Those that had HELLP syndrome...

Ourfamilyof5

Did you suspect that it may have developed before it was actually discovered or was it a complete surprise?

I've been sick since Saturday with what I assume is just a viral illness. However, it's REALLY taking it out of me. I feel weak all the time and I struggle to stand up for more than 5 minutes. I've been experiencing headaches, nausea (but not vomiting) and seriously bad heartburn which is not something I've dealt with at all up until now.

I know I'm far enough along for things to just be harder in general, but it's strange to me because I went from feeling fine on Friday (out running errands, early voting, lunch with DH and DS, more errands) to slowly feeling bad Friday night and then being worse Saturday morning until now. HELLP wasn't on my mind whatsoever, in fact to be honest, I didn't even know what it stood for. Last night, I was up at 2 a.m. with heartburn so severe I couldn't sleep. I pulled out What to Expect When You're Expecting (which I haven't cracked open since my first pregnancy) to read about heartburn when I saw HELLP in the index. I randomly flipped to it and saw that the symptoms can be viral like symptoms, general malaise, nausea, vomiting, headaches, etc. I then looked up another source and saw heartburn can also be an indicator.

Anyway, I'm going to call my OB's office in a bit, but I hate to be that person that self-diagnoses something as big as HELLP and then I'm completely wrong. I read it happens in so few pregnancies and I haven't had anything to indicate issues otherwise (no high BP or excess swelling, but I did read that HELLP doesn't always accompany pre-e). I have an appointment late tomorrow afternoon anyway and DH is out of town today so I'm just trying to decide if I want to get into all of this! 

adoubleu12

I knew I had pre-e, but I didn't know that it was developing into HELLP until my 6 week PP.  

I will say this though, step away from Dr. Google!  Take a zantac and drink water.  Wait until your next visit and they can do some tests if  they are concerned.  

LALASEPT05

Just to be safe call right away. I developed it relatively quickly - between a Monday appointment and a Thursday appointment. Monday I went in for BP check and NST which was fine and on Thursday the same. By Thursday my BP was up and once they did the bloodwork they rushed me to L&D to deliver ASAP.

I did start feeling under the weather probably the Saturday before I delivered with an upset stomach as your described and neck and shoulder aches and pains and a general feeling of being uwell. Like you I was thinking that I was 36 weeks pregnant so of course I would feel badly. But please call your doctor and go in for a check up. It's not worth the reprecussions of HELLP it's a very serious illness.

Eriksgal

I had pre -e and then developed HELLP but my ob didn't even know until my labs came back the morning of my c section.  I would definitely get it checked out-it's just a blood test.  It's nothing to mess around with!

Ourfamilyof5

Thanks ladies! I went ahead and put in a call to my OB's office and I'm just waiting on a call back. That being said...Murphy's Law I guess, because I'm feeling a lot better today than I have the previous 4 days. I'm not as worried now. I'll see what they say when they call me back, but I'm thinking they'll just let me come in tomorrow as planned. I definitely won't mess around with it if I start to feel worse though!

TaterTwins

My biggest symptom was just this weird, intense pain under my right boob- my blood pressure was sky high, but back then I didn't have a monitor to take it at home so I had no idea.  I had the chest pain for a couple days before an appointment where we learned my BP was super high and was immediately admitted. 

HokieLaw

HELLP came on very quickly for me.  I was actually in the hospital for pre-e monitoring when my blood work came back bad (They were taking my blood every 2 hours - the 4 am check was fine, 6 am was not).  Luckily I was there and they were ready and I was induced immediately.  

Nausea, vomiting, headaches can all be attributed to pre-e and other things, like a virus, so although I would be on top of it and ask for extra monitoring, I wouldn't assume the worst. 

Frankelberry

I had a migraine type headache on a Tuesday. I saw my OB on Wednesday and found out my blood pressure was slightly elevated (still normal but higher than what I had been averaging). I mentioned the migraine and she took some blood to set a baseline. I got a call from my OB the next afternoon telling me to go to L&D as I had HELLP and I would be having a c-section that night or the next morning. My OB was surprised as she did the bloodwork just to establish a baseline...not because I was showing other symptoms. Actually the day they told me to go to the hospital I felt better than I had all week. I was 35w6d when they admitted me. They did more bloodwork and decided to wait until the next morning when I would be 36w exactly. They did more bloodwork in the morning and my platelets had dropped even further to 104 and the minimum for a spinal was 100 otherwise they would have to put me out. My babies were born at 36 weeks with no NICU time and are perfect. I didn't realize how serious it could have been until after they were born and I read more about HELLP. Good luck!