Amanda Hensley started abusing prescription painkillers when she was just a teenager. For years, she managed to function and hold down jobs. She even quit opioids for a while when she was pregnant with her now 4-year-old son. But she relapsed.
Hensley says she preferred drugs like Percocet and morphine, but opted for heroin when she was short on cash.
By the time she discovered she was pregnant last year, she couldn't quit.
"It was just one thing after another, you know — I was sick with morning sickness or sick from using," says Hensley, who is 25 and lives in Cleveland. "Either I was puking from morning sickness or I was puking from being high. That's kind of how I was able to hide it for a while."
Hensley says she was ashamed and hurt, and she wanted to stop using but didn't know how. She had friends who would help her find drugs — even after they found out she was pregnant.
Finding help to get clean and protect her child proved much more difficult.
[For more of this story, written by Sarah Jane Tribble, go to http://www.npr.org/sections/he...oad-to-family-health]
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