BP still high

[brandib]

Hello everyone. I know I am only 14 day PP, but I am REALLLLLY hoping and praying my BP goes back to normal. I had REALLY high pressures in pregnancy and right after delivery, I mean right after, my pressures were normal for two days. 115/60. The day I was to be realeased my pressures decided to spike back up and some crazy stuff happened that kept me in the hospital a few more days on a padded bed. Well, they sent me home on my Labetelol but I was taking 400 three times a day and Norvasc. They took me off Norvasc and my weaning off Labetelol was as followed. 200mg three times a day for two days. 200 mg twice a day for two days and 100 mg twice a day for two days and I was suppose to be done and off meds. Well, as I was weaning, the last day of my last 100 mg actually, I had a TIA and pressure hit 170/120 and my face went numb etc, ( very similar to what happened to me in January) and my doctor put me back up to 400 twice a day which has kept them between 130/90 to 150/100 with still some pretty high spikes. My bottom number does not want to come down for the life of me. I'm so frustrated!!! I want this to all be over with. What do you ladies think my chances are of returning to compeltely normal BP again would be?????

side note-----The unbearable headaches I had for so long in pregnancy are almost gone, just some annoying headaches, but I've only had one unbearable headache and that was the night I had the TIA.

[trish]

I have no idea what your chances for getting back to normal BP off meds is but I'm so confused as to why your Dr's are so quick to push you off BP meds? My understanding about weaning off BP meds is to watch your BP & as it gets consistently lower THEN decrease meds - not have a set schedule to get off of them!

You are only 2 weeks PP and so much is still going on with your body & hormones. If the labetalol alone isn't keeping your pressures down it would seem (in my non Dr. opinion) that you still need the norvasc. I was released on just labetalol & went back to the ER 4 days PP with sky high pressures & killer headache again. They added norvasc & I was on that combo for several months - not a couple of days!

[alexa5]

I agree with Trish...not sure why they are rushing because even people with fewer issues than yours are often on meds for several months postpartum. It does take a while for things to normalize sometimes, but I do think that in time yours will probably settle down.

In my case I had high pressures when I left the hospital, but I didn't have PP Pre-e or any complications. I just had bp that remained elevated. So, I was on labetalol alone, but that didn't work, so they added hctz, and that did the trick for me. Kept my bp down to a normal level. I think my pressures were okay at 3 mos, but I didn't start weaning until 6 mos PP. And by 8 mos was done with meds and am still doing fine...thank goodness!

It is better at this point to work with your general practitioner or internist/cardiologist, as they are much better at dealing with longer term hypertension and postpartum issues. OB's generally start to want to get out of the loop on this issue after the baby is born. My experience with them PP in the hospital, I just found them not to be very knowledgeable in that regard, and once discharged to my PCP who happens to be my OB as well, things were much better because they focused on getting me on the right meds.

Overall, I just want to say, as frustrating as it is to have issues PP, try to remain calm, know it happens to a lot of us, and that most of the time it works out just fine. Some of us might be on meds longer than others, but you will feel better as your body normalizes over the next few months. Try not to rush it, and don't let them feel like you have to rush off meds.

[mellybute]

I am so sorry you are still having such horrible and scary things happening. Just seconding Alexa in that you should see an internist or cardiologist in regards to your blood pressure management. They are way more comfortable switching meds and getting the right combo for you. If you are not breastfeeding, there are many different medications you can take to control bp. I had very very high bp post partum and pp PE and I am now almost 10 months pp and still on one low dose medication. It took me awhile to accept that, but I have and am fine with it. If I can take a pill and keep my bp at 110/70, great, wonderful!

The TIA is scary and can often be a precursor to a larger stroke. You definitely want to do whatever you need to to keep your blood pressure within normal range.

My OB tried weaning me once I got out of ICU, but she would lower my dose on one med, while I checked my pressures at home, then come back in a week, recheck (and they were going down), she reduced med again, recheck in a week, stopped one med because it was still going down, then a week later stopped the last med. I continued checking my bp and this was 3 weeks pp, it shot back up.

