What Happened When I Continued Methadone Treatment While Pregnant

The last time I stuck a needle in my arm was three whole months before I conceived my son, and I’m grateful that he’s never experienced me in active addiction. I say three whole months as if it were a lifetime, but it really is to anyone in early recovery. I was fortunate, I stopped using heroin before I found out that I was pregnant. I had just turned 29 and was in a stable relationship with my now-husband. For many women, getting on methadone doesn’t happen until they find out they’re pregnant. Their options are to either keep using or get into treatment. I started taking methadone five months before I stopped using and faced a bit of a learning curve. It was difficult to separate myself from the lifestyle and the people who I interacted with on a daily basis. I also had a needle addiction, and there’s no maintenance medication for that. When I decided to stop getting high, I immediately started trying to fix everything that I had destroyed. I was in a new relationship with someone who understood that I was broken and he took me to the methadone clinic every day. We met shortly after I got clean and he never once judged me for my past actions or made me feel bad for taking methadone during my pregnancy. Every expecting mom who takes opioids knows that if you just stop taking them, there is a high risk you will miscarry. Your baby experiences the withdrawal symptoms more strongly than you and in many cases they just aren’t strong enough to withstand it. Making t...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Addiction Pregnancy Publishers Recovery The Fix Heroin Methadone methadone withdrawal Opioids Pregnant Source Type: blogs