High Blood Pressure Thread

purplepirate09 · January 2019

Hey ladies! Figured I'd start a thread for those of us who have been blessed enough with HBP.

Any dietary changes? Taking any medications? Has your doctor suggested an early delivery?

purplepirate09 · January 2019

I know that I've been TRYING my best to avoid a lot of meat, dairy, and processed foods..not really doing a great job. I am currently taking Methyldopa and that seems to be working well for me. My blood pressure has been pretty well maintained but my doctor is still suggesting a delivery at 38 or 39 weeks.

ashley14598 · January 2019

@purplepirate09 Do you have an at home BP cuff? I have been monitoring mine since I started meds this week. My readings haven’t been great unless I’m laying on my side when I take it. I’m so irritated! My midwife wants my diastolic number to stay under 90 and it’s been over it a couple times but the second I get on my left side and take it again it’s back down to a normal range. I’m hoping for no bedrest this time. I’m taking metyldopa too! My pharmacy had trouble filling it so I only have 10 days worth until the 12 when a pharmacy near where I work can fill it/run it through insurance. I haven’t done much to change my diet however my diet is much better than it was the first couple trimesters due to my nausea. At this point they haven’t suggested early delivery just that it will continue to be monitored.

novelblessings · January 2019

Mine has gradually been going up, like it did last time but this time it started about 28 weeks. So it’s been over a month now. I went in last week after a couple days of feeling awful and it was even higher then and I had purposely done nothing for two days at that point. So far they did my blood work and I did the 24 hour urine screen. According to the nurse everything currently looks normal.
I have my regular appointment tomorrow so we will see where things are then. I’ve been advised to only get my bp checked at the office so that they have a record of it in my chart. So far no extra monitoring but they are just watching things closely. Last time I was 36 weeks when it started to jump up so they let me go until 39 weeks and I was then induced. I anticipate a similar situation if things progress but nothing has been brought up yet.

Sparkylove · January 2019

I had HBP with my last pregnancy so I have been monitoring very closely and luckily it is staying normal for now! I was induced at 37+3 with my first so hoping to make it to at least 38 this time. FC we all can keep it in normal range and not have trouble with it! ❤️

Sparkylove · January 2019

Oh I’m also takin 2 baby aspirin a day per recommended by the doctor to try to help with it. Anyone else taking aspirin??

purplepirate09 · January 2019

@ashley14598 I do have a cuff at home and it seems to be pretty accurate. I had an appointment today and it was elevated. The doctor wants me to really watch my diet. @Sparkylove The doctor suggested baby aspirin today but I can't take it due to previous stomach issues.

lisee923 · January 2019

I had high bp during my last pregnancy and started labetalol around 20 weeks and ended up delivering at 30+4 due to IUGR. But I was pre-pre-clamptic as well. I become technically preeclamptic just a day or 2 before delivery but it was very mild. @Sparkylove This pregnancy they had me start 1 aspirin at 6 weeks. MFM increased it 2x/day at 21 weeks (helps with both IUGR and preeclampsia). So far my bp has been good at home but higher in the office. No meds as of yet. I give my office a log from home readings every time I go in. OB wants to deliver no later than 39 weeks due to AMA and risk of BP going up if I make it that far. They keep saying I'm at risk for my bp to go up so it's a wait and see.

purplepirate09 · January 2019

Well I checked my blood pressure at home last night and it was up really high! The doctor is increasing my medication and I have to have 3 NSTs done in the span of a week (had my first one today and baby is doing well). I have another appointment Monday to see if the med increase is helping. If not, they are looking at taking me out of work and a possible earlier delivery. Luckily there was no protein in my urine and I have minimal swelling.

3rdtime_charmed · January 2019

My MFM started me on aspirin for prevention of preeclampsia. She said it was because I’m AMA but I think she recommends it to anyone that has had preeclampsia before as well.

ashley14598 · January 2019

@purplepirate09 I’m so sorry that is frustrating! Thoughts to you that all the NSTs go well and your LO checks out okay. I also hope that upping your medication works and you can keep your “normal” routine as long as possible.

