I am a 35 year old female whose blood pressure has hardly varied from 110-120 over 60-70, including during my 5th pregnancy. At a 5-week postpartum check, my blood pressure was 150 over 100 and has stayed in that range the 16 months since then (though brought down somewhat by medication after about 6 months).
CT scans have showed renal arteries to look normal, adrenal glands to look normal. Renin is low. Any ideas?
Wow kinda sounds like what happened to me with my second child. I was two days post partum in the hospital and at midnight the nurse came in and took my BP and it was 210/110. Needless to say i didnt have any protein in my urine. I spent a few extra days there before they sent me home with it around 150/85. I was on toporol for approx 16 months after that and now have been off for two months at the advice of my gyno. I notice though it is starting to creep back up. Do you suffer from anxiety? Just curious..... I had the same problem and it is hard to find any information especially if all through your pregnancy everything was normal like me. Let me know how you are doind and if you would like to chat email me at sneakyladypassion@hotmail.com. Maybe we can compare notes.
Wow! I've been looking for this information as well. I'm only 2 weeks PP right now and i've been hospitalized due to high BP. They can't figure out why either. I do have high anxiety issues, so that could be the reason. I also had a terrible mastitis infection that I am just recovering from. I'd like to know the definite reason behind the BP.
I am 34 and just gave birth to my 4th child 11/11/08. My blood pressure has always been 120/65 (in that range) even during this last pregnancy. About 6 days after giving birth, I woke up in the middle of the night with an excruciating headache that I thought was a migraine. It eventually would only hurt (THROB) when I was sitting or layong down....standing it was either completely gone or minimal pain. After talking with my OB about this, I checked my blood pressure with a home BP monitor and it was 197/111. I ended up being sent to the hospital and had all sorts of blood work done and urine samples tested. They were not able to find anything. At this point, I am SO frustrated. They said it wasn't the postpartum eclampsia because there was no protein in my urine. I have to follow up with my OB in a couple of days. They gave me blood pressure med and a pain med. My hormones are so out of whack right now and I just feel overwhelmed because I've never had any health problems like this. I do have anxiety issues, and my parents left to go back to Ohio (we are in Texas) the day before all of this started. I was very upset to say the least and have had alot of anxiety over taking care of all 4 children. I just feel so alone, but my husband has been WONDERFUL in all of this.
Sorry to ramble on, just glad to hear that there are other women out there that are going through the same thing.
in 2007 i had my 5th child never had any issues with bp however 5 days postpatum had a bad headache feet and ankles swelled up like elephants face was all puffy. called ob gyn said for me to come n to b checked bp was 200/110 i thought my head was gonna explode i actually told my husband i wasdying. of course they gave me mag sulfat which didnt really do anything i ended up n icu diagnosed with cerebral angiitis i have had 2 children since then one in 2008 n which i spent 1 week n hosp postpartum for high bp and i just gave birt4 days ago and im having the same problems i think im goin to get my tubes tied
hi I just want to say THANK U THANK U THANK U!!! i am 35 and i had my 4th child 6 months ago.. 2 months after having him my bp was 168 over 108 iv never had high bp it was always 120 over 80 and after i had him i had bad palpatations i went had an ekg even had a monitor on over night all was normal then 2 weeks later my blood pressure went high and is still high about 150 over 103 ... i also have bad anxiety and i had post pardom depression im still a mess lol im just glad im seeing other woman having this same issue makes me think ok maybe i wont stoke out!!! thanks for letting me vent .. Steph .. if u want to compair notes i can be reached at bsmad777@optonline.net
omg that is exactly what happend to me i had my first 2 babys at 20 and i was fine then 9 years later i hab my 3rd and about 5 days later headach so bad i didnt know what to do and the docs thought i was nuts cause i told them it hurt worse if i sat or laid down so i couldnt sleep and being pp with a new baby and in that much pain omg and i had my 4th child in 08/09 and a couple days later the same thing started but it seemed worse than before the docs told me to go to the hospital i was having a strok my bp was so high after a few weeks it went away i still have headachs now but never as bad as pp now im preg with my 5th and thats the thing that is worring me is the headachs after and this preg is starting out with headachs and no one can tell me why
My daughter is 3 weeks post partum with her first baby. She is 20 years old and had a normal pregnany and delivery. The day she was admitted to the hospital her BP was elevated but that was the only time. I had to take her to the ER 3 days ago because of a headache. Her blood pressure was 150/100. They gave her Toradol and reglan in the ER for her pain and nausea. Her Blood pressure came back down to normal. The next day it went back up with no headache. She is exhausted and every little thing is frustrating her. She has ADHD also. They started her on a blood pressure medication and a medication for postpartum depression. All her lab work was normal except for a kidney infection. I can't figure out whats wrong or why. The doctors are puzzled also.
