pain management during pregnancy

[bjc1959]

A person who is taking a daily regimen of MS-Contin and Lyrica for chronic pain due to auto accident/nerve damage.  The MS-Contin is the only thing that has worked well.  Person discovered she is pregnant and is afraid to continue taking the meds/afraid to go through pregnancy/breastfeeding without meds.

Are there any options other than suffering through 9 months?

[JadedSweetheart]

Tuck and Sandee are absolutely right.
The pregnant lady should definetly NOT STOP the meds cold turkey at all.  She really needs to call the doctor to find out if the med is okay or if she should taper off.  Some doctor's offices will tell you to stop taking the medication all-together and that they won't see you.  Many times they are uninformed and do not know that stoping a med cold-turkey in pregnancy will cause withdrawls and can cause miscarriage.  In that case she should taper herself off the meds until she can see an OBGYN.  
I haven't heard of specific instances of MSContin during pregnancy, but I have heard of women taking nearly every other med.  I'm sure that if the doctor says it's okay, it will be okay.
I'm pretty sure she'll need to taper off the lyrica.
One thing to keep in mind is that our cortisol levels rise when we are stressed, pregnant or not.  Sometimes the high levels of cortisol caused by stress and pain are worse for us than pain meds during pregnancy.  
Of course, I am not a doctor, just a woman who is pregnant and dealing with chronic pain and hence have done a lot of research about it all.
Here's some information about pain medication and pregnancy.
http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/content/85/5/1074.full.pdf
It has been very hard for me to find a doctor who will treat a pregnant women with opiate therapy so she needs to get a doctor on board ASAP.  It's difficult, but not impossible.
I wish the pregnant lady the best of luck.  I hope she is able to work with the doctors to control her pain during the pregnancy and has a happy, healthy baby.

[Tuckamore]

Hi BJC,

Certainly "a person" need to consult her OB/GYN and her PMP. That is the best places to begin. There are pain management options during pregnancy. However it must be done correctly and closely monitored by a specializing physician.

You may want to read what Jadedsweetheart posted in her journal. I have the link below. She is not an expert, non of are but she does have some experience in pregnancy and pain management. I have a feeling she will be along shortly

"One" should not take the advice of anyone over the advice of "ones" physicians. That said Jadedsweetheart may have information that could direct "one" to the right practitioner.

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/219225/Chronic-Pain-and-Pregnancy?personal_page_id=1039015

Best of luck to "one."

Take Care,
~Tuck

[sandee1818]

There are other options available. I would strongly advise that the pregnant person seek a Doctor and make certain that the medications she is on is safe for the baby as many are not. Also if breastfeeding the medications are secreted thru the breast milk so one has to make certain that the medications are not because it will harm or even cause death to the baby.
This person needs to see her OB_GYN asap!
We have a member here Jadedsweetheart who is pregnant and taking pain medications and has had a very hard time finding a Doctor to treat her and medications that work for her.
It is very important to tell the Doctor your pregnant and that your taking XXX medications as it may cause harm and need to be changed.
I hope she does this soon. Please let us know how your doing and we are her for you anyway we can help:)