AFM: Mine was up at my appointment today. However my midwife came in and did all her checks. I measured back on track this week and by the end of the appointment my BP was back down. Not to my normal but in an “okay” spot. For now I am instructed to keep track of it at home, watch my sodium, and drank lots of water. If my numbers get too high she’ll increase my dose a bit.

purplepirate09 · January 2019

Update: Upping the meds seems to be working (still elevated) and my home cuff is not as accurate as I thought. I brought it to my appointment today and it was almost 20points higher!!! Also my NSTs have been going well, baby is doing well in there!

novelblessings · January 2019

@purplepirate09 great news!
I have my routine appointment Friday and crossing my fingers that my bp is still stable.

ashley14598 · January 2019

Just left L&D after having quite a bit of vaginal fluid today (thankfully it was nothing) but in the meantime my midwife increased my blood pressure meds to 3 times/day... ugh! I was hoping to avoid this for a few more weeks at least!

@purplepirate09 that’s great! I hope increasing mine does the same!

@novelblessings here’s to yours staying stable as well!

novelblessings · January 2019

@ashley14598 Glad to hear things are ok. I hope the meds help stabilize things for you!

cdiddy81 · January 2019

Good luck, everyone! I am AMA and my BP is borderline. It was that way a couple times before 20 weeks so it may not be pregnancy-related. Still, they are having me do twice weekly NSTs and plan to deliver between 38-39 weeks (so it looks like I'll be having a February baby!). I am not on meds. I did have a pre-E workup last week d/t (perceived) decreased fetal movement but everything was fine. I'm still working full-time and there hasn't been any mention of decreasing my hours as of yet (though at this point I wouldn't mind!)

novelblessings · January 2019

Just a quick update on my appointment yesterday. My bp is still up there but stable and not high enough to be concerned yet. I still think I had a few days of it being high in the past week because of my symptoms. So far no planned induction and hoping it stays at a decent level the next few weeks so I can go into labor naturally this time.

lisee923 · January 2019

Anyone else's bp only bad in the office? Mine is fine at home but high in the office. They were fine with my office readings as they have been consistent and steady. But last week I had 'trace' protein in my urine and my top number was a few pts higher. They had me come back Thursday and top number was back down a couple points and urine was clear. Yet, they are still making me now go in twice a week. They even said I probably didn't drink enough water being the reason I had trace protein the one day (which is still considered normal). BP is still fine at home with my arm cuff.

novelblessings · January 2019

@lisee923 with my last pregnancy I had something similar every time. I’d go in and it would be high. They would check at the end of the appointment and it would be down. Or by the time they sent me to L&D for monitoring towards the end, it would drop and be considered “ok”. Even when I went in for my induction it was considered ok but the day before it was high at my appointment. I think mine is partly stress induced while pregnant. I have stellar bp when not pregnant.

cdiddy81 · February 2019

At my appointment today my BP was the highest its ever been. She drew some labs and started labetolol. Surprisingly she said it was still ok to work but I'm cutting my hours down from 40 to 24. She plans to induce at 37 weeks now and since I'm 35 +2 that means less than two weeks!

shinyobjects · February 2019

Hi all! Coming a little late to the thread, but now that I can get the app working again, thought I’d join.

I had hypertension pre-pregnancy so I’ve been dealing with it since the beginning. I had to switch to a pregnancy approved medicine when we started TTC. It took a long time to work out the right combo of pregnancy approved meds, and I struggled in the first tri, but I’ve been on a mix of nifedipine and hydralazine that’s worked for at least the bulk of the second tri up until recently (33 weeks), but its starting to creep up again, especially the diastolic/lower number. Outside of pregnancy I’ve been told diastolic doesn’t matter as much, but when I mentioned that recently to my OB she said it does in pregnancy. I have a cuff at home and I measure twice a day every day. I did try changing my diet earlier in the pregnancy before we got the meds worked out, drastically cut back salt, and it changed absolutely nothing, so now I just try not to go too crazy. I’m also technically AMA (I turn 35 a few weeks before my due date), so I got to do the fun 24 hr urine test this past weekend and I’m very anxiously awaiting the results...I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had much swelling, but I have been getting headaches. Although that’s a common problem I have anyway, so hard to tell if it’s related. Basically just more for me to be worried about as I await the results.

