chronic hypertension - what should I expect?

[WishfulX1]

Hi all, been about a month since I last posted and BP is still misbehaving!!
Been attending hospital twice weekly some weeks 3x depending on BP, as of today I'm currently on 300mg labetalol 4xdaily and 10mg nifedipine 2x daily. Just started the nifedipine 2 days ago and been feeling really dizzy so hoping that's a sign BP
Has dropped a bit! Have hospital again today.

Last growth scan was great and baby is measuring exactly on 50th centile have
Another scan at 32weeks.

A new thing I've been having is loads of tachycardia! Anyone else had this? My BP
Is averaging around 150/100 just now but pulse averaging 125, sometimes I feel it even faster which I find very weird as labetalol is a beta blocker so
Surely if anything it should be much lower.

Hoping BP is down today with the nifedipine and i get a good few more weeks without needing increased again!

Hope your all keeping well and dinah that is fantastic news that baby grace is home! x

 

[saffy1984]

Hi All,

Had my app with hypertention clinic and i was in such a panic as soon as i went in there - was 150/107! She did it again a min later and it was 150/98. I did it the night before i went and got 117/71!!! Why is my bp so ridiculous?!

Got given a 24 hr monitor and the nurse will call me mon to advise - im sure il be given tablets. They already started me on low dose aspirin to help prevent pre e.

Wishful - every time i get my bp done at hosp my pulse is the same as yours but when i do it at home its very low - like 63.

I wish i could calm down, im sure my bp would not be too bad.

anyone else got any updates?
x

 

[doushy]

Hi Ladies

Thought i would post a little update!

I have been off my meds for 11 days (bp was 103/74 at booking in visit) and my bp is now 130/77. The hosp hosp have said they are happy for me to stay off the meds and they will check me in 3 weeks at my scan. I am amazed at how much my bp has changed. They even questioned if i had high bp to begin with due to issues with being measured for so long with the wrong cuff. I think i have had it to be honest, but that the pregnancy has helped it, like someone else pointed out. Hopefully i can get into my 2nd trimester without being on meds!

Hope everyone is well xx

 

[seaweed eater]

Hey ladies...always good to read updates

Wishful, sorry your BP is misbehaving, but I hope the meds get it under control. Unfortunately I can't say I have any experience with tachycardia so I don't know what to tell you about that. I do know labetalol is not exactly the one they tend to prescribe if they're targeting HR (I think that's atenolol?) but I agree with you that since it's a beta blocker I would expect it to have that effect too. Weird.

Glad to hear baby is growing well. (Isn't it funny, though, how squished they are by now? )

How was your appointment today?

Had my app with hypertention clinic and i was in such a panic as soon as i went in there - was 150/107! She did it again a min later and it was 150/98. I did it the night before i went and got 117/71!!! Why is my bp so ridiculous?!

Sorry you are having labile BPs like that. Mine is often higher in the clinic too and it feels kind of unfair! But it's good that you're monitoring it at home, because it seems like many doctors care more about where it runs stably than where it spikes. (Although, on the PE Foundation forum, people like to say that it DOES matter where it spikes because a healthy system can regulate BP well enough to avoid even the high spikes.)

Please keep us posted about how you are feeling and what meds you start taking

Doushy, I'm so glad you're doing well off meds! That is great news, whether it's from pregnancy lowering your BP or having used the wrong cuff. I hope it stays low for the rest of your pregnancy and you don't need the meds!

AFM, happy to report BPs are still stable (knock on wood). My doctor was away at my last appointment and before that I was still on monthly ones, so it's been almost 6 weeks since I saw him and I have a lot of questions I've been dying to ask! I'd like to know when he would prefer to induce me if my BP stays good, and what I can expect in terms of extra checkups, NSTs, etc, especially after 36 weeks.

I am becoming more resigned to the fact that there's a good chance one way or another I will end up being induced...even though it's something I was really hoping to avoid, I would still want to go without pain relief and try to make the best of it.

For now just grateful for every day BPs are stable and baby seems to be doing well!

Hope everyone else is feeling well.

