How long did it take your bp to go to back to normal?

[Nadenet1229]

I am just wondering how long it took for other's bp to go down to normal levels after PE. I had PE and severe HELLP and now I'm measuring high. Even with the meds my bp reads about 137/95, which wasn't normal before the PE and HELLP. I'm wondering if I will have to stay on bp meds now, or if it may go down. I spoke to a few women before who said it took about two months to go to normal for them and they were taken off meds. I'm just wondering if this is a common occurrence.

[caryn]

It is. When it takes more than about 6-8 weeks to drop, that's considered the "unmasking" of your genetic tendency towards chronic hypertension. Mine took 3-4 months to drop to normal levels postpartum. At my 6 week check, I was still running 140/90 on meds. So I'm a chronic, even though my pressures are reliably 110/70 now.

It often takes your body a while to repair all of the damage to your vasculature postpartum, especially when the damage has been significant.

[cmccaffrey]

took me 10 weeks to get back to normal, but at 6 weeks I was 140/90 without meds and my doctor said that she felt that I did not have chronic hypertension and that it was more of situational hypertension (I was in and out of the hospital postpartum). Since then I average am usually around 119/70 ish. I hope yours lower soon!

[Nadenet1229]

Well I had my appointment today with my GP. Two weeks ago my bp was measuring 150/99 while I was on a low dose bp med. She gave me a second medicine to take with it to see how it works and for a week, even though I was taking both, my readings were normally 145/95. But this week my readings have all been 117/70, and this morning it was 115/64. She told me my bp is reading well now and over the next few weeks she will start taking me off the extra dose since I'm steadily dropping. Then she will see about cutting the other dose. I hope thats a good sign

[jgrumet]

It took me about twelve weeks to completely wean off the blood pressure medication (it would rebound as I would lower it, then go down again).....It was higher one week postpartum than it ever was when I was pregnant (and i was on medication)....

My doctors put me on a beta blocker and couldn't figure out why my heart rate was still so high even after increasing the dose. It turns out my HR was normal, but when they checked my bp I would have a full panic attack (I still do) and it would shoot up for 70 to 140bpm. So, my pressures elevated even more due to that, too. If you're prone to anxiety make sure you let them know if you're having a panic attack when they check your pressures.

When they say 6-8 weeks to return to normal- do they mean completely normalize by then, or just drop to non-hypertensive levels? And what if you're on medication, how would you know?

[jgrumet]

Oh, Caryn... I have a couple of questions, but I don't want to take up room of another post when this one seems to be on topic. So I hope the poster doesn't mind if I add a couple of questions on to her post.

1. does it take longer to go down if you had PE for a significant amount of time?....For instance, someone who develops high bp at delivery vs. someone who had it for 2 or 3 weeks before it got so bad they were forced to deliver? It makes sense it would take longer to repair the longer you had the bp issue during pregnancy, but I'm not sure.

2. If you're considered chronic, but your pressures are still considered "good"- is that significant for your treatment plant, or is it more just something you know to watch for in the future.

3. People with a history of severe hypertension in their family (and go on to get it later in life) have normal pregnancies. What the heck is the deal? And I guess this is a question you can fill in with any underlying disorder. What makes us special? Or is it just a perfect storm in our bodies and bad luck?

[caryn]

They mean "low enough to take you off the meds." That usually happens when your pressures start plummeting and you get lightheaded while on the meds.

1) I don't know of any correlation with the length of time that you are sick. It makes intuitive sense that the more damage, the longer the repair takes - but immensity of damage is not tightly linked to duration of acute illness. Some people are sick for months but feel better the moment the placenta is out. Some people crash during SNL and are in ICU for three weeks. So it's possible for the disease to cause a lot of damage in a short time or only mild damage over a long period.

2) I'm chronic but not medicated because my bp has been low-normal since 4 months postpartum. In my family history hypertension hits during menopause. I'll report back in a decade or so, 'cause I'm not yet 40.

3) I'm convinced the answer to this is that every pregnancy is different, because every placenta is different. It's the combination of maternal and paternal genes, and that varies with every pregnancy. Some combinations (of partners) make preeclampsia more likely.

[jgrumet]

Thanks Caryn!

Okay, my LAST set of questions....

So you do believe it is a perfect storm of issues that makes a PE or HELLP Pregnancy? I always kind of figured that was the case.

if they started weaning me off of BP meds a 6 weeks postpartum, but it would rebound a bit (to borderline high or prehypertension) and then go back down on it's own. Is that just my body reacting to the medication, or does that mean I'm chronic? My doctor thinks I'm nuts when I ask him this question, and frankly, My OB knows nothing about it (I was on a huge amount of two bp drugs and he told me to stop them all cold turkey at my 6 week pp appointment)

[caryn]

Yeah, perfect storm it is. As for your pressures - aren't you a white-coat hypertensive? I bet you have a lower plasma volume than normal (so do I) and that you'll be a chronic in future. (Did you get lightheaded and have really low pressures until your pregnancy? I think those go along...)

[jgrumet]

Is it worth it to have my doctor run a plasma test?
I think there is something weird about my blood.
My hematologist isn't concerned, but my Mean Platelet Volume is always low or borderline low. Every time I ask a GP about it they have no idea what it means and when I talked to my hematologist she said it was normal for me and not to worry (I called her after I googled it and frantically found out it could be a sign of some weird cancer...or something that I don't have...)...but I have to wonder if it means something with my pregnancies. I started taking iron and it shot up to normal range on my last test.

I am pretty sure I'll be hypertensive at menopause, too. My mom became mildly hypertensive at 55..... That is fine with me. I would like to avoid it until that point, though! My concern is I need medication now and no one is giving it to me.