Please help. Pregnant & desperate to wean off oxycodone...

Hi All, first of all I would appreciate any and all advice I can get so all opinions welcome. So I have been on oxycodone for about 2 years now for chronic pain from endometriosis. I am currently up to taking about 50mg oxycodone 5-6 times daily (legally prescribed by my MD). I am DESPERATE to get off this drug because I do not want my baby going through withdrawls when she is born. I am 18 weeks pregnant so I'm hoping I have enough time to successfully wean off this medication. The question is how??? I admit it 100% I am addicted, and if I don't get my meds when I need them I get very restless (almost a feeling like restless leg syndrome, does this make sense?). I know I can do it, as my daughter is my motivation, I just need to know how??? Any advice? Thanks soo much.

I agree with Jim. Talk to your ob, your perinatalogist and your PM doctor. Together , they can come up with a safe taper plan so that you don't jeapordize yourself and more importantly your baby while tapering.
It is the only safe way to do this. Nothing you will find on the internet is going to be helpful for you, because the baby is also involved here and you need to get the advise of professionals and experts in the management of addiction and withdrawal in neonates.
Is your PM doctor aware that you are pregnant? Most PM doctors would have weened you as soon as they discovered you are pregnant.

The only safe way is to go down slowly over time, decreasing according to a schedule. Actually, endometriosis should no longer be a problem if you are pregnant, but there could be a physical dependence and emotional attachement to the oxycontin. 50 mg is alot to take all at once, esp of a short acting med and at 6 times a day. Most doctors would have put you on a longacting med, with you using so much oxycodone. Ask the OB or GP or whoever is taking care of your pregnancy, to refer you to somebody to help you get off the meds, if they do not want to do it . The best way is to lower the dose, and extend the time between the dose. Try to put yourself on a schedule, like every 6 hours, and go down to 40 or 45 mg. Use this dosage for the next 5 days or so, and then decrease it another 5- 10 mg, keeping the time between them at least 6 hours apart.every 5 days or so, decrease the dosage by 5 mg keeping yourself to 4 times a day (n 24 hours). After you get down to 10 mg or so, you may find that you can extend the time between doses to 8 hours or so, and go from there down to 5 mg, every 8 hours for 7 days or so, and then just take one if you really have pain and need it, or if you are still experiencing withdrawal symptoms go to every 12 hours. BUT THE med actually only lasts 3 -4 hours, so you should be able to get off. There are also other meds to help but you will have to ask about the safety for your pregnancy. GOOD Luck, with grit and desire you can do it.

         Hello Mckelmax!

               First off, I want to "Welcome you to the CP forum!"

      As most here suggest, I would also highly suggest you seek professional help before tapering down from you're pain med's on you're own! Never attempt to do this by yourself as it can be very dangerous not only to you, but your baby as well.

 Before I forget... congrats on the pregancy too!

        Now with the sincere welcome out of the way, I wanted to touch base with the Addiction statement you made in you're post here. First, please take the time to read the "Chronic Pain 101 located at the top of our CP forum page. It has a lot of excellant information and a very good article on "Addiction VS Dependency".

     If you are being treated for "Chronic Pain" you can become dependent on the pain med's, not addicted. Can a Chronic pain patient suffer from withdrawals? Certianlly they can! The difference is that you are being treated for Chronic Pain. It is legal and morally right. Don't be ashamed of that ever!

   An addict uses the pain med's for recreational enjoyment, and it is morally wrong and illigal as well. I'm not sure but I'm thinking that the withdrawals can be more severe with an addict. I could be very wrong about this.

       None of us are Dr's, so we are limited in that we cannot tell you what to do. We can however support and suggest a direction and share our own personal experience with you.

        As far as the "endometriosis goes, I was thinking that it can spread to other parts of the body? ....so I'm not sure if you will be without pain once you become pregnant. Again please seek professional care with you're PCD.

       We also had a young lady here on the forum a while back that went through her pregnancy while on pain med's and I'm thinking quite a few other med's for that matter. I do believe she was tapered down on some of them, but not taken completely off of them. I will ask her and see if she will comment here to keep the story correct. She has two beautiful baby girls now and I do believe they are healthy as well.

      Again, I wanted to welcome you here! We have a great supporting membership, and I'm sure if you stick around you will thoroughly enjoy them.

         Please do come back and update us, as we love a prego CP member!

       Take care,

            SE

      One more thig!...if you're not seeing a PM, you really should be. Most of the members would agree that you should be on an extended release pain medication. The dose of "Oxycodone" you're currently on, really does seem rather high to me.   

        

Wanted to add one more thing re: what SE wrote:

Mckelmax2011 - Addiction and dependance ARE two different things. Most of us here ARE dependant on our meds - meaning...if we don't take them - we will exhibit symptoms like you stated (restless legs and a zillion other things). Addiction is another thing. I would definitely take a peek at the Addiction vs. Dependancy articlet that SE mentioned.

Take good care! and congrats on your pregnancy. --Tina

Hi My best friend is goin though the same thing you are goin though. She doesn't know how far along she is but she has an apt w the ob gyn Tues but she's goin though really bad withdraws bc she's out & noone will help her out & said she might not go to the ob gyn on Tues bc of how she's feelin. She says she want to get off of them too. Good luck to you.

I absolutely agree w/ everything Sandi wrote... and, Sandi - you didn't just "help" me.... you were one of the main people that really got me through my pregnancy....I mean that in all sincerity and will always appreciate all you did for me.   You were the cheerleader that said "you can do it; it's going to be ok" when I was beyond freaking out (and you know that!!).

Thankfully, I had a very positive outcome - due to a combo of things.... 

It's a very difficult place to be in - on narcotics and to find out you are pregnant.  Tapering absolutely needs to be monitored.... and a good doctor is a necessity.

--Tina

 

Hi Tori,

First - breathe, lol. I know it's hard... but it will be ok. The one reason I stay w/ this board.... above all the wonderful people that I've met here.... is to help share my experiences - especially the use of narcotics during pregnancy. I do like to share as much on the board, because I think it helps w/ this whole "taboo" thing that follows along w/ this.... But I'm more than happy to chat w/ you by e-mail.... unfortunately, I'm well-versed in this arena! If you click on my member name - it will lead to my profile and my e-mail address is there. Please feel free to e-mail me and I'll help you as much as I can.

I'm going to lock this thread.... but if anyone else reads it and has questions re: pregnancy, narcotics, etc. - PLEASE feel free to post or to personally e-mail me. It's one of the reasons I'm here. Thank you.