That is when she handed me over to my internist and cardiologist and my cardio had my bp within normal good levels on ONE medication within an hour of taking it.

Everyone is different, but I would definitely get an internist/cardiologist on board!!

Wish you the best of luck and hang in there!!

[brandib]

I don't know why they are weaning me so fast either, but I've been taking 400mg twice a day and my pressures have been ok, meaning, 140/90's and 150/100's. I have had a few higher spikes like 160/114 etc, but they've been pretty much around the 140's over higher 90's or early 100's.

I've seen a lot of people talk about hctz. I think maybe this might work for me. It sounds like this is what doctors use to control higher pressures. I have an appt on Wednesday with my MFM again for a BP check and etc. I've already seen the retina specialist and my retinas are good, except my optic nerves are very swollen, but he said that once my pressures are controlled for about 4 weeks, the visual symptoms should go away. ( lights, floaters, etc.) With all my crazy eyesight issues, I thought for sure something would be wrong with the retinas but thank God its not. Also, I'll be seeing my regular doc about my BP issues after my six week PP visit and then I'll also be seeing Neuro again here in a few weeks to check on the noggin :0) I haven't been referred to cardio yet, but my doc is going to. I can't wait to get the pressures under control. Alright alright alright....even if I have to stay on meds, at least find SOMETHING that would keep them "normal." I'm sick of "normal for me" instead of just " normal."

[alexa5]

Glad other things are going well (retina, etc)! I know there are variety of meds, but hctz does seem to be a popular addition to labetalol and other meds. The other advantage is that it is a diuretic, so it helps with any swelling at all, and at first you might lose a couple of pounds :-) Of course when you go off of it, they come back though just because you are not on a med continually helping with excess fluid. Adding the hctz brought my pressues way down. I was probably as high as you with the labetalol alone, and then they went down to 115-130 over 60-75, which were great pressures for me as I have a slightly higher baseline. Now my pressures without meds have been 120's over 70's, which is better than prepregnancy. So, there is hope for you!

I think you will start feeling better, and the right meds will make a big difference. I don't blame you for wanting to feel normal!

[cosmogirl4056]

i take just hctz by itself and it has brought my pressures down....i occassionally have a spike but not always....when i sit and rest for abit and take my pressure it is 115-130/70-80....not too bad for me....when ive been really busy and just take it qui5ck its like 140's-150's/80-90....which can be expected i guess....and yes although u take a diuretic u can still have a bit of swelling...i went back to work 4 weeks pp and the first busy day my ankles got swollen but they were down the next day and have not gone back up this was on saturday it is now tuesday so im crossing my fingers....this whole thing just gets your mind a going...its hard! i still feel like im dealing with stuff and my baby is one month old today.....ugh!

[brandib]

I saw my MfM's today and they were actually gonna start me on Hctz, but want to send me to a Cardiologist within two weeks instead. They were gonna do Hctz and procardia, but held off on it and are sending me to the cardio to see what they will do. My optic nerves are swollen and that seemed to really worry both of them. They said thats a clear sign that my BP's are staying too high and my body isn't handling it well. They also said that being as young as I am and healthy otherwise, that its baffling that my pressures are as crazy as they are. They think I have some underlying condition that they aren't finding and hopefully the cardiologist will figure it out. So in the next two weeks if my BP spikes, I'm suppose to go to the ER. Now that I'm not pregnant anymore, the Labetelol is dropping my pulse, so I can't up my dose and just pop more like I've been doing :0(.........It will all be under control soon.....right????

[cosmogirl4056]

ugh brandi i dont kno how ur doing it i would beFREAKING out right now...u will be donewith this very soon!

[alexa5]

Glad you are being sent to a cardiologist, though I worry that you have to wait two weeks when they are worried about how your body is handling the high pressures. I hope that things go smoothly between now and then, but the cardiologist will be a great help to you and put your mind at ease. They are just so used to this type of thing and can handle it better. I guess I am not sure why the current docs find it baffling that you are having issues--I guess after hanging out here I see it as almost common for some of us to have bp issues after delivery. Plus you had a horrible pregnancy, so in all honesty it doesn't really surprise me you have lingering issues--though I wish you didn't!