I delivered my third baby a month ago and all went well. The pregnancy and delivery were completely normal and the only complication I noticed was my feet swelled up for post partum week 1. That went away after a few days and all was well. Then yesterday I was shopping and I got really dizzy and felt like my feet were giving out on me. I managed to stabilize myself but there a few seconds where I kind of blacked out. The shop owner took me to the back and had me sit down and drink water and I felt better after a while. This morning I had some slight dizziness but it subsided once I ate. I went to my OB for my postpartum visit today and my BP was 156/115. They sent me to L&D for monitoring and it remained steady between 150/110-140/102 for an hour. They finally sent me home and told me to follow up with my PCP tomorrow. I have never had any BP problems and through the pregnancy it has been normal around 110/70's. My OB was mystified. I saw on the Internet that some women experience this after childbirth. Has anyone experienced this? How long did you have to be on meds?
I had something called HELLP syndrome. It has something to do with high blood pressure and low platelet count, but mine was because I lost so much blood during delivery. Maybe look it up to at least rule it out? (and I do think it has two 'l's, that wasn't a typo!!). Hope you feel better...
A co worker of mine and gis wife had issues when she delivered her second due to after delivery hypertension. She had a small stroke from it so please follow up and if you feel that way go to the ER asap. She was on blood pressure pills for a month or two and she stabilized. Congrats on the baby!!
I'm surprised that your OB was mystified. This is actually pretty well documented - a certain percentage of pregnant women get pre-eclampsia or eclampsia (which are mostly high blood pressure with a few other symptoms), and then others don't have blood pressure problems during preganancy, but they do right after the birth.
It is definitely serious and should be medicated as soon as possible. If not, your blood pressure can actually get higher and yes, you would be at risk for a stroke. The medicine brings your blood pressure back to normal quickly.
I had pre-eclampsia and was on blood pressure meds for about six weeks post partum.
How many weeks ago did you deliver? It is possible that you have pre-eclapsia. Which you can get for up to 6 weeks post-partum. I would be sure to ask your OB. Hope you feel better.
I suddenly got high blood pressure at 37 weeks...was put on bedrest because there was no protein in my urine, so no signs of pre-eclampsia. At 38 weeks at a regular visit, my bp was 180/110. I had an emergency c-section 2 hrs later. My blood pressure came down post delivery, but still hovered around 140/90. I was told to follow up with my ob in one week...at that point my urine showed protein and they told me I was one of 5% of women who get eclampsia post delivery. I was on a magnesium drip for 24 hrs and labetalol for 6 months after that. I am having trouble with the fact that they released you with bp that high. Go to the ER tonite if you get dizzy, see spots or get a headache. And def make the pcp put you on meds...and check that you don't need a magnesium drip. Hang in there!
Yes, this can be very serious!!! Go to the ER! I'm not kidding or over reacting! You may need to be given Magnesium sulfate, just like you would if you had preeclampsia during delivery. Please get help right now, this is not okay! Doctors are wrong very often! My dr left placenta in me after delivery and we didn't know for 3 weeks!! I kept calling her & telling her all of my symptoms & she didn't think anything was wrong! Finally after a fever after 24 hrs of antibiotics, she put me in the hospital, they found out what was wrong. I had an emergency D&C and had lost so much blood I needed 2 blood transfusions!!!! Doctors aren't perfect!
this is very serious! you can have many health issues pop up due to the hypertension!!! With my first pregnancy, I had the most smooth pregnancy and just saild through once the morning sickness was gone. As soon as I went into labor though, my BP skyrocketed. they had to give me the magnesium. well, my BP stayed high even after my c-section. I went home on labetolol. I was on it up until about 4 months ago or so. my BP was fine up until about 2 weeks ago. I noticed that my hands were swelling as well as my feet. I was at walmart and took my BP with their machine and it was semi-high at 149/84, mine is usually 120/60 when i'm not having issues. I have an appt with my PCP on monday. My doc and I had really thought I was okay to come off the meds but I am not I guess. Just go to the doc, tell them any and all sypmtoms you have been having, even if they seem silly. you may have to take meds from here on out, maybe just for a few months. so sorry you are having to deal with this!