 

[WishfulX1]

Hi seaweed and everyone else appointment the other day went well, BP finally down to 130s/80s so didn't need an increase in meds, im still currently on max dose labetalol and The nifedipine. I'm currently wearing a 24hr heart monitor tho due to the tachycardia, I really don't think my pulse is anything to worry, they take it with the BP machine and it always reads 120s/130s however at the same time when I take it manually I get it just over 100, I'm a nurse and never rely on those machines for an accurate pulse but I don't want to go butt in and say to them incase they think Im just an interfering nurse

My HT does go to about 120-130 when moving around but I've read a lot about how tachycardia is quite common in pregnancy. Oh well 24hr tape comes off in 3hours so will just await the results.

Growth scan again next week, can't wait to see that she's still growing on target!

Hope your all doing ok! X

Oh seaweed- I also meant to say I too asked my doctor about induction as I would
Love to go into labour naturally etc but she said that is very very unlikely to happen!
She said if my BP stays stable then il still get induced at 38weeks however if my BP continues to rise again then to expect induction at 36weeks again, same as my DS. X

 

[seaweed eater]

Glad your pressures are stable! That's great news. Keep us posted about your HR. What would that mean if it were abnormal? Would you have to take a separate beta blocker for that? What are the effects on the pregnancy?

I just saw my doctor this morning at long last...he said 41 weeks is probably my deadline if everything continues going well. Of course that's not a small IF, but it makes me hopeful...even among first time mothers a majority probably go into labor naturally by 41, right?

I have weekly appointments and NSTs starting next week, and a growth scan next week plus I'm guessing 4 weeks later.

Hope everyone else is doing well

 

[saffy1984]

Hi ladies,

The hospital rang me this week to give me the results of my 24hr bp monitor - she said that every measurement apart from the one at the hospital was within normal limits and so I dont have to go on medication yet. Very chuffed but also think that every app I have I will have to have the 24hr monitor again!!! I hate those things!

Hope you are all okay x

 

[WishfulX1]

Hi ladies, quick update to let you all know I had my baby girl!! Born on monday at exactly 33weeks, she's still In NICU but doing great! Weighed 4lb 9oz but still looks so teeny
I was admitted to hospital last wednesday as BP wouldn't go down, put on max dose meds I could get however despite feeling fine one Sunday night within the space of an hour I we t from feeling fine to having severe pre-e and the worst epi gastric pain I've had in my life!! I seriously thought I was having a heart attack! My bloods Sunday day had been fine
But when they took them when this pain started they showed my liver function going off, it was all very scary, doctors everywhere I was rushed for an emergency c-sec which meant getting put to sleep but honestly at that stage with the pain I didn't care!
I woke up with lines everywhere, central line in neck, arterial line in wrist monitoring BP every second and I was in HDU.
It's been a crazy few days, very sore from c-sec, it rly seems to have just hit me today as my emotions are very active today! I want my baby girl with me so much, she's beautiful!

Xx

 

[Dinah93]

Congratulations on your little girl Wishful, sounds like you had HELLP pretty badly but you had some good doctors around you. I remember that pain, I honestly thought I was dying yet they tried to give me gaviscon for indigestion! Your LO is a good size, I would think they'll let you bring her home as soon as feeding is established

 

[WishfulX1]

Thank you Dinah! How is grace doing being at home?
That pain is honestly excruciating now I
Know what they mean when they say you'll know if you have severe pre-e / HELP! I can't believe how quick it came on tho, well it was weeks really but I mean from
Being stable one hour to being in agony the next and having an emergency c-sec!
Everything is perfect with Leyla it's only her feeding like u say that we have to get established before I get her home so hopefully not long!
Fingers crossed I'm getting home tomorrow! Will be hard leaving here tho x

 

[seaweed eater]

Aww Wishful, I'm sorry about your experience with HELLP but so glad you and your girl are doing well now! Congratulations!! Hope both of you get to go home soon...keep us posted!

 

[nov_mum]

Congrats on the birth of your baby girl. I am so sorry to hear that it emerged earlier this time and you had to go so early.

I have had PE in each of my previous three births and this time will be no exception no doubt. BP is up already so it looks more and more like I am a chronic hypertensive that experiences symptoms which are unmasked during pregnancy. Looks like I will be starting on the bp meds soon. Labetalol here I come

 

[deafgal]

well, it looked like my b/p shot up again, and I blame it on my asthma i have been getting. my general practice doctor found out when I went in to get my asthma inhaler refilled. She told me that my current b/p med is the safest and best for breastfeeding (my ob/gyn said the same thing and she prescribed it for alot of pregnant and breastfeeding moms) so she upped th dose. my b/p looks a lot better since she upped it BUT i am gettingPetechiae. we figured it is b/p related but since its been down, it is still there and i am getting more so I asked her if it is a side effect of the med and apparently it can lower your p. count . mine was already low so she had me do a blood work to see it ia had gone lower. i hope we can solve this. i do not want to quit breastfeeding

 

[seaweed eater]

Hey, time to revive this thread maybe? :wave: How is everyone doing?

