The morphine is the one that we wean down every 2 to 3 days depending on baby's tolerance. They then go home on phenobarbital and their private pediatrician weans them slowly off that. I'm not sure what meds other states use. You might ask your O/B what your hospital uses.
If you give birth to a baby while still on methadone, baby will go into withdrawal a few days after delivery if you do not breastfeed because of methadone level falling in his or her bloodstream. Breastfeeding while on methadone has been done, but there have been reported cases of respiratory arrests and deaths in infants while breastfeeding from mothers taking pure opiate agonist such as methadone. There are better ways of approaching your situation.
The thing is, its not known why some mothers babies withdrawal on 8mg of subs and why babies like mine, didnt withdrawal on 32mg. In these unique cases, its just pure luck.
32mg a day is standard for Western Australia where i live, but not recommended so much for places like America or surrounding.
So again just get more advice from your doctors.
Actually I'm in the same boat. I'm 17 weeks pregnant and on 10mg. I've had 2 babies while on Methadone the 1st I was on 80mg and she had no withdrawals the 2nd I was on 40mg and she did have withdrawals and spent 12 days in the NICU and was on morphine. I was told it doesn't really depend on your dose if your baby does or doesn't withdrawal, it just depends on the baby. I'm definately trying to get off the Methadone before I have this one.
- As a mom to be, you want to do what’s best for your baby, and getting on something like methadone, which causes a withdrawal syndrome in newborns, may not feel like the right thing to do.
It is especially important to nurse if you continue to take Suboxone through your pregnancy to avoid abrupt withdrawal in the baby post delivery. Baby will then slowly wean off of the drug as it weans gently off your breast. Please speak with your OB or midwife as soon as possible as they will know how to monitor your pregnancy and development of your baby.(And if they do not, find one that does). Prenatal care is extremely important especially in your situation.
is it harder to withdrawal from methadone vs. withdrawaling from lortabs? i was taking 10-15 lt's a day. i am not taking anymore at all. today is the first day i havent taken any. but i will be taking 30mg methadone for only a week, then i am going cold turkey. will it be easier withdrawaling from the week of methadone than it would be to just quit now and withdrawal from the lortabs?
The baby might have a higher than normal respiratory rate, runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, inward pulling of the chest when breathing and periods of cyanosis or bluish skin discoloration
There is also an increase incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS, in methadone babies in comparison to drug-free babies. It's very important for parents to learn the skills needed when caring for their baby as he/she withdraws from passive methadone addiction.
I returned to methadone as was best option during pregnancy.(fortunately baby had no withdrawal symptoms). Haven't used heroin for about 5 years but so scared of withdrawal, thought i would be on one of the above for life. Baby now 19mths & have been withdrawing slowly so can still fulfill parental (single). I am currently on 4mg and have conflicting info regarding what to do next.
I had her while still on methadone. She was healthy but did go thru withdrawal. She stayed in the hospital 16 days, then was allowed to go home with a small prescription for me to continue her detox. Not all states or hospitals let you do that. You would have to call your NICU where you plan to deliver to see if that is something they do. If she hadn't detoxed at home she would have been there about 5 weeks. Don't let that scare you. Some babies have no withdrawal symptoms.
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I have known moms to be on higher doses like 70 n above with babies withdrawing at birth and being in hospital for up to 6 weeks some cases. At time I was in there my counselor who worked only with preg women told me she had never seen a baby WD and have to stay in hospital without mom when the mom stayed at 30 mg n below. That is why I made sure I kept mine at 30 n below. And I deff had better luck with it than i expected.
Good luck to u and ur baby!! I commend u for being in treatment.
Because of this your dose of methadone may need to be increased to help keep you and your baby free from withdrawal symptoms. In fact, an increase in methadone (if you need it) during this time can help improve growth and reduce risk of premature delivery. We cannot stress it enough; make sure you are stable on your dose!
If for some reason you aren’t able to make it to the clinic for one day make sure you call the clinic and let them know you aren’t able to make it in.
Thank you all for the answers, comments and support. So I am on methadone have never tried suboxone. I was just wondering if anybody had experienced switching to that medication. I have a wonderful OB, we are very close he was there for my previous pregnancies. So I came clean and told him I was on methadone, he knew about my previous problem with pain killers so he said methadone is the safest choice if anything.
I got to know this one lady well and she was 27 and had been addicit to oxycotion for yrs due to medial problems and when they found out she was pregnant they sent her to be put on methadone. She done methadone the whole time she was pregnant. Once she had the baby she (baby) stayed in hospital few extra days and then nothing after that baby was healthy and fine. I still see her from time to time and that little girl is beautiful and is doing wonderful. She is a yr now...
He/she knows you are on methadone right? Most states are testing babies at birth so this will show up and if your OB knows there wont be any surprises. The important thing here is you have stopped now. I would put a plan in place to get some help with this. There is NA/AA or addiction counselors. You are not the only one this has happened too as we see many new moms on here. I know you are scared and this is weighing heavily on you so telling the truth will make you feel better.
my daughter is 33yrs old and was arrest on 8/27/08. At the time of her arrest she was on daily methadone (110mg). since they don't give methadone in jail she was forced into cold turkey withdrawal. Last thur4day she was sent to a mental health faciltiy because she is seeing things and hears voices. Please can anyone tell me is this somtimes part of the withdrawal or has she possible lost her mind.
I think it depends what country you are living in my DD under their healthcare have to wait weeks for anything, thats in The UK I have also heard Canada have a waiting list ...so I think the ER is the only way to go...good luck let us know how they are doing ...
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