Wow, I really felt alone until I began to read all of these things. I am almost 4 wks. PP and have had the same issue. Two days after delivery, I was readmitted because of my blood pressure. I was told I had post partum pre-eclampsia, but my numbers haven't gone down unless I am on medication. I have heard that it can take months on meds.; I have heard I'll take them forever. Perhaps all I can do is wait and see. I don't know why there isn't more information on this problem. It can be very frustrating and I feel a bit helpless not knowing how it can be fixed. I am 28 and never had issues like this...I just keep praying it will "fix" itself!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. After normal bp readings all through my third pregnancy, I'm suddenly and consistently in the 150-60/110 range. I had a visual distrubance (text jumbling while reading) about 1 week pp. I wrote it off to migraine. I'm now home monitoring while waiting for bloodwork, and will go back to the doctor in 3-4 weeks. It is really scary. I'm an active, marathon-running 33 year old. I ran though most of my pregnancy, and started running again at 2 weeks pp. I also had pleurisy at 3 weeks pp and have been suffering from a chest cold since. I just got antibiotics for it. I don't know if any of it is connected. I'm sort of wondering after reading this why no one checked my urine for protein and if I should ask for it.
I am a 26 year old mother of 3 boys. I had my last baby aug 2nd 2008. Right after delivering him my blood pressure sky rocketed to 180/110, they gave me some medicine and it went back to normal and stayed normal the whole time I was in the hospital, but as soon as I came home it went back up to 153/113. It stayed like that for a week or two and finally went back to normal. I remember from my other pregnancies it did the same thing but I never paid that much attention to it because I was so young. I have anxiety, panic disorder and ocd. I have been looking for information on this too because my doctors cant figure out why I do this and my main concern is that I want more kids in the future and I scared this is only going to get worse with more pregnancies.
I am 29 and I went for my 5week PP and I too had high BP (170/100). My doc advised me to goto the ER cuz it was a Friday late afternoon. I took a QZ test that afternnon which they advised me to take cuz I was breastfeeding. That test ended up abnormal so they had me take the CT test in the ER which came back fine.(both test I was advised to pump and dump for 48 hours) My ER doc re read some other test that I took in my doc's office and he said that that seemed fine to. The doc in the ER room said it is most likely due to my recent birth of my son. Now I have to wait to talk with my doctor to see whats next. But I see most of you ended up getting on BP medication so im sure i will to.
I am so glad I found this thread. I have been struggling with my BP as well. I had my first child on 5/19/09 (three weeks early). I did not know I was in labor and luckly had an OB appointment and she told me to get to the hospital as I was about 6 cm dialated. After my emergency C-section - the baby was breech, my BP skyrocketed to 220/130. I was on Mag Sulfate and got my pressures down to 160/100 after three days. Boy does that mag mess with you! I left the Dr. on meds. Slowly over the next week and a half my pressures continued to decrease to normal levels (100 over 60). Then I woke up one morning feeling horrible, bad headache and ended up passing out. Since then my pressures have been up and down, my medication has went up and up and then about three weeks ago my BP slammed to the floor (80/50) and they took me off my meds. I was to the DR a week prior for 155/105! I have been in the ER three times, to the Dr. 18 times and now I am going to a cardiologist tomorrow. I just took my BP and I am at 168/99. I am on the most meds I have been on 200 MG Metropol 2x a day (I am nursing). I am 18 weeks postpartum and seeing stars! I hope it gets better soon as I travel ALOT for work and it is causing me difficulities in preforming my job. I wish you all a speedy recovery as well.
