Re: I'm pregnant and on pain medicine and no Dr. will help me!

September 14, 2006

Ellen,

Don't panic.. There has got to be something you can do. Are you up for

Naturopathy? I personally know of powerful herbs that can be used for safe

withdrawal of meds. Whether or not they can be used during pg I do not know, but

if you are serious about this I can put you in touch with a very skilled D.NP

that can help you. I'm not 100% better, but I'm SO much better than I was and I

owe much of it to her. My OBGYN is the one who hooked me up with my D. NP

because of my CFS and Hashimoto's Disease.

If you are seriously interested please e-mail me off list. Also, you must know

that she is not covered under insurance.

Deep breaths - You WILL be ok.

-Wendi

Ellen Scusa <eascusa@...> wrote:

Iam in desperate need of help and advise. Iam a chronic pain patient,

now for 7 years and have been on alot of prescription medicine for

those 7 years for pain and sleep mainly. I have Fibromyalgia, CFS,

migraines, depression, insomnia, etc. I found out a month ago that

Iam pregnant. This is after being told by Dr's that I could not get

pregnant. Iam on high doses of narcotic pain medicine, anti-

depressant, seroquel for sleep as well as medicine for hypertention.

My OB GYN sais he doesn't know anything about what to do except that

Iam a high-risk pregnancy because of the meds, hypertention, RH-

Negative factor and a previous miscarriage that resulted in a severe

pelvic infection. He told me to go to a OB specialist. So I did on

his reccomendation. That Dr. then told me he didn't know anything.

That I should go back to my primary Dr. for information. So I did and

around and around I went. No one will help me! Iam now 15 weeks

pregnant. All I wanted and needed from these Dr's was to help me wean

off my meds and/or at least put me on a safer kind, if possible. I'm

so scarred. They told me such horrible things that can result of

prescription use but won't help me get off. I know I can't just go

cold turkey off these meds which is exactly what they told me to do.

So obviously no one now not even my primary will write out any of my

prescriptions. I only have a week left before I'm completley out of

meds. What do I do? Where can I go? Does anyone know what to do or

care? I'm desperate. I don't want to hurt this baby anymore than it

may be hurt already. PLEASE HELP!

Ellen

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September 14, 2006

Hi Ellen,

I hope that someone here can help. But also want say that the issues of chronic

pain and problems with meds and withdrawal are so common today, that I bet there

are some good pain/med forums with tons of info and patients' experience. I'm

just positive that there are others who have faced this pregnancy/pain/med

dilemma. Probably even with CFS/FM, tho some may be without those dx.

I don't know exactly where to direct you tho, except to google or search under

.

Maybe the Fibromyalgia forums would be the closest thing to start. But just

under " pain " , " narcotics withdrawal " , or something might help.

Is there a pain clinic near you? They might be a resource.

Helen, here, knows about Benzo forums, so she might have some ideas.

I don't have this experience, so can't be specific, but I just know you are not

alone.

I'm really sorry your MDs are not being more helpful. But if you find other

guidance, they might kick back in with support.

Best wishes,

Katrina

>

> Iam in desperate need of help and advise. Iam a chronic pain patient,

> now for 7 years and have been on alot of prescription medicine for

> those 7 years for pain and sleep mainly. I have Fibromyalgia, CFS,

> migraines, depression, insomnia, etc. I found out a month ago that

> Iam pregnant. This is after being told by Dr's that I could not get

> pregnant. Iam on high doses of narcotic pain medicine, anti-

> depressant, seroquel for sleep as well as medicine for hypertention.

> My OB GYN sais he doesn't know anything about what to do except that

> Iam a high-risk pregnancy because of the meds, hypertention, RH-

> Negative factor and a previous miscarriage that resulted in a severe

> pelvic infection. He told me to go to a OB specialist. So I did on

> his reccomendation. That Dr. then told me he didn't know anything.

> That I should go back to my primary Dr. for information. So I did and

> around and around I went. No one will help me! Iam now 15 weeks

> pregnant. All I wanted and needed from these Dr's was to help me wean

> off my meds and/or at least put me on a safer kind, if possible. I'm

> so scarred. They told me such horrible things that can result of

> prescription use but won't help me get off. I know I can't just go

> cold turkey off these meds which is exactly what they told me to do.

> So obviously no one now not even my primary will write out any of my

> prescriptions. I only have a week left before I'm completley out of

> meds. What do I do? Where can I go? Does anyone know what to do or

> care? I'm desperate. I don't want to hurt this baby anymore than it

> may be hurt already. PLEASE HELP!

> Ellen

>

September 14, 2006

Wow Ellen,

That is quite a challenge. This is a research list and not a support

group. However, I have been on and gotten off most of those types of

meds, and I used two strategies. So I will share some information

about that, in the interest of CFS research ...

First, I titrated the doses slowly down, and did NOT go cold turkey.

I tried cold turkey once with a sedative, and it caused actual

physical harm to my stomach, I got acid burns from the sudden

disequalibrium. Will never do that again...

And second, I found natural supplements or therapies to help replace

the effects of the medication as needed.

The usual titration method for the psychotropic drugs antidepressants,

seditives, some pain meds, etc.) is to set a target time-frame such as

one or two months, then lower the dose weekly, or if you can tolerate

it, every few days. Then stay at the lowered dose until you are

stable, and lower again, until you are off. With just a week of meds,

maybe you can stretch those doses through titration to 2-4 weeks. But

I think it would be best to get a little more supply if possible,

becasue sometimes the titration takes a bit longer than expected.

Maybe if you tell your doctors you are going to titrate off the

medication they will be willing to give you a short prescription with

lower doses to help you through that.

As you are weaning off the med, I would start using some good

alternative treatments to help compensate for what you are missing.

Natural herbal teas can be helpful. St 's wart helps some people

with depression, or Chamomille tea for sedation, Kava kava for

relaxation, and there are many others including essential oils. But

you need to research the natural treatments to make sure they are safe

with pregnancy. Also, emotional therapies might be important,

binaural beat CDs can be powerful ways to re-learn relaxation skills,

and some meditations can help with pain.

I found getting off the beta blocker (for hypertension) was helped by

eliminating food allergies. My doctor figured that out for me, and

had me take an ELIA-ACT test for IgA food allergies. When I removed

the 16 foods I am allergic to, the BP was more under control. I also

went on an all-organic and natural foods diet and I believe that also

helped the BP.

Being pregnant is an interesting challenge during withdrawal, probably

a lot of rest will be required. And a few good friends to call or

visit when you need encouragement. Also, if you are not already

supplementing with EFAs, B vitamines, and a good multi, that might be

very important.

Finding natural analgesics might be more challenging. Salt has a mild

analgesic effect, I have used salt/c quite a lot, and although that

comes with some herx type of reaction at times, sometimes it gives

extra adrenal energy and lowers general pain levels. Which reminds

me, supporting the adrenals may also be very important during this

time. A good adrenal support multi or supplement should be helpful.

I hope you find a way to get through this, I know that the pregnant

body seems very vulnerable but also is very resilient... Good luck!

--Kurt