Your symptoms of Pre E and HELLP...

Catbella769 · February 2013

Obviously i know from my own experience what HELLP felt like (epigastric pain), but i was 22 weeks when i got it in my last pregnancy. Just wondering what anyone else felt in 3rd trimester? What symptoms should send me to Labor and Delivery? I feel great this time around but i want to be cautious. How excessive is swelling and what other symptoms like that were you able to tell just weren't right? Thanks

ericalee27 · February 2013

I had pre-e with both pregnancies. Are you monitoring your BP at home? For this pregnancy, my practice wanted me to call doc on call if my BP went over 140/90 (I was on bed rest), or if i had other related symptoms: headache that wouldn't go away, blurred vision, or upper right quadrant pain.

Catbella769 · February 2013

ericalee27:
I had pre-e with both pregnancies. Are you monitoring your BP at home? For this pregnancy, my practice wanted me to call doc on call if my BP went over 140/90 (I was on bed rest), or if i had other related symptoms: headache that wouldn't go away, blurred vision, or upper right quadrant pain.

No i'm not monitoring my blood pressure. The thought crossed my mind but probably because my blood pressure never rose the last time, the dr hasn't suggested it.

Catbella769 · February 2013

lucy460:

I had HELLP and pre-e twice.
In my first pregnancy, my biggest symptom was "I don't feel right." I went from fine at my regular OB appt to very sick with HELLP maybe 4 days later -- I didn't have headaches, URQP, or floaters; I did just feel "off" and also had swelling around the eyes.
In the 2nd pregnancy, I monitored both my BP and urine at home. In that pregnancy, high BP readings sent me to L&D the first time where I found that my platelets had dropped from baseline. From then on I was at the OB probably every 3 or 4 days until I was admitted for hospital observation and ultimately induction. I never had: URQP, headaches, floaters, blurred vision, or any other visible-to-me signs; it was all in the labwork and BP readings.

Hi Lucy-

Thats the kind of stuff I'm worried i'll miss. i have another blood test on the 15th and my glucose test as well. I'm hoping a 24 hr urine (not that i enjoy doing them but just to check the status). How early did you deliver your children? I'm terrified HELLP will come back. My DH is pretty convinced this baby will be early- that scares me. How were your kids after delivery? Any issues?

wendy2613 · February 2013

These were my feet.... I also had extreme chest pain.

Catbella769 · February 2013

Holy swelling, batman. Well i guess my slight swelling was def not an indicator for me then!

hmk301 · February 2013

Hi There - Sorry to but in but I just had my first child on October 18th and was also diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome. I saw this post and I thought I would share my story if you don't mind.

I actually went 39 weeks until I was induced. Around 37 weeks I had gained so much weight that my Dr wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure that my baby wasn't going to be huge. Well when we had the ultrasound done he was a peanut - only about 6 lbs. The alarming thing they found was that my amniotic fluid was extremely low. SO the baby was basically running out of room. My Dr suggested I go home and drink tons of water to get my fluid up. At this time my feet were super swollen (I would say they looked like the picture in this post and I had to go on the hunt for new shoes) and so was my face, but as soon as I started chugging water it all started to go down. They continued to do ultrasounds about twice a week for the next two weeks.All during this time I had also expressed that I had terrible heartburn and what I thought was LO kicking me in the ribs. I am still a little upset that my Dr kind of discounted my complaints as "normal" pregnancy symptoms.

When I went to the Dr on Oct 16th he noticed that my BP was up. I usually run pretty low at about 100/70 and it was up around 150/90. He ordered blood work. The next day I actually decided to stay home from work and when I woke up I just didn't feel right - I had some tunnel like vision. The best way to describe it is almost like there was running water in my peripheral vision. I usually get terrible migraines and have permanent floaters so I wasn't super alarmed and no one had mentioned Pre-E at all too me. I decided to take a nap and then call for my blood work in the afternoon.

When I finally called the Dr they made me go in right away - I was then sent to be induced. I had my baby the next morning. The scary thing for me was that my HELLP was actually worse after the delivery and since delivery is the "cure" we really didn't know what was going to happen. My liver enzymes were sky high and my platelets dropped to about 33 - I was probably in the hospital for 3 days before my condition started to improve. Once everything was on the mend though it took about two-three weeks for everything to normalize.

It is a really scary process and I think having support is one of the best ways to get through it. It was really hard for me to talk to people who had normal births because they really didn't understand what I was going through.

I would say the best thing you can do is be proactive - if something doesn't feel right don't ignore it. Make sure you keep pushing the issue until your Dr addresses it and you feel comfortable. You are the biggest advocate for you and your baby. I don't know if this helps at all.

If you have any questions I am sure there are things I have left out (even though my post is extremely long) please don't hesitate to reach out!

Congrats and best of luck!

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