help please--Procardia

mcmarried

I am having preterm contractions at 33 weeks. (3-4 min apart contractions consistantly)  I started procardia last night (took one after my appointment, one this morning.) How long does it take to work?  i didn't ask last night thinking i'd feel better today but they haven't and i'm a jittery mess,  thanks in advance for any advice to help the preterm labor or sharing your expeirence with procardia

MommaA117

Mine worked pretty quickly. It lessed me contractions when I was on them but didn't completely eliminate them. I've been off for 3 day now.

aprilsarahjune

I've been on 10mg every 4 hours for 4 weeks now.  As the previous post said, it slowed down my contractions over time but didn't stop them.  I still have bad days.  As to the "jittery mess", that is a definite side effect.  I went to the hospital and told the nurse I thought it was increasing my blood pressure.  (I've never had high blood pressure so I had no idea what that would feel like.)  My blood pressure was fine, so now I define the feeling as a panic attack without the panic.  I get it once a day or so.

mcmarried

thank you.  This makes me feel a bit better...i'm going to call my doctor as well since they're increasing in intensity

devinjonesrn

Mine worked pretty quickly after the first dose, but I still have 2-3 ctx/hr.  I can tell when its getting close to my next dose (10mg Q6hrs) cause I'll have more ctx.  I also notice my heart pounding at least once a day after a dose...I'm pretty certain its cause the med dropped my BP and my heart is trying to compensate.  

LydiaE2

I was up to 30mg every 6 hours when I was pregnant with my DS.  I started at 10mg, it had no effect and I was back at triage 24 hours later, then moved to 20mg, minimal effect back in triage 72 hours later.  I was then moved up to 30mg, it did not stop my contractions, still had 5 to 6 an hour most hours, but the contractions were not as strong and did not last as long.    

I would call your OB and see if they want to see you again or send you to triage.  I was upset at having to go to triage so often (I went 2 or 3 times a week for 3 or 4 weeks, till I was term), but my doctors reminded me that the risks of not going to triage (showing up in full blown labor) were worth the couple of hours in triage to make sure everything was ok.  It took about a week for my doctors to finally get the dosage correct.

Good luck! 

Clotho!

aprilsarahjune:

I've been on 10mg every 4 hours for 4 weeks now.  As the previous post said, it slowed down my contractions over time but didn't stop them.  I still have bad days.  As to the "jittery mess", that is a definite side effect.  I went to the hospital and told the nurse I thought it was increasing my blood pressure.  (I've never had high blood pressure so I had no idea what that would feel like.)  My blood pressure was fine, so now I define the feeling as a panic attack without the panic.  I get it once a day or so.

actually just the opposite. Procardia is a med for lowering your bp. It has an off label use for stopping contractions but it is actually intended to lower your bp hence why you felt like a jittery mess. I took it right after delivering ds#1 b/c my bp was so high and I took it again as a bp med during pg w/ #2 also to help stop some contractions. It didn't work for me and I ended up having my son that day.

Family hopes

Clotho!:

aprilsarahjune:

I've been on 10mg every 4 hours for 4 weeks now.  As the previous post said, it slowed down my contractions over time but didn't stop them.  I still have bad days.  As to the "jittery mess", that is a definite side effect.  I went to the hospital and told the nurse I thought it was increasing my blood pressure.  (I've never had high blood pressure so I had no idea what that would feel like.)  My blood pressure was fine, so now I define the feeling as a panic attack without the panic.  I get it once a day or so.

actually just the opposite. Procardia is a med for lowering your bp. It has an off label use for stopping contractions but it is actually intended to lower your bp hence why you felt like a jittery mess. I took it right after delivering ds#1 b/c my bp was so high and I took it again as a bp med during pg w/ #2 also to help stop some contractions. It didn't work for me and I ended up having my son that day.

This is true.  Procardia is a blood pressure medication also used to control heart rate in some heart patients.  I was taken off because it dropped my blood pressure too low and that was after taking it for over a week.  Since I have twins, we had to increase the frequency because the increased blood volume with two it was filtering out of my system too fast.  I agree with calling your OB.

Family hopes

Clotho!:

aprilsarahjune:

I've been on 10mg every 4 hours for 4 weeks now.  As the previous post said, it slowed down my contractions over time but didn't stop them.  I still have bad days.  As to the "jittery mess", that is a definite side effect.  I went to the hospital and told the nurse I thought it was increasing my blood pressure.  (I've never had high blood pressure so I had no idea what that would feel like.)  My blood pressure was fine, so now I define the feeling as a panic attack without the panic.  I get it once a day or so.

actually just the opposite. Procardia is a med for lowering your bp. It has an off label use for stopping contractions but it is actually intended to lower your bp hence why you felt like a jittery mess. I took it right after delivering ds#1 b/c my bp was so high and I took it again as a bp med during pg w/ #2 also to help stop some contractions. It didn't work for me and I ended up having my son that day.

This is true.  Procardia is a blood pressure medication also used to control heart rate in some heart patients.  I was taken off because it dropped my blood pressure too low and that was after taking it for over a week.  Since I have twins, we had to increase the frequency because the increased blood volume with two it was filtering out of my system too fast.  I agree with calling your OB.

praying*4one

I have had my dose changed three times with 2 hosp stays overnight.

Im taking 20mg every 4 hrs. Contrax are none to a few.

Good luck...be proactive and def. call.

The meds speed up my heartrate so I feel jittery too.

mcmarried

called and they told me to wait 24 hours, still contracting pretty regularly and feel like I'm on speed...so if it continues through tonight I'm calling again in the morning...The FFN came back - on Thursday so I'm hoping this means they're just crazy frequent braxton hicks...but it's really distracting especially hen driving or at my work (i have a stationary office job--I'm in the bathroom every hr or so trying to relax myself)