chronic hypertension - what should I expect?

[newgirl79]

Hi again,

MissM have decided to start my mat leave just before I get to 36 wks now- will just give me a bit of extra breathing space I think!! Glad your BP is behaving and sure baby will do an about turn soon enough- don't suppose you'll miss it at this stage!!

8 weeks exactly til my due date- eek!!! xx

 

[Dinah93]

Planning to start maternity leave at 36 weeks as it's likely I'll be signed off till then so it will kick in anyway. Want to have the babies room ready soon though as mums high blood pressure meant I was an emergency C section at 33 weeks, so I'd feel better having everything ready by 30 weeks. BP still holding steady at about 135/90 for the midwife, 138/98 at home and the doctors. Consultant still being useless and telling me I have white coat hypertension.... after 10 years of monitoring! I pointed out I get high readings at home too and I'm not scared of the machine or the frankly lovely midwife but I might as well have been speaking Chinese for all the attention he paid me. Have the 20 week scan on Wednesday, and back to the consultant a week later.

 

[SabrinaKat]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with pregnancy induced hypertension earlier last week (as on two occasions, my BP was quite high) after two days in hospital. I'm taking Labetalol 600 mg and so far, my at home BP has been okay-ish, but have to attend day clinics every other day to monitor BP, etc. We're essentially trying to get through the next two weeks, I suppose, but any further ideas of what I can or is it just a case of taking it one day at a time?

Thanks!

 

[Dinah93]

Keeping your feet up (very literally) lowers your bp by about 10-15 points, so try to stay laid down as much as possible to keep it lower. Avoid salt like the plague as it really bumps it up too. Hopefully those will help although bp can be a lot harder to predict the nearer to your due date you get.

 

[quail]

sorry i never replied before ive been really worried about all the bloodwork i had done last week as i suffer with anxiey i was convinced there would be something wrong,anyway yes it is labetalol i have been put on 200mg twice a day and i went to the maternity assement today and my bp was 129/84 so they were really happy with that, and my bloodwork was fine so i now see the mw at 16 weeks and then have my detailed scan and see consultant at 20 weeks , have been told if bp stays fine i wont be induced they will leave me to go into labour myself.xx

 

[laura077]

BP was 128/78 today! I was so excited. I don't think it's been that low...ever or at least a while. Hope everyone else is doing well. Baby is in the 29.7 percentile for growth. Hope we can keep him in the ok range.

 

[SabrinaKat]

what do you guys think of the home BP machines? reliable or not?

thanks?

 

[newgirl79]

Hi everyone, hope all ok...

Dinah- must be a bit scary knowing what happened with your mum. Did her BP just go really really high or were there problems with the baby (you??) getting distressed too? Can understand you wanting to be ready early though- keep us posted on how you're getting on Can I ask about you being signed off by the way? Was it specifically due to high BP? Is yours chronic or gestational? I am still surprised by the amount of variation in how things are approached across the country!!

SabrinaKat- think it's absolutely about taking things one day at a time. I'm afriad I don't have any real words of wisdom about how to manage high BP as mine's been around for years and I've not found any particular pattern to lowering it As for home monitors I was told very definitely that most are not accurate for use in pregnancy (something to do with the extra blood flow etc) and that applies to many used in general doctors surgeries etc (I work in the NHS and got told to stop measuring mine on the brand new dynamap at work!) There is a team of medics in the UK doing research on the best monitors to use and I've been lent one by the hospital (a microlife monitor) to use for the duration of the pregnancy. Having said that I wouldn't worry if you don't have access to one of these, perhaps just ask for your care team's advice on the best sort to use???

Quail and Laura077- great news on the blood tests and BP readings- hope all continues to go well

I'm off to the hosp this afternoon for my next hypertension appt- BP has been all over the place this week- from 116/87 to 159/109 so have absolutely no idea what they're going to say!!!! They told me to look out for low readings as well as high due to high level of meds but I am seriously confused now! Will keep you posted, take care all xxx

 

[WinterKage]

Hi Ladies, May i join? I suffer from high blood pressure too, am on methlydopa 2 x a day though tablets seem to be working as my last bp check at 15 wks was 118/72. I have a consultant appointment this coming Monday about blood pressure and just wandered what they usually tell you? x

 

[newgirl79]

Hi there WinterKage,

I expect the consultant will just want to double check your BP and medication, but sounds like it's pretty good at the moment!! They may want to set up regular appts or growth scans as you get further on just to make sure the meds are not affecting anything... to put people's mind at rest I have been on a ton of meds all through the pregnancy and baby is doing brilliantly at just under average weight at 35 weeks!!

Let us know how you get on x

 

[Dinah93]

Hi everyone, hope all ok...

Dinah- must be a bit scary knowing what happened with your mum. Did her BP just go really really high or were there problems with the baby (you??) getting distressed too? Can understand you wanting to be ready early though- keep us posted on how you're getting on Can I ask about you being signed off by the way? Was it specifically due to high BP? Is yours chronic or gestational? I am still surprised by the amount of variation in how things are approached across the country!!

No her BP just started to rise and wouldn't stop, she was on tablets from the start of pregnancy, but at one point it's like they just stopped working.

Yep I'm signed off due to the BP, it's chronic/essential rather than gestational. So far no signs of pre-e.

I was taken into the hospital ante-natal unit this week after my weekly midwife check showed my bp was running at 138/108. They took my blood pressure 5 times more over the next 3 1/2 hours, and it was okay, in the area of 135/98, 135/90, and bizarrely even a 120/80 reading. So they let me go home again, but I have to go see the consultant on Monday. Not chuffed as he'd just told me my bp was doing really well and he didn't want to see me again until 28 weeks. DH had even booked us a weekend away and now I'm worried I won't be able to go - everyone keeps saying it's mad to go away, but if I am only being monitored once a week then does it really matter where I am for the 6 days in between if my readings between then and now are more settled?