::TW:::
I’ve also been told by my OB and MFM that I will deliver by 39 weeks latest, assuming everything stays normal until then, just because that’s still full term and there’s a much higher risk of something bad happening in that last week with high bp. ::EndTW::

Oh I’ve also read about “white coat syndrome” (bp raises due to stress of being at dr), and my MFM mentioned that he questions a little bit in office readings because he knows sometimes people are more stressed. Although my past few visits my doctor office readings have been lower than at home!

Bride2b1213 · February 2019

Could really use some feedback. I havent been diagnosed persay with hbp but I've been borderline the entire pregnancy (and most of my adult life). I am 34 weeks atm. I had an appt on friday which started my non stress tests. My blood pressure was higher than they wanted and bumps heart rate baseline was higher so they monitored me for almost 2 hours had me drink water etc and everything calmed I got doc approval to just take it easy for the weekend. I've been monitoring BP at home and today it was up to 134/103 pulse almost 99. I've been sitting and ate and trying to down more water but I'm honestly nervous. Anyone have any ideas to try to help keep it down? Please and thank you

ashley14598 · February 2019

@Bride2b1213 I’m sorry you are dealing with HBP it sounds like you need to call your doctor again ASAP and let them know you are struggling with it. I dealt with it in my last pregnancy and again this time. All I know to get it lower is rest and lay on your left side. In fact when I take my blood pressure on my left side it was instantly drop. Hope you are doing better soon!

Bride2b1213 · February 2019

Had an appointment today. The clinic I go to has 3 nurse practitioners I've been seeing so far and 2 doctors. Today is the 2nd time I've met the actual dr and I absolutely do not like him. He is very arrogant and makes me feel completely stupid. He made it out like 153/99 is no reason for concern on BP much less 3 days of higher readings. I monitored at home & brought in what I got and he threw it away and told me to stop that I was just psyching myself out. I did get told I wont make it to my due date (3/27) we are going to try to get her to at least 37 weeks and if we are still having complications she will come between 37 and 39 weeks. I'm not having a good day I want to cry and my SO just doesnt get it so I have to keep it to myself

meggyme · February 2019

@Bride2b1213 I'm sorry that you had such a horrible experience with the doctor. Could you request to see the NP's from here on out? I'm sure the OB has the final say, but that doesn't mean you should have to put up with his poor bedside manner for the next couple weeks. You might also mention your issues with the doctor with either the NP's or office manager. He'll never change his ways unless someone makes it known that they are unacceptable.

lelkcot · February 2019

@Bride2b1213 I’d definitely try to call and try to speak with the NPs you’ve been seeing. It sounds like his bedside manner is atrocious and I’m not a doctor by any stretch, but 153/99 falls into the preE range, so you would think it would be something to take seriously. Speaking to someone else in the practice for a second opinion may give you some peace of mind at least.

smpic2287 · February 2019

@Bride2b1213 153/99 is definitely something that they should take seriously, especially if you have had high reading for the past few days. I slipped and fell on ice on Monday and was in L&D for a for hours for monitoring. Everything was fine with baby, thank goodness, but my BP initially was reading about 145/93, and they wouldn't let me leave until it came down to about 135/83 for multiple readings (BP was being taken every 15 minutes). I am 36w today. I have a history in my first pregnant for gestational hypertension and was induced with my daughter at 39 weeks exactly due to a few days of high pressure readings. Anything over 90 for the lower number is something they should take seriously for pre-E, and should at least be taking blood & urine sample to rule it out. I would definitely call your practice and request to see the other DR or the NP, and keep monitoring your pressures at home. If they stay elevated, I would go back into DR or go into L&D.

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