Hi,
My wife had high BP after the 1st week of delivery. She always had normal BP 75/125. After delivery it started from 90/140 to 95/160 to 100/180 to 110/195 to 115/222. This all happened over a period of 2 weeks after delivery. we had a dr appointment on the day she had 115/222 and she asked us to go to ER. They took all the test and gave some medicine and it bring the BP to 73/120. They said there is no problem related to her BP atleast they know off. All is normal. Now after coming home her BP has slightly increased 95/130. The Dr said to watch and monitor and she said it is due to anxiety. She asked my wife to go for counciling. So it looks like we dont have to worry much as long as there is no other symptom other than just the increase in numbers. I will update this posting what we find for my wife.
Hello and thanks to all of you who've written about high BP connected to baby delivery. My daughter-in-laws has had normal BP always, until the week her first baby was due. Her reg. doc. appt. showed she had very high BP so they induced the baby and put her on Magnesium and some other BP and anti-nausea drugs. She had Preeclampsia. Sent her home two days post partum and the next day her BP was dangerously high so she was told to go to the ER and then admitted back to the hosp. two days ago. Is still there -- huge, awful headaches and, understandably, worried. Her husband is with her at the hosp and insisted she be allowed to have the baby in with her, but he takes care of her while his wife tries (usually in vain) to sleep. She intermittently nurses and pumps. We all know so little about this so it's good to read your responses. Does anyone know of any professional medical comments and advice regarding this happening. Scary!
Ok At least I am not the only one, though it sounds like things have been much worse for the rest of you. I had normal blood pressure all the way through pregnancy until I went a week over due date and it went up to 138/85 and after the c-section it went down, but came back up. I have ADHD as well and I really think it went up due to the stress of c-section plus breastfeeding and trying to cope with newborn and no sleep. My doc wants me to take this diuretic, but I really would rather get it down without meds especially since any time I've had anything even slightly diuretic I have felt awful and dehydrated no matter how much I drink, plus I am worried about it's effect on the baby and my milk supply.
I'm just hoping I can get the blood pressure down without meds. Anyone have nay tricks??
Hi,
My wife had high BP after the 1st week of delivery. She always had normal BP 75/125. After delivery it started from 90/140 to 95/160 to 100/180 to 110/195 to 115/222. This all happened over a period of 2 weeks after delivery. we had a dr appointment on the day she had 115/222 and she asked us to go to ER. They took all the test and gave some medicine and it bring the BP to 73/120. They said there is no problem related to her BP atleast they know off. All is normal. Now after coming home her BP has slightly increased 95/130. The Dr said to watch and monitor and she said it is due to anxiety. She asked my wife to go for counciling. So it looks like we dont have to worry much as long as there is no other symptom other than just the increase in numbers. I will update this posting what we find for my wife.
Would like to know how your wife is doing with the BP...:)
Hi there. I was just wondering if you had any updates on your wife? I just had my first son last week and have been dealing with high blood pressure since the delivery. I am currently taking two meds a day and it is still high. I too have anxiety issues and am considering counseling for this. All my blood tests have come back normal and I don't have any symptoms (headaches, seeing spots etc etc). My doctors keep saying it happens after pregnancy, although they don't know why, and should clear itself in 6-8 weeks but it is so frustrating knowing you are walking around with that high of blood pressure.
I also have postpartum hbp and am so tired of it...the meds make me so low yet i get super high without them. Please help with any info on how you all are doing now...Thank you. Also feel free to email me at ckiii2000@yahoo.com if you want to compare notes or just discuss postpartum hbp. Thank you.