 

[quail]

Hi everyone, hope all ok...

Dinah- must be a bit scary knowing what happened with your mum. Did her BP just go really really high or were there problems with the baby (you??) getting distressed too? Can understand you wanting to be ready early though- keep us posted on how you're getting on Can I ask about you being signed off by the way? Was it specifically due to high BP? Is yours chronic or gestational? I am still surprised by the amount of variation in how things are approached across the country!!

No her BP just started to rise and wouldn't stop, she was on tablets from the start of pregnancy, but at one point it's like they just stopped working.

Yep I'm signed off due to the BP, it's chronic/essential rather than gestational. So far no signs of pre-e.

I was taken into the hospital ante-natal unit this week after my weekly midwife check showed my bp was running at 138/108. They took my blood pressure 5 times more over the next 3 1/2 hours, and it was okay, in the area of 135/98, 135/90, and bizarrely even a 120/80 reading. So they let me go home again, but I have to go see the consultant on Monday. Not chuffed as he'd just told me my bp was doing really well and he didn't want to see me again until 28 weeks. DH had even booked us a weekend away and now I'm worried I won't be able to go - everyone keeps saying it's mad to go away, but if I am only being monitored once a week then does it really matter where I am for the 6 days in between if my readings between then and now are more settled?

glad your bp settled down, i wouldnt worry about going away it may help you too relax i have terrible anxiety so i know this affects my bp so i think sometimes it may be higher at the hospital and probably quite a bit lower when you walk out of there and relax, enjoy your weekend away.xxx

 

[newgirl79]

Hey Dinah, I completely agree with Quail- I think it's important to have time doing stuff for yourself/with your partner etc. Are you monitoring your BP at home too? Mine's always so much higher at the hospital they've completely stopped doing it there now.

I am chronic hypertensive too and my BP is all over the place most of the time. I just have an agreement with my consultant that I'll ring in to the hospital if the diastolic reading stays up over 100 for a prolonged period. I quite often get readings around 145/108 mark followed by readings around 135/85 not long later, with no discernible pattern! I guess it's important to have regular appts to keep an eye on things but I definitely don't think you should have to give up your time away...

Let us know how you get on Mon xxx

 

[WinterKage]

Thank you, I will update later on how my appointment goes as have it in a hours time. Silly question but am I meant to bring my pregnancy notes with me? I'm not sure so just think ill bring it just in case x

 

[WinterKage]

Been put on aspirin, have next appointment at 24 weeks and have 3 extra growth scans at 28/32/36 weeks and also my 3rd stage part of labour will be managed. Its so much to take in x

 

[Dinah93]

GRRRR! Back to the consultant today, he's put my dose up to 500mg methyldopa 4 times a day (was 3) - but he was quite clear they need to be evenly spaced at 6 hour intervals. This will mean me setting an alarm for the middle of the night some time, as while I get up to pee a couple of times, I can't plan ahead that I usually wake up at say 3am so time my tablets around then. Not best chuffed, I expected to be shattered and woken in the night once LO is here, but I thought I'd get a good bit of rest beforehand!

 

[newgirl79]

Aghh- just what you wanted to be setting your alarm for an additional 'get up in the night'!!!

I suppose it makes some sort of sense to be taking your meds at regular intervals but it still amazes me the differing advice given out across the country/world I'm on a six times a day meds schedule but no-one has ever suggested to me that I get up in the night to take some... I do try to get up around the same time every day and space them out evenly but getting up an extra time in the night seems like a step too far. Having said that I am waking at least five times in the night for a pee so one of them would presumably be around the right sort of time?! Let us know how you get on xxx

 

[Dinah93]

I've decided to take one when I turn out the light at 11.30ish, and another at 6ish when the alarm first goes (before getting another 45mins kip!) and if they have any issue with that gap being very slightly more than six hours they can stuff off.

Baby is having an EXTREMELY quiet day today, does make me panic but I used the doppler and I know she's still going in there so I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to a growing day.

 

[amjon]

I've just met with my new OB. He was very concerned that I had hypertension (though not technically high enough at 140/90 at the highest) with my daughter's pregnancy. He thinks it may have had something to do with her death as I just found out today (from him) that she had low fluid at the last ultrasound. He plans to start me on meds when I get to 140/90 (or even less) and not wait until I get to the technically high level of 150/100. I was told in the hospital that umbilical cord accident was basically the only possible cause of death and now I'm hearing different. I wonder if it has anything to do with being checked for pre-eclampsia by the same doctor a few days before and being sent home?

 

[newgirl79]

Dinah- sounds like a good plan about the nightly meds- surely they can't expect you to do more than that!!

amjon- so sorry to hear about the loss of your baby girl. It must be really scary to be told things like that by your drs too although I suppose it if makes them more vigilant that will probably be a good thing. My drs haven't talked to me about any possible negative outcomes really so I'm afraid I can't help in terms of your questions.

Latest update from me is that I have an induction date for March 19th!! I'll be 39+2 by then so drs feel it will be time to call it a day although I'm going to be trying my hardest to encourage baby to come a little earlier of its own accord!! I've been told that I will stop taking the methyldopa the minute the baby is born and just continue with the Nifedipine and possibly an alternative medication if I need it. Have also been told that there are various additional drugs I can be given during labour to bring my BP down before they insist on my having an epidural. Hypertension midwife also said that if my BP sticks around its current level (135-145/95-100) it may be fine in labour as usually only goes up a few points. I think they start worrying more around the 160-170/110 mark.

Hope everyone else is doing ok, take care xxx