Hi, and welcome to NT. You will find a lot of nice, interesting, and caring people on these boards. I am sorry for all you are going through, and I hope you find answers to at least some of your questions.

Hello there. I was just googling trying to find any info I could on the subject and found your post, and I wanted to reply. I have been suffering from chronic pain for almost 8 years now. And I've decided to have a child. The only way to control my pain is through opiate use. I have tried many other medicines over the years, approx 20 of them. And MS Contin, with occasional Vicodin has been the best thing to help me.

Anyway, when I decided I wanted to see about becoming pregnant, I wasn't sure if would even be an option on the medications I take. I talked to my doctor about it, and they sent me to a pain management clinic where I spoke to a doctor familair with pregnancy & pain management.

He informed me there are very little risks to using opiates while pregnant, they are the only class of drug used to treat my conditions (RSD & Trigeminal Neuralgia) that is concidered safe for pregnancy.

He said the major risk is withdrawl. If a pregnant woman goes throgh withdrawl during their pregnancy they can lose the fetus. And babies can die from it. So he said he only recommends women that will breastfeed for 6 months to get pregnant while taking opiates.

That way you can slowly wean the baby off the medicine & change to formula, while still givig them the benefits of breastfeeding. So that is our current plan.

I wish you luck, and if your doctors are not supportive of you, I'd try to find a new doctor. And consult a pain management specialist if you have not already!