Veronica
3 weeks pp
Boy! I thought that I was the only one! Four months after my son was born, I was working and felt dizzy. I decided to check my blood pressure and it was 180/104. I am still not sure what is going on. My doctor put me on methodopa for blood pressure since I am breast feeding and it will lower my bp to 130/90's then slowly creep to 150/95's. I am very worried and do not know what is going on. I am 38 years old and this is my third child.
I am experiencing the same problem. When I was 5 weeks pp there was a noticeable rise in my BP after having normal pressure during my entire pregnancy. Three weeks before my due date I had to have an emergency c-section and hysterectomy 15 minutes later (I still have both ovaries). I am 38 years old and this is my second child and I did not experience this with my daughter (10 years ago). I am currently on very low doses of medications (diuretic and cloindine) and I still experience spikes on occasions. I have limited my sodium intake to almost none, exercise more and I don't drink or smoke. I am starting to think that it is anxiety and I just don't know how to deal with it. Has your condition improved since January and have they been able to tell you whats going on? I am so frustrated and I just want to be normal again.
I had the same issue back when I had my second child. Had these horrible headaches for no reason and a glass of wine would be the only thing that relieved it. I went to my 4 week pp checkup and my bp was high, they checked it a few more times to make sure the reading was right. And it was 210/110... they didnt allow me to walk... nothing and brought me down to the cardiac unit in the ER and told me that there was a huge risk that I could have a stroke at any moment to remain calm and not do anything. They started shoving meds down my throat. Nothing worked.
They ended up calling a doctor in and she gave me 7 different medications including nitro and within a few hours it was down to normal.
The doctor explained it to me is that sometimes when two people have a kid together, their blood doesn't match up well and when you have the baby the body reacts as if it was a drug and goes through withdrawals which causes the body to react in this way.
Mine eventually corrected itself after about two-three months which on the medication and my bp dropped to 60/20. But once the meds were out of my system it was normal.
Hope this helps!
HI I was curious to your responce about your doctor thinking it had to do with two people having a kid together and their blood not matching up. I just had my fifth child in July and I'm 32 years through the span of the 12 years of having babies , my health, weight and BP has all remind normal with the exception of after I have a baby and for up to 6mo to a year post pardom it gets insainly high exp. 200/100 I'm having a bit more trouble this time regulating it and its very frusterating that no dr still has any advice or reason for this. Have you reserched or heard more about the blood types not matching up being the cause. I've never heard anything like that before and I was curious if you ever found out more information. Feel free to email me at becki.robinette@gmail.com
HI I was curious to your responce about your doctor thinking it had to do with two people having a kid together and their blood not matching up. I just had my fifth child in July and I'm 32 years through the span of the 12 years of having babies , my health, weight and BP has all remind normal with the exception of after I have a baby and for up to 6mo to a year post pardom it gets insainly high exp. 200/100 I'm having a bit more trouble this time regulating it and its very frusterating that no dr still has any advice or reason for this. Have you reserched or heard more about the blood types not matching up being the cause. I've never heard anything like that before and I was curious if you ever found out more information. Feel free to email me at becki.robinette@gmail.com
Hi I am so glad I have read about blood pressure probs pp. I normally have low blood pressure which is natural for me and 4 days after delivery, my heart rate dropped to 42 and therefore docs said it was bradycardia, however, my heart rate has returned to normal now but two days after my heart rate dropped, I deleloped high blood pressure. I have still got it, im normally 100/60 and now im 150/96!! they have finally put me on meds but it doesnt bring it down much, I have only just started the meds tho so im wondering if they need to get into my system first. Im am really worried about my bp and i suffer anxiety too. However, I have always suffered anxiety and blood pressure has always been low. I really dont know what to do and hpoing it will return to normal as I get head aches, palpitations but I have had 48 hour ECG and echocardigram all normal results and they said I have not got preclamsia as results are all normal, in fact all my bloods and everything else is normal.
