post partum preclampsia???

[jrangel29]

Hello, I am two weeks postpartum. I had an emergency csection because of cord problems. I delivered at 38 weeks. Ever since my delivery I have been extremely dizzy. My last month of pregnacy my BP was in the 130-140's over 80-90's, During delivery it was 180/90, post delivery the first few days was 160-180/ 80-90. None of these numbers ever concerned my doctor. Last week my dizziness became so severe that I went to DR. office twice, both times he told me that it was not pregnancy related and to see a neurologist. Later that afternoon I went to ER because of dizziness. At ER it was found that my BP was 210/120! Hospital immediately admitted me to ICU where I was placed on mag drip for almost 24 hours. I spent 2 night is ICU and one night in telemetry, where my BP lowered slightly to 175/94- I was sent home on BP meds-now I am regulated with BP at 112/70 (normal for me) Yet, still horribly dizzy. In the hospital I had every imaginable blood test, MRI, MRA, Cat Scan, ETC.- Nobody found any reason for my high BP or dizziness. The diagnosis the hospital made was "Post Partum Preclampsia" although, my OBGYN does not believe it is because I do not have protein in my urine. I did have very swollen feet for the last 2 mos of pregenancy and for one week post partum. My questions are as follows:
1. Was my BP high enough that my DR. should have recognized a problem?
2. Does preclampsia ever have dizziness associated with it?
3. Does there have to be protein in the urine?
4. If it may be post partum preclampsia- how long does it last for, and how can I make it go away (since I already delivered baby)

Thank you for your help

[expert on call]

I will attempt to answer your questions in order, as best as I can:

1. Without access to all of your records I cannot really comment on what your doctor should or should not have recognized.

2. Preeclampsia may certainly have dizziness as a presenting symptom, but so can many other things including inner ear problems, anemia, low blood sugar, dehydration, and both high and low blood pressure.

3. By definition preeclampsia should have proteinuria. You may have had gestational hypertension rather than preeclampsia, and it can be just as dangerous.

4. If you had post-partum preeclampsia, it may take as long as 6-8 weeks to resolve. If you had severe hypertension without preeclampsia, it may also take that long to resolve, or it could represent an unmasking by pregnancy of chronic hypertension that may require further evaluation and management.

Good luck!

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