Does anyone else have puffy lips?

peanutmuse

I've noticed over the past two days that my lips are swollen. I thought maybe I was just being hypersensitive, but my best friend came over to see me today and told me that I looked like I had collagen injections. At first I thought it was funny (we were having quite a laugh over it, that's how we are), but then later I realized we were also talking about my jaw line looking puffy, and I started to get a little worried -- due to the pre-eclampsia risk. I know one of the things to look for is sudden swelling in the hands and/or face. I'm going to see what my face & lips look like tomorrow, but does anyone have any experience with puffy lips -- either related to pre-e or not?

Here's some background info on me, just so you have the full picture.... I have hypertension that is controlled by medication and when I had my urine checked on Dec 10th, my protein level was 222 mL. Above "normal," but not pre-e yet.

tesskerr

Mine have been getting a bit puffy, especially on the days my feet and hands get puffy. My face can feel a bit tight and puffy too. But it goes away, so I don't worry.

Carmlvsjose

Yes! My lips and face a super swollen, but no protein in my urine. BP is on the high end of normal right now and I'm being monitored. I would definitely call in if the swelling doesn't go down.

peanutmuse

tesskerr said:

Mine have been getting a bit puffy, especially on the days my feet and hands get puffy. My face can feel a bit tight and puffy too. But it goes away, so I don't worry.

My feet, calves and hands have been pretty swollen for the past 2-3 weeks. The lip swelling came on kind of suddenly. My lips were fine yesterday morning -- or at least I didn't notice anything -- and then in the early afternoon they were swollen. So weird.

jms1374

My lips started swelling about 2 weeks ago--I look like I have had injections, also. I have been on medication the majority of my pregnancy for BP as well and haven't had any other signs of pre-e outside of some feet swelling (no/minimal protein in urine, etc). No one has been concerned at any of my appointments or NST's so far.

LabPupLuv

Yikes, you might want to call your doctor if they are still swollen tomorrow. I can't wear my rings anymore, but I can still see my ankles and I don't have any face swelling. I also am dealing with high bp, as you know from earlier posts. I hope your lips go back down overnight. How are you feeling?

peanutmuse

LabPupLuv said:

How are you feeling?

@LabPupLuv -- the kidney pain is still there, of course, and I'm just hanging in there the best I can with that. I feel like the baby is getting bigger, which is causing difficulty breathing at times and just more general discomfort. As to be expected. And I have this new stiffness in my hands that makes my fingers hurt. Weird, but I'm assuming it has to do with swelling maybe?

How are you feeling?

LabPupLuv

@peanutmuse I am so sorry about the kidney pain and stiffness! I am feeling more discomfort too as he gets bigger, mostly when he's awake and moving around. I didn't mention this on TB but I was sent to L&D again on Thursday. This time it wasn't my high bp that sent us there but LO's heart rate baseline was too high in his NST and they wanted to monitor him more. It went back to normal and stayed that way but it was scary. I'll be induced on the 7th now for my bp. I can't complain at all tho! You've had it so much worse. I can't even imagine your kidney pain... We are almost done!

last14real

@peanutmuse I have not personally had the swollen lips, but with all the issues you have had I would not hesitate to call your dr. It could be nothing, but why risk it? You have been through more than enough abnormal crap this pregnancy and I would hate to see it escalate. Please call!

washyourhandsplease

My whole face is puffy, but I have preeclampsia. You should definitely contact your doctor if the swelling doesn't go down.

peanutmuse

@washyourhandsplease -- did the swelling happen quickly, or did it emerge over time? I see in your old posts that you were diagnosed around Thanksgiving, so it would seem like it has been managed somewhat -- is that correct?

ETA: And out of curiosity, what was the basis for your diagnosis? Proteinuria? Liver functions? High BP? I'm always curious to hear how doctors arrived at the diagnoses.

ccip82

With your history, I would call your doctor just to be safe.

However, I also noticed my lips are much more puffy and I had little to no swelling anywhere else and no issues with my BP. This happened with DD as well. 

Jackapatamus

@peanutmuse did the swelling go down? I read this post in the middle of the night, and decided my lips looked puffy too! But then I remembered I ate popcorn before going to bed! FWIW I do not swell while pregnant (no more than I would not pregnant) and the last week or so, my fingers and face seem more puffy than usual (38+ weeks) but I was chalking it up to all the dips/cookies/etc. that I consumed this week. Keep us posted!

bethughknee

Are you still swollen today / did you call? 