OMG I can't beleive this. I'm in Australia and the doctors can't explain it either. 5 days PP my feet became swollen, red face and neck and I felt like I had been hit in the head with a bat!!! I told my husband to call an ambulance and that I loved him cause I thought I was going to die!! BP was 199/98 at hospital and continued to climb. 6 days later after 24hr magnesium drip, countless wee and blood tests, ultrasound on kidneys, liver and lungs, anticlot injections, ecg on my heart, numerous visits to my GP 6months of ramipril meds, (I was taken off of twice and my BP went up headaches, red face and neck returned) I'm back on ramipril with no answers!!?? If anyone finds the answer please contact me on timnell1@bigpond.com
I am so happy that I am not alone... this has been a very hard time for me on 10/21 i gave birth to my first child and 8 day pp i got the worse head ache of my life i to felt like someone the women here like i was going to die. I went to the er and was admitted and put on the 24hr mag. drip in the ICU. It did helpe to bring my pressure back down before within 24 hr it was back up again. I stayed in the hospital for all most week and was released on meds which at first didn't help much i was in and out of the ER for elevated pressure for the last month i was reamditted once since. This is frustrating i am still on meds and want more then anything for my bp to go back to normal.... nice to know i am not alone
I am having the same problem. My son is 6 months old and I am back on procardia. My blood pressure tonight was 164/105. I am so worried that I will have a stroke. Did you get any answers? Feel free to email me lcedgert@yahoo.com
i just find it funny how these doctors get paid so much money and they cant figure out something so simple. im going through the same and im sick of hearing the same ol song. my blood preasure is so high and i am so worried. nothing works. im scAred one day my brain will just explode. good luck everyone. i know what u are goi ng through.
Could this be related to the c-section? How many of you had a section? I am dealing with the same problem.
I had a c-section. My blood pressure with TWINS during pregnancy was always around 110/65. It has been 5 weeks since their birth - on Monday my bp was 145/96. Today it rocketed to 170/110 and I went to see my dr. He put me on a diuretic that is safe for breastfeeding - but I am soooooooo scared and frustrated.
I recently had a c-section to with TWINS too.... my bp was normal the whole pregnancy and always prior with 2 other pregnancies. Two days after being home I had to go to the ER with 170/127. They gave me Procardia to take 3 times a day when needed... stating it is merely hormones. However, now I'm 7 week pp and I'm still having really high bp 151/103 just now. Like you I'm so scared and frustrated.
I had a baby via C-section Oct. 2010 and am experiencing this issue... It seems like a predisposition to anxiety and PPD are common issues throughout this thread and I have also experienced both of those...
Oh, I'm so happy to have found this thread. I'm 35 yrs old and I just gave birth last September (first baby). I had to have a C-section. My BP has always been pretty good and it remained good all throughout my pregnancy. It's usually around 115/75. Last month, my BP was kinda high: 142/92, but my ob-gyne didn't give me meds yet. She wanted to check it again last Friday and it was 148/92 then. She then asked me to closely monitor my BP for 2 weeks and I'll be seeing her again then. I've been obsessing about this and I'm pretty scared. I am so glad I'm not the only one, but of course, I'm not glad that all of us are going through this. I'm not very good with taking meds and I'm always afraid they're gonna make me feel a little loopy. I'm probably gonna end up having to take meds though. :( Anyway, shoot me an email if anyone wants to just talk about it some more with me. Email: thegerbigfamiy@gmail.com I'm praying for all of us.
I know how you feel and I am so happy that I found this thread. I have been suffering with hypertension for about 2 years. It happened suddenly. I went to the doctor 5 weeks postpartum for the horrible carpel tunnel I developed during pregnancy. My blood pressure was normal. 104/62. Approximately 1 week later during my 6 week pp checkup, my blood pressure was 155/98. Each time the doctor checked it, it kept getting higher and higher. Dumbfounded, the doctor ordered a urine speciman and some routine blood tests. All came back negative for any problems.
Now, 2 years later, despite diet and exercise and many different anti-hypertensive meds, I still have high blood pressure. It's so darn frustrating. It furiates me these doctors go to school all those years and come out knowing little to nothing about disfunctions of the human body. Women go through many hormonal changes postpartum. The endocrine system, postpartum, is usually the culprit when things suddenly go wrong. One of my doctors told me that it happens to some women and they don't know why. She also told me that her female relatives suffered similar ordeals and I was probably just going to have to live with it! Not a great way to comfort a patient, but at least she acknowledged the problem.
