Pre-E Symptoms at 16 weeks?

[Augusta973]

Hi, I'm new here and I had some questions...
I was at the OB on Monday, and he noted that my blood pressure was "a little high" for me, and there was protein in my urine. He sent me for a complete blood panel and a 24-hour urine test (which I can't do until my next day off, and he was ok with that). The blood test came back with elevated liver enzymes. To me, that doesn't sound like part of pre-e, and it's so early yet, I was just wondering what everyone thought. I was diagnosed pre-e late in my pregnancy with my son in 2001, but they let me go to term (things were different back then). I had no symptoms at all with my daughter, born in 2007.

[whereowhere]

So sorry- I'm on the run here, but just to be safe make sure it's not HELLP syndrome which I think is some variant of pre-e. I don't know how early it can come but I think you can have it without other preeclampsia signs. I know it involves the liver. But sorry I don't know much about it. Just thought I'd mention to be on the safe side for you.

[tree]

Elevated liver enzymes can be one component of HELLP, which is a form of severe pre-E. HELLP stand for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets. It can occur without diagnostically high blood pressure or protein. Elevated liver enzymes can be accompanied by pain in the upper right part of your abdomen, nausea, "general malaise", and other symptoms. I had all of the above, plus my skin turned yellowish. HELLP can move very quickly and be very dangerous, so you want to make sure that your doctor is on top of things.
That said, there are other things that can cause elevated liver enzymes in pregnancy. Can you call your doctor to discuss a plan? I would want to know exactly what symptoms would require a trip to the doctor's office or L&D. They may also want to recheck your blood work to see if things are getting worse. It is possible to have a small increase in liver enzymes that would not be concerning unless the values continued to trend upward.
Definitely call in if you feel sick, get "the headache", experience abdominal pain, have serious anxiety or vision problems, or just generally don't feel well. PE can move very fast, and it is probably better to be safe than sorry since you have some indications that PE could be developing. Take care of yourself! i hope this is a blip and that you can hang in there for a long and boring pregnancy.

[marilyn621]

I've always read that pre-e presents itself in the latter part of pregnancy (after 20 weeks). As I understand it, it is a disease of the placenta, which doesn't actually take over until some time in the second trimester. Symptoms with my first pregnancy started at 36 weeks and with this one my BP has been high the whole time but I've just started having the abdominal pain at 31 weeks (which by the way the doctors insist is heartburn and refuse to run any labwork)

[tree]

Augusta - How are you?
I misread your post the first time, and I didn't realize that the whole point was that these symptoms are occurring so early in pregnancy. An increase in BP before 20 weeks is usually considered unmasked chronic hypertension rather than Pre-E. It is also unlikely that liver issues would be caused by HELLP this early. These symptoms do mean that your doctors should be watching you closely. They should have a plan to monitor your BP and diagnose what is causing the elevated liver enzymes.