High BP Question

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My BP has been going up over my past few dr appointments.  The last 2 appointments I had it was in the 120s/80s.  I had another appointment on Tuesday where it was 137/90.  My doctor did blood tests (liver function, kidney function, platelettes) and everything came back fine.  I had a trace amount of protein in my urine.  She is wanting to see me weekly now because of my BP and I am supposed to rest as much as possible, which I am doing.  My husband bought a home BP monitor last night and my BP this morning was 124/95.  

 

My question is basically should I expect it to keep going up?  Also, is there anything I should be eating differently right now?  Can you have high BP without pre-e?  If so, how high is "too high?"  Sorry for all of the questions, I am just borderline freaking out here...

  

fmoore723

I was in your shoes last month and have made it this far--so I'll try to help with your questions by telling you what Ive been through. Good luck!

My question is basically should I expect it to keep going up? It COULD continue to go up and you could be developing Pre-E, but you could also just have gestational hypertension which is the increasing BPs minus all the scary stuff (abnormal labs, HAs, seizures, etc)

Also, is there anything I should be eating differently right now? Id try not to eat anything thats too high in sodium but dont cut it out completely or anything. My OB told me I didnt really have to change the way I ate though. 

Can you have high BP without pre-e? I think I answered that above

If so, how high is "too high?" My OB told me on Tuesday that the bail out point is systolic of 160+ and/or diastolic of 105+. Obviously this probably depends on your OBs preferences. But as a reference my BPs earlier in pregnancy were anywhere between 105-115/55-70.

With all that said, Ive been put in the hospital twice to be evaluated for Pre-E...Labs have been normal, 24 hr urine normal, and only other real signs were a HA and swelling. Once I was put on bedrest my swelling went away almost completely, HAs off and on but not bad, and my BPs have gone down with BP meds (Labetolol twice a day). Im schedule for induction next Friday at 37 weeks now because the risks of the meds and anything else transpiring are riskier than delivering LO at that point.

AmberB711

I was put on Labetalol for Gestational Hypertension at 18 weeks. I was Pregnant with twins. Doctors had me do 24 hour urines every other week to rule out pre eccylmsia and each time they were Negative. The last 2 weeks of being pregnant I delivered at 37 weeks 4 days scheduled csection as I was having twins, my BP kept elevating but  again no signs of Pre ecylmsia, BUT after I delivered them in recovery room i developed it, I actually turned Yellow as my BP skyrocketed to 170/120. I was put on Magnesium drip for 24 hrs.

Good Luck with Everything!

 

Clotho!

like pp said your bp could continue to go up or it might not same for pre-e. However, different dr. have different points where they worry. Mine said to call if I got a reading of 140/90 and if it was still that high after resting for 1 hour. The bottom # is usually the one they worry about more.

as for what to eat my dr. said that I didn't have to eat anything special. PIH was related to pg and due to poor diet etc. like regular high bp is and can only be taken care of by delivering the baby. That said cutting back on sodium is certainly not going to hurt anything.

Helix07

I was high risk with DD starting at 7 weeks with DD. I am currently high risk starting at 8wks. Both due to high BP.  My OB put me on Meds (100mg Labatelol 2x per day) both times. Her cut-off is 130/80. Anything higher and she puts you on meds.  Mine was 152/95 when I was put on them this time. Currently holding steady around 125-130/ 80.  If it goes any higher she will up my dose.

 

My question is basically should I expect it to keep going up?

It depends. It could or it could stay steady.  Most likely it will stay steady for bit and then start to creep up some more.

 

 Also, is there anything I should be eating differently right now?

 Lower your salt intake. Drink tons of water (more than normal). Eat foods known to help lower your BP.

 Can you have high BP without pre-e?

Yes. I never developed pre-E with DD.  I was induced at 37wks once my BP started going up again. Plus, my placenta was starting to show deterioration along with a not so good non-stress test.

If so, how high is "too high?"  

Pre-e is determined not only by BP, but by protein in your urine and the results of some of your blood tests.  Did your OB have you do a 24hr urine collection. Mine does as soon as my BP started going up to get a baseline. Anytime she has to adjust my meds I will have to do another/ 

mcwhittaker

My blood pressure is normally 120/70. It went up to 134/75 on Monday at the OB but i tested negative for protein so the nurse ignored it despite my insisting that was high for me.

I happen to have a follow up with my primary care Friday and told her my concern, that my BP was high on Monday. My BP was up to 144/85 at the primary care's office. She also tested urine and found trace protein, so put me on Aldomet. I went home and called the OB to tell them what happened and of course now they want to see me immediately.

So i drive to their office and sure enough my pressure is 142/93, they test negative for protein tho.

I'm taking the Aldomet twice daily, monitoring pressure with a home test machine, and i'm doing a 24 hour urine.

They told me not to worry we caught it early and as long as we can keep it down to at least the 130/80 range it shouldn't be a problem.

I don't think there's a magical number necessarily, each doctor probably has their threshold, but more than likely it's based on what your normal pressure is, and how much it's gone up. 

Drink a lot of water, try to stay relaxed (impossible with my job), get some exercise, eat low salt foods, and of course, take my medication.