Your blood pressure isn't that high. I wouldn't worry about it. You are in the low or even prehypertension levels.You won't die. I had that blood pressure during the last part of my pregnancy. However when I gave birth it went from 170/100 and kept rising so they gave me loxen 20mg. I went home and was ok then my pressure went up to 220/124 and we went to the ER. I ended up with resistant or malignant hypertension that even IV antihypertensive medications didn't help. I am with the other women here when I say I thought I was going to die. I'm on two antihypertensive drugs and one diuretic. I'm also on medication for anxiety. The best thing you can do is to try to relax. If you don't,you'll end up in the hospital. Don't get scared until it is really,really high. You'll be ok. Limit or give up your salt and that will help with possible fluid retention. Giving up salt and reducing it helps a lot.
Hi... Going through the same thing. Just had twins 3 weeks ago and my pressure doesn't seem to go down. I was hospitalize last weekend due to it, released with some BP medication but I don't think is working since I check it at home and just keep getting higher. :( To make it worst my anxiety is just getting worst, and I feel like crying all the time (which don't help my BP). Thinking of asking for some medication for it in my next BP check.
I really hope things get better, with two babies at home I can't afford not being able to take care of them.
maybe someone can give me answers. i went full term 40 wks and at my ob app was told to go directly to the hosp because my bp was high. after giving birth my bp went up to 200/something. i remained in the hosp. the normal 2 days but was release on 2 bp medications and was told to return to the ob for pp visit 3 wks later at which time my bp went down to 120/70 and my ob then took me off the meds. so my question is: because i am now off the medication is it possible for me to have more pp preeclampsia symptoms ie will the pressure go back up will the headache come back. or am i back to normal someone help. keep in mind before delivery i weighed 261 and because of the weighed i held on a strick fruits and veggie diet and now im 215.
Dont worry i had exactly the same problem and after being off the hbp and anxiety meds, i kept on asking myself if it was going to come back but my baby is now 8 months and i am still okay. I went off my meds when my son was 2months+. Just watch what you eat, excercise and reduce your salt intake.
All the best...get intouch and let me know how it goes: nayoto2000@yahoo.com
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hi, my name is Stephanie... last night i went looking for answers about why my blood pressure that was always 120/80 was now high after my 4th baby, I had no problems in my pregnancy and even my bp was always great.. After i gave birth to my son I had bad heart palpatations I went to heart doc , I had EKG and had a holter monitor over night, all was fine... "hormons" so then post pardom depression hit me, I didnt want to kill my baby I didnt want to hurt my kids all i could do was cry and then started having bad panic attacks and anxiety. So I went to my obgyn who wants to put me on zoloft and xanex, I dont like taking drugs so i asked if there was any other way? they tell me nope! so I fill the xanex but not the zoloft , then i go home and read up on it and what i can take to help... Finally I read up on saint Johns wart, it worked wonders it took about three weeks but is said to have the same effect as prozac without the side effects because it is natural:) anyway reason i am telling all of this is because I am wondering maybe anxiety is making our blood pressure high it seems almost all of you say you suffer from it!!! I went to the doctor today when i first seen the nurse she took my bp it was 143/97 but 5 min later the doc came in and i was calmer he took my bp it was then 130/90 he did however start me on a mild low dose bp pill.. i will start it tonight 11/17/2010 he said a lot has to do with stress, I have to say if you are like me maybe we do not excersize enough, maybe we do not eat really trully the right way, maybe we need an outlet for stress as well.. anyway Iam starting a new journey tonight join me and maybe we can make some progress together, This scares me to but im going to give it a shot:) i anyonewould like to talk about this feel free to email me at jsss777@optonline.net or bsmad777@optonline.net till then good luck and God bless:) Stephanie the nutcase!!