Deafgal, I'm sorry about your troubles with BFing. How are things going now?

AFM, I'm 41+2 now and scheduled for an induction tomorrow if baby doesn't show up sooner. I was totally not expecting to get to go past 39 weeks! Sadly my body does not seem to have taken the opportunity to go into labor spontaneously, but it is possible to get this far with hypertension. I have been on 100mg of labetalol bidaily the entire pregnancy. My BP has increased slowly over the past couple of months and is just now hitting the 140/90 range -- I think I would have been induced sooner if this had happened a couple weeks earlier, but as my labs are all normal we are going ahead with the original plan. I suspect I may end up with IV labetalol during labor -- especially if I need pitocin (which is likely); I plan to try to avoid IV during the cervidil part -- and I will come back and update. Anyway, I'm hoping to escape the dreaded magnesium sulfate.

My doctor was totally on board with my preference for a natural birth and wanted to give me a reasonable amount of time to start labor spontaneously. With more average timing I might have been able to do it! Just wanted to give hope to anyone else with chronic hypertension who is hoping for a natural birth.

 

[deafgal]

it turns out I am fine, it is gone now so it probably was b/p related (it was 178/98). i am still EBF thanks for asking.

Hope everything goes well for you too.

 

[nov_mum]

Hey, time to revive this thread maybe? :wave: How is everyone doing?

Deafgal, I'm sorry about your troubles with BFing. How are things going now?

AFM, I'm 41+2 now and scheduled for an induction tomorrow if baby doesn't show up sooner. I was totally not expecting to get to go past 39 weeks! Sadly my body does not seem to have taken the opportunity to go into labor spontaneously, but it is possible to get this far with hypertension. I have been on 100mg of labetalol bidaily the entire pregnancy. My BP has increased slowly over the past couple of months and is just now hitting the 140/90 range -- I think I would have been induced sooner if this had happened a couple weeks earlier, but as my labs are all normal we are going ahead with the original plan. I suspect I may end up with IV labetalol during labor -- especially if I need pitocin (which is likely); I plan to try to avoid IV during the cervidil part -- and I will come back and update. Anyway, I'm hoping to escape the dreaded magnesium sulfate.

My doctor was totally on board with my preference for a natural birth and wanted to give me a reasonable amount of time to start labor spontaneously. With more average timing I might have been able to do it! Just wanted to give hope to anyone else with chronic hypertension who is hoping for a natural birth.

Hope it all went smoothly for you xx

 

[saffy1984]

Wow thats great you got so far along seaweed eater - i hope the birth went okay.

My last trip to the hypertention clinic did not go well - it was very high again 164/106, despite having a reading of 120/76 that morning at home. My 24hr pressure came back as an average as 114/74 so the consultant basically did not know what to do with me. Everytime at midwife and at home my bp is okay - its just the hospital that my anxiety goes crazy. Saw midwife few days later and it was 120/87 so hosp said that i didnt need medication still. I find it so stressful going to the hospital - the staff do not put me at ease. I sometimes think i would be better off just having some medication so that the hospital dont stress me so much when its hight there.

x

 

[seaweed eater]

It's been ages, but I just wanted to bump this thread in case it is useful to anyone currently pregnant! It was so helpful to me.

I should add a bit of an epilogue to my own situation. My BP got extremely high in the week after delivery and I ended up in the ER 6 days PP. Everything was totally fine, no PE, just had my labetalol dosage increased and fortunately that brought things under control quickly. I'm back to my old pre-pregnancy dosage now. My doctor said that things can be a bit unpredictable during that time with all the hormones and it wouldn't mean I'd be on the higher dose indefinitely...glad she was right about that.

Also, I don't know whether this has happened to anyone else here, but LO was in the NICU after birth partly because he had hypoglycemia, which supposedly has been linked to labetalol use during pregnancy in at least one study. So that might be something to prepare for if you are currently pregnant and taking labetalol. (Less dangerous than not taking the drug and putting your baby at the risks that come with hypertension and PE, of course.)

Hope all moms and babies are doing well