narcotics and pregnancy.

[constantbeauty]

Me and a couple of friends of mine are a little concerned about a fellow girl within our circle. She is six months pregnant and the baby is "kicking" on her kidneys. Although we don't know her too well just yet, we do know that she has had an issue with Vicodin and Tramadol [hope that's spelled right?] in the past, but her PCP is giving her Vicodin to take for the pain, six times a day. I was wondering if this was safe for the baby -- because a few of us were talking about it this morning at our FRG meeting.

Thanks for reading this!

[tgtiffany]

would love to see that with my own eyes haha.  

[BrotherFrankie]

im doing the happy dance  :)

[constantbeauty]

Thanks, I do as well!

[tgtiffany]

That's good to hear!!!  Hope everything goes well :)

[constantbeauty]

I completely agree with you and love how blunt you are. Others may view it as harsh and all, but you get the point across and I love it. Either way, I've got an update for everyone.

After I called the "higher up" woman [since it's military, cannot get into details, sorry] she spoke with the girl in question. She is heading out tomorrow morning to a facility to wean her off of the narcotics while being supervised by medical professionals. ALSO, her PCP was informed as well, and so was the other doctor. Apparently there is more to the story, but as it's none of my business they didn't go into detail. But basically, she is taking the first step.

Thanks to all who responded to this.

[BrotherFrankie]

so, who is this unborn baby's advocate? it is other peoples business.

if you were born with a birth defect or mentally handicapped and later found out that everyone knew your mom was abusing you by doing drugs while she was pregnant would you think it was no ones business?

call the dr
tell the family
call 1 800 abuse

do what ever you can to help the innocent child.,.

Frankie

[constantbeauty]

Yeah, one of the women who has "say" around here has been looking into it for some time I just recently found out -- so she's got things under control!

[tgtiffany]

I think if it were me in your situation I would try to find some more advice from the counselors and stuff on base.  Ask them what you should do.  I think that if it doesn't get better I would probably let someone know, but that is just me.  It might not be my place, but I hate to see the baby suffering like that if the mother doesn't seek help.  It's not the baby's fault, it has no say in the issue and it's the one who will be hurt moreso in the end.  Good luck :)

[constantbeauty]

kme17:  She's definitely not doing a good job at hiding it with us, at least. And I'm not for sure that she's said anything to anyone else, either. I only hope that things get better for her in the end.

vicki595:  I think she has a long road ahead of her, and I do believe that there are people looking into this, although I cannot say for sure.

[kme17]

so i was thinking the same thing, she is clearly not doing a good job of hiding it if she is trying to hide it. get in touch with work life or the family councling places they haave on bases and ask them for advice or tell them if your really concerned

[kme17]

so i was thinking the same thing, she is clearly not doing a good job of hiding it if she is trying to hide it. get in touch with work life or the family councling places they haave on bases and ask them for advice or tell them if your really concerned

[vicki595]

I know...

She's sneaking behind the OB's back and lying to the "new" doctor. She's sick,doesn't care about the baby right now because she can't,she's an addict,now she's mad at you because she's in denial,on and on...

How often have you ever heard a pregnant woman complain about a baby kicking her KIDNEYS??  That's funny to me...she's only 6 months pregnant and she talks like there's a Suma wrestler inside her!!  BS!!

There are some people who would be so incensed by this that they might drop a note to the military OB and suggest he do a tox screen...some people are passionate like that...

[constantbeauty]

I called her on the phone a while ago and told her I was concerned, even though she already had an idea that we all were. I told her about this site, and she basically shunned me for approaching her about it, which is fine with me -- like you said, she is either really DUMB or just crying out for help. We'll see what options she opts for in the end. Either way, I am worried about her as well as the baby. I'm a nurse and know that it can be dangerous to bother mother and baby, but I also know that some doctors DO write for the meds in case of a severe emergency. But one has to ask why her OB wouldn't write for the meds after the complaints of her kidney being kicked by the child -- it's almost as if she knew.

Sigh.

[constantbeauty]

No, I am not in the Military but my husband is.

And the girl I've asked about isn't in the Military either, but her husband is.

[vicki595]

Oh dear...this sort of thing is always so sad to me...but here's what I'm thinking:  Usually,as an addict,we lied,covered up,kept secrets,flew under the radar,in other words REALLY careful of being "found out". That's typical...she's not. She's telling you all. So,either she's dumb OR she's screaming for help!!   It's good that you're talking to her and,unfortunately,that's all you can do...Poor thing...Oh,also,if she admits to 6 per day it's probably twice that...who knows??

[kme17]

are u in the military?

[kme17]

how was she a meth addict in the military? she had to be n addict b4 she joined right?

[constantbeauty]

As you can see, I'm not talking about her in a poor manner. I'm asking a generalized question due to me and others being concerned. Either way, thanks for the input -- I'm on the phone with her right now and letting her know about this site.

[constantbeauty]

Nope, and that is why we're all sort of worried that she is doing this just for the "effect" of the medication. Especially since she told us she needed the pills for the baby "kicking" on her right kidney, BUT... she told the civilian doctor that she neeed them because of back pain.  :(  

Again, I know this isn't my place and I'm not trying to get involved. We're all just a little concerned, and when I told my friends I joined this forum for support in my recovery, they said it'd be a good idea to ask since a lot of you have some really great insight on things like this.

[dominosarah]

I understand the military as it was my life growing up.  I dont like talking about this woman without her being here so all i will tell you is for you and your friends to talk with her, be supportive and really listen to what she is saying.  I am sure she is scared and feels all alone. Invite her to join you and the others if you go places.   Babies are tested at birth in most states now for narcotics.  I hope she will be honest with the OB.  That way there wont be any surprises when the baby is born.  Both the mother and unborn child are my concern, maybe tell her about this site.........sara

[vicki595]

Does the civilian doctor know she's pregnant?

[constantbeauty]

Yes, ma'am.

Her PCP and OB are off base, but are Military physicians, if that makes sense. In order to get these pills, she had to go to a "civilian" doctor behind these other doctors backs, and paid cash without going through TriCare [military prime coverage] so that nobody would notice. I understand that eventually, this is going to catch up to her. But I guess me and my friends' main concern is the unborn child.

This girl's husband is currently deployed, so some of the girls politely stated to her that she may just be going through a rough time, and is now routing herself back to narcotics to try and ease what pain she may be feeling with him gone.

[dominosarah]

Is her OB doc on base?

[constantbeauty]

Yeah, I know it isn't our place to get involved. Was just asking out of curiousity, because the thing is, and I'm glad you brought it up, none of us think that she's being honest with the doctor. From what we've been told by her, this is a new doctor [actually, a completely different doctor than who she regularly sees, who will not give her the narcotics] and she is an ex-meth addict. She is so skinny, you cannot tell that she is pregnant. Apparently, she went to this new doctor off base [we're military by the way] and complained about "back pains" in order to get the pills.:(