Morphine and pregnancy

[jgihring223]

Has anyone ever taken morphine extended release while pregnant and if so what was you experience?

I have been suffering from neck pain for 2 years now. I have done everything from over the counter medication, pain meds like, vicodin, perocet, morphine immediate release and now on Morphine extended release 30 mg 3x a day. I have done all of the above; Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, message, heat, ice, exercising, I can go on and on and on but I will bore you.
I have also seen 2 neurosurgeons and an orthopedic surgeon. I was told by the neurosurgeons that I am not a surgical candidate. The orthopedic surgeon told me that if I don’t get better in another 2 years then he may do surgery. Then I saw 2 pain medicine doctors.
Today at 4pm I had an appointment with a pain medicine doctor. He was very nice and helpful. He gave me morphine extended release 30mg tables and I need to take those 3x a day. I asked him about pregnancy and this medication. He said that there is always a chance of compilations. He said he has seen several patients that have gotten pregnant on this medication, some have tapered off of it and some continued to stay in this medication. The Doctor said if someone is pregnant and they get in a terrible accident, they are given very strong pain medication to control pain. Usually the baby’s are born fine; some times they go through with drawl. He said the only major problem is the baby having withdrawals. (That still scares me)
I am not pregnant but would like to start trying. I have pelvic endometriosis and my Ob/Gyn said I should start trying soon because the older I get the harder it will be. He had to take a tumor off my left ovary in 2004 and he is not sure if my ovary is still working. My mom went into early menopause at the age of 39. I am scared that my pain won’t go away and I will not be able to have a child with out having to take pain medication. Any advice?

[Mirkwood]

I am taking about 200mg of morphine a day, 75mg is slow release MST the other is up to 150mg of Oral Morphine Solution (Oramorph) 10mg/5ml. There is a very high chance of me bing pregnant (unplanned) but I intend to keep the baba. The chance of me being weaned off this medicine at any point during pregnancy is minuscule as without it I can't move and would be in agony. I've been on this dosage for about two years now. I am very concerned about what it could do to the baby. Some places I've read have said about cranial and spinal defects. Just how safe really is this medicine? I know this is a very late comment, so maybe some of you have had your babies by now and could let me know about your experiences.

[ibaibez]

Did you fully ween before giving birth?  How much were you on before giving birth?

Thanks, I am in SEVERE chronic pain and its hard to find info on what dose and what happened

[Kim726]

I do not know if you are still in need of this info, but last year when i was 19 weeks pregnant i ended up with a kidney stone twice. Finally i was put on Morphine extended release 60mg twice a day and 15mg immediate release in between. I was on this for the last 3 months of my pregnancy. I was very concerned about what this would do to my baby, but my OB reassured me that he would be OK. I was suppose to be weened off around 37 weeks, so that my baby and I would not go through such bad withdrawls if taken off too fast. I took it upon myself to ween myself off sooner. When my baby was born, he was in perfect health. They watched him for any signs of withdrawl from all the meds, but other then sneezing which is a sign, he did not go through any with drawls. I am thankful he is a happy and very healthy boy.

[jgihring223]

Thank you for all your help; martikadragoon, LauraB78, nakko*ttc, pmperez, sweetangel17....everyone.
It means a lot. Iam very aware that this medication is addictive. I am seeing a pain specialist while on this medication. I am being very closely monitored. I would not be taking this medication if I didn’t have to. That is why I am trying to talk to people and doctors and everyone about these medication and what and if they do anything to a fetus. I am scared to take this medication while pregnant. I am even scared to take this medication all together. I hate being in pain, I am only 25 years old and I feel like I am 60 years old. I see my OB/Gyn for another problem tomorrow and I am going to ask if he has time to talk about this because as it is I am running out of time. I don’t know who long it will take to get pregnant and the sooner the better. I am not sure though I will be able to stop taking this medication close to pregnancy due to the pain, if I knew the pain would not be bad I would try but I would defiantly try to get down to the lowest dose I could possible stand and maybe just lay in bed the last few weeks of pregnancy to help slow the pain. I already limit my life. I don’t want one of my limitations to be not being able to have a baby.
I will go into this with lost of consideration and responsibility. I never do anything with out thinking of it first. Thank you for all your kind words.
I just need a little bit of support while I make my decision.

Thank you

[martikadragoon]

I have had not 1 but 2 doctors tell me that anything they give you while in labor or after a csection are safe  during pregnancy. The only thing they'll have to deal with is a depressed (floppy) baby. I had my mom and husband there for the second doc because my mom was all scared about me taking pain med's and breast feeding after my son is born.

LauraB78~ Because she's been on pain med's this long there is a CHANCE she could already be dependant to a point. (It's to be expected with that long term of use)

JGIHRING~ The reason I told her that, is because my mom has 8 slipped disks in her back, sciatic pain, and sometimes her back will go out on her. She will NOT do chiropractic therapy or surgery to help it because it scares her to death. She is currently on Oxycontin, Soma, as well as Darvon for the pain. For a while she was on the Pain patch.. (I forgot the name) she actually became addicted to it for a while and weaned herself off because her doctor wouldn't. So I am familiar with pain meds.

My current doctor has me on vicoden 5/500(I think is the dose) every4hrs as needed for chronic leg pain and migraines (leg pain from a skin problems, my legs feel as tho they're on fire when I move to sitting or standing due to screwed up blood flow and infected blisters.)
. I'm almost 28weeks pregnant. And once I reach abotu 36 weeks I'll stop taking it all together. As it is I don't use it everyday myself.

Fair warning tho: if they have you on SOMA you need to get off them before getting pregnant because 1 dose of soma will take about 200mcg of Folic Acid out of your body. (I was on soma's before becoming pregnant for a badly pinched nerve in my neck due to spasm's) I got off the soma's when I began thinking of getting pregnant. My dr. also put me on an extra 1mg tablet of Folic acid when I conceived.  Normal vitamins give you 200mcg of folic acid, Prenatals about 400mcg.

I hope this helps. And for the Soma and folic acid thing I got, I found out about that (THANK GOD) from the medical insert with my prescription.

[LauraB78]

I would also be concerned that it would be habit forming? I would definitely ask a pharmacist as some of the other ladies already recommended. Good luck and I hope your pain subsides soon!

[nikko*ttc]

Morphine is also one of the ones they use during labor. I think you are okay, but with extended dosing it is considered a narcotic and can be addictive. If you do use during pregnancy, then the delivery staff need to know so they can monitor baby for withdrawl symptoms. It may make your delivery stay a little longer. It doesn't harm babies development though as far as I know. Definitely ask a pharmacist though they are much more familar with drugs and contraindications of taking them.

[pmperez]

When I went in to the hospital the other night with my gall bladder they gave me a shot of morphine when I got there and 1 when I left they said that Morphine is one of the pain relievers that is ok during pregnancy...but I dont know if its the same thing your talking about

[jgihring223]

Thank you for your help!

Have a great day!

[sweetangel7]

I've hear that pharmacists are more knowledgeable than doctors when it comes to medications and how they interact with the body.  I'd call a couple pharmacists or stop by and ask their opinion.  Sorry to hear of the pain...good luck ttc!