Anyone develop pregnancy related high blood pressure?

Question

I developed high blood pressure during my labour and have been on medication ( labetalol 200mg twice a day) since. I'm not sure the medication is working as my blood pressure is still high 10 weeks later.  Doctor is a bit useless as he actually asked me if i wanted to up the dose to 3 x a day or go on a different medication,  how am i supposed to know what's best, he is the doctor! I chose to up the dose and we will review in about 2 weeks but in the meantime i check my bp at home everyday and it's not changing. I didn't think it would take this long to go back down.
What's your experience with bp? If yours has gone back to normal range how long did it take, what medication did you use? Do you use other methods? My dad has me swallowing 1 or 2 cloves of garlic a day (yuck!)

Answer

I had high blood pressure throughout my pregnancy. Diagnosed with Severe preeclampsia and delivered at 35  weeks. I was on magnesium sulfate for 5 days as well as hydralazine IV., labetolol 800 mg twice daily and procardia xl 60 mg.  My pressure were in the 200’s/120’s. I developed flash pulmonary edema ( sudden rush of fluid to the lungs)  and was in ICU and on a bipap ( forces oxygen into lungs) for two days. After 1 week I went home with BP still in the 180’s.  I went home on both the high dose labetolol and procardia.  At 14 weeks PP I am still on the procardia and now have BP’s in a normal range. Hoping to get off the meds next month at my next appointment..  I also had preeclampsia with my first baby 13 years ago.  I’ve decided my body just doesn’t like being pregnant.  Baby is happy and healthy so it was all worth it

Answer

I too experienced high blood pressure after giving birth and was diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia. 
As a result. I had to undergo a 24 hour magnesium sulfate treatment (worst experience ever...had to pump during the treatment so that my breastmilk was available for my son AND so that I didn’t become too engorged). I took labetalol for about four weeks after this treatment. However, by the time I went to my six week check up I was completely off the medication due to my BP stabilizing and returning to “normal” levels (in fact, my blood pressure got really low for a few days and was like 90/60 so I called my doctor before my 6 week checkup and asked to stop the labetalol and was told I could).
I’ve been told that for the rest of my life I may experience high blood pressure issues and to practice a lifestyle that keeps this in mind (eat well, move well, sleep well, etc).
I wonder if perhaps you might want to get a second opinion? From what I know, there is no known cause of PP preeclampsia. It’s my understanding that treating the high BP helps to reduce risk of seizures. If your BP is still high, despite taking your meds as prescribed, then I too would be worried. I wish your current doctor was more helpful...

Answer

I was diagnosed with postpartum hypertension the 3rd day of my hospital stay after a c-section. Started labetolol (200mg/day) and had a magnesium sulfate treatment there. After 2 weeks my doctor reduced me to 100mg/ day and by 6 weeks I was medicine free. I am now 10 weeks pp and had a full physical and bloods that were normal. My doctor wants me to continue to monitor my bp for another month as my diastolic number keeps fluctuating between 76-85, but my systolic has kept consistent between 110-120. She told me to watch my diet and light exercise in order to continue to stabilize pressure. However, in the hospital and my doctor also confirmed that postpartum hypertension could last anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. My cousin’s wife was on medication for 7 months postpartum. Hang in there, try to rest as much as possible!

Answer

My BP was getting high near the end of my pregnancy. I didn’t end up taking anything for it. I went for my PP check this week though and my BP was still high so they wouldn’t give me a prescription for birth control. This doesn’t sound exactly the same as what you’re experiencing, but I’m having BP issues too!

Answer

I had gestational hypertension and mine was pretty much resolved by 6 weeks pp. it’s still higher than before I was pregnant but not considered high.

Answer

I had pre-eclampsia and I am 13 weeks post partum and still on labetalol. I was at 300mg twice a day and we lowered it to 200mg twice a day. My BP spike when we did that but finally leveled out now I’m sitting at about 135/75-85 and she wants me to stay on it a couple more weeks before we attempt to drop to 100mg twice a day. And I’ve never had BP problems before so OT sucks but I’d rather be on meds to keep it down rather then take me off early and reap the side effects of high BP

Anyone develop pregnancy related high blood pressure?

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