What symptoms did you have?

[annamarie89]

What symptoms did you notice that you had with HELLP?

I noticed I had high blood pressure.. upper abdominal pain and upper back pain..and nausea...

[lilysmommymindy]

Excessive swelling and visual disturbances a few weeks before....then I woke up with intense rib pain that wouldn't go away, went to the ER and my bp was 210/120's. Then I started puking ....once they put me on mag I was extremely tired but the rib 'liver' pain persisted until they delivered me....worst pain ever!

[bordergurl72]

I started having pain in my mid-back at 36 weeks....I was told it was muscular and sent to PT like 3 times a week and told to take Tylenol. Well, I was counting the minutes until I could take Tylenol again, it was excruciating pain and left me out of breath. I had no appetite and could not sit still because of the pain. The nights were the worst, I couldn't sleep, all I could do was pass back and forth and take hot showers

2 more times to the OB and they still told me it was muscular and finally at 38 weeks they did bloodwork (I had no clue about pre-eclampsia at the time, and thought it was my heart or lungs) and I had protein, elevated liver enzymes and high bp, strangely my platelets didn't drop too much, so I had HELLP without the 'P'.

[flipflop76]

I had been having high bp from the 2nd trimester on, but then one night after dinner the upper abdominal pain started. Around 4 in the morning I realized that the last time I had been to the OB he told me that if I started having pain like that to get medical attention, so we went to the hospital. They sent me up to labor and delivery where they did bloodwork and confirmed that I had HELLP. I was admitted around 7 AM and had a csection that same afternoon.

[johanna8683]

I had severe back pain. It was high and off to the side. It first came in the middle of the night at 37wks; my whole core was in a spasm and I spent awhile on the toilet with a bucket on my lap. The next morning my OB called it early labor. It continued off and on for 2wks. The back pain always occurred at night. It was horrible; the only thing that provided some relief was heat. I took hot showers and baths over and over again through the night. Sometimes my husband would massage the area too. I had been preparing for a natural childbirth; while probably helpful, those relaxation techniques were far from effective. By morning, the pains would start to go away. There were contractions too; but these were often irregular and "dysfunctional." I considered going to the hospital a couple times but the contractions weren't right. And I had a huge fear of a C-section. (Irony? Fearing a C-section as I develop HELLP by waiting for regular contractions.) Plus, I was exhausted in the morning and wanted a bit of rest as soon as I was able to sleep before going to the hospital. I always woke up with no contractions and mild back discomfort. A day or two before going to the hospital -- I had finally had enough after 2wks of this "puttering, early, back labor" -- I also developed a stiffness/discomfort in my shoulder.

Once again the contractions had stopped by the time I was going to the hospital. I even had to talk the admitting nurse into calling my OB because the contractions were so weak. They said my blood pressure was elevated and were concerned -- I don't recall the timeline and details of the day. They started the induction. Then they came back with the results of blood work showing my liver was failing. I had never heard of HELLP and was still resistant to things that put a time-line on labor, like breaking my water. My OB gave me a little time to hesitate and let things progress, maybe 2-3hrs. But I wasn't progressing until the epidural, which allowed me to relax. My platelets were high enough to have an epidural. I don't know about my blood pressure during labor. Afterward, I still had spells of back pain while in the hospital. When those occurred, my blood pressure shot up.

[annamarie89]

I also got hellp late in pregnancy... My 40th week. And my daughter didn't make it. Which I still don't understand the say if you develop late in pregnancy there's a high chance they'll make it. I feel like I have unanswered questions. And I just don't understand why she didn't make it.

[annamarie89]

And bordergurl I had called my midwife about the back and chest pain and she said it sounded like the baby was in my chest. And told me not to come in. I also got by, by taking hot showers. I also slept in the bath tub because being anywhere else was just too painful.

[xpinktwilitex]

I had Class I HELLP. BP never got over 130/90. My symptoms included slight head ache, general 'unwell" feeling, and what felt like severe indigestion. Never felt anything intense or that painful. I just felt fluish for weeks. I did get some tingling in my legs the day before I went to the ER. Everyone has said that their pain was "excruciating" but mine wasnt my HELLP was very severe. My symptoms were so vague it was scary!