I've had swelling in my fingers and can DEFINITELY feel it in my lips sometimes but it's usually been on the "warmer" days. (We hit 60-70 degrees last week, did you in NY as well?) My BP is notoriously low and it's the exact swelling I had last time I was pregnant so I haven't mentioned it to my Dr. It does come on suddenly but again, with my BP I've just never worried. You are a whole different ballgame, peanut! I'm glad you can tell LO is getting bigger but sorry you're running short of breath more now, too. Blah.

RingOfFire11

My lips are a bit swollen too. I woke up last week with very chapped lips and thought it was due to the cooler weather but I actually think it's from the puffy lips. I'm not swollen anywhere else though so I'm not overly worried about mine. With your other swelling though, it may be worth running by the doctor for thoughts.

Nviener28

It's really interesting you posted this, because this past week my lips puffed up so much- I had blisters the entire week. Especially my bottom lip, and I never get those. I don't have any history with pre-e or anything else...
I actually thought maybe it was the change in weather or something... I'm today 39 weeks. Does anybody know or have a guess to what that means?

joynalanson

Mine swell with my nose. When i smile it looks like I've had work done.

juliasmama2010

Pregnancy face is one of my telltale signs that I'm almost done. My lips are a little bigger already and I know my face has filled out quite a bit as well. I'm not at risk for pre-e so I'm not concerned, but this happened to me last time as well. My aunt whom I don't see very often commented on it on Christmas Eve.

peanutmuse

My SIL came over today and both she and my BFF also noticed that my speech was impaired by my luscious lips, lol.

But so far, my anti-hypertensives have been doing their job. I had a bit of a spike this morning (151/115 and 141/107) but now it's back down to a reasonable 136/85 after letting the meds take effect. I have spikes in the morning before my first dose sometimes, so that in itself is not unusual. And the swelling hasn't gotten worse -- it's not better, but it's not worse. I have an appt on Tuesday, so I'm just going to keep an eye on my swelling and pressures until then. If they get out of control, I will definitely call and/or make a trip to L&D.

Thanks for all of the feedback, ladies!

kteeswei

My face/lips did get swollen the day I ended up being induced for pre-e.  Up until that point I did have increasing (and massive) swelling in my feet/ankles and legs.  It was the only 'new' symptom I had the day I went to the hospital for sustained high BP (160s/100s) - that was a new sustained high for me though.  

slmille4

My face got a little swollen the day I went to L and D and it was my first BP spike this pregnancy. They told me in regards to swelling if it's new to call even if it's normal for others.

washyourhandsplease

@peanutmuse

My feet and hands started swelling first and around thanksgiving they found protein in my urine. I was told to go on bed rest at that point. As the weeks progressed since Thanksgiving, my blood pressure has slowly risen. To be honest with you, my preeclampsia has only gotten worse since the diagnosis which is why I'm being induced on Tuesday.

peanutmuse

@washyourhandsplease -- how much protein was in your urine? I'm just curious because it always seems that people who are diagnosed are induced much sooner. I'm intrigued by your situation.

washyourhandsplease

@peanutmuse. It started out at 2+, but this week was 3+. I'm not sure what it means other than it has gotten worse.

peanutmuse

washyourhandsplease said:

@peanutmuse. It started out at 2+, but this week was 3+. I'm not sure what it means other than it has gotten worse.

@washyourhandsplease -- did you ever do a 24 hour urine catch?

ETA: 2+ is > 100mL and 3+ is >300mL

washyourhandsplease

@peanutmuse. I've done the 24 hour urine catch twice and the results have had protein.

peanutmuse

washyourhandsplease said:

@peanutmuse. I've done the 24 hour urine catch twice and the results have had protein.

@washyourhandsplease, do you know the amount of protein found in your 24 hour catch? And how long ago did you have it done?

washyourhandsplease

@peanutmuse Unfortunately, I don't know how much was found in the 24 hour samples and didn't think to ask. I did one right before Thanksgiving and another one the 2nd week in December.

peanutmuse

washyourhandsplease said:

@peanutmuse Unfortunately, I don't know how much was found in the 24 hour samples and didn't think to ask. I did one right before Thanksgiving and another one the 2nd week in December.

Ha, ok. I'll stop bugging you now.