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My story is a little older than most probably - my son was born in

Posted On Sunday, September 08, 2002  by Sheila
My story is a little older than most probably - my son
was born in 1985! However I have recently been dx'd
with a deep vein thrombosis and I am discovering there
is a correlation between this and having had
pre-eclampsia that I have just begun to rsarch, so it
has reactivated my interest in this disease.

I had toxemia throughout the latter half of my first
pregnancy. I was allowed to go into labor and did not
progress. I was given oxytocin drip IV and continued in
labor for 20 hours total. At 23 hours my pre-eclampsia
caused my blood pressure to go sky high and I went into
convulsions. At that time the baby also went into
distress but I was not stable enough to operate.

I received massive amounts of MGSO4 to stabilize me.
The baby was then delivered Csection and had to be
resuscitated. He was fine after that and is now a
grown, healthy 17-year-old.

In my second pregnancy I was not allowed to go into
labor and had an early scheduled c-section.

As a side note... after my second birth I developed
eyesight problems with blurriness, extreme muscle
fatigue, overwhelming fatigue in general, and problems
with my throat closing up with I tried to sing or
talked too much. These symptoms were all attributed to
postpartum depression, stress, overwork, you name it.
Not until 14 years later when I developed double vision
was I diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease called
myasthenia gravis, which can be CAUSED BY large amounts
of magnesium. So ladies, be aware that if you are
experiencing the symptoms I describe, do NOT let your
doctors blow it off as fatigue. Demand investigation.

Looking back on it now, all these years later, I am
still wondering why knowing I had pre-eclampsia I was
allowed to go into labor and given oxytocin...

I am grateful that my life and the life of my child was
spared but I will live with the effects of treatment of
the pre-eclampsia for the rest of my life. I would be
very interested in talking with any woman who has
developed myasthenia gravis
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