advice on blood pressure

[beckie90]

im 26+1 pregnant. and yesterday woke up with a severe head ache and then started seeing, flashing lights in front of my eyes and also this sounds strange but like i could see my pulse in my eyes. anyway i know this can be a sign of high blood pressure, so i asked my mum to bring a blood pressure monitor for me i took it, and it was 155/90 (im normaly around the 110/70 mark) it got me worried but then i started feeling better and the headache went and then bp went back to normal. then today the total opposite happend started feeling really dizzy and lightheaded and my heart was pounding, so i retook bp and this time it had dropped to 89/48 and pulse was 155.
i know the machine is quite accurate as my partner and mum took theres to be sure it was right and theres was normal. but now i dont know what to do as i know docotrs tell u not to check your own bp. but i just dont know what this could be. does anyone else know?

[beckie90]

yes ive been eating and drinking fine, just feeling rather horrible all together though, so dont know if a bug or anything is causing this, im just constantly tired if i could sleep all day i would, but obviously i cant

[Hannah1890]

Hey I had a virus a couple of weeks ago and ended up in hospital because I kept fainting was 38 weeks pregnant. My BP has gone up due to pregnancy but when I got ill was all over the place, varying from 160/110 to 65/40. I just got better eventually but definately worth mentioning to midwife especially if making you fee poorly. Hope your feeing better soon

[beckie90]

thankyou hannah, sure its just a virus or something

[Northernlurker]

YOu need to ring your midwife - have you done so? That is a significant increase on your norm and it's too high. You need checking out today even if your BP is ok now.

[beckie90]

no i havent, i was gonna, but i know they will tell me off for checking it out myself, but i was gonna go to labour suit yesterday, but wanted to know for sure if it was my bp. the same happend with my 1st and if it hadnt been for that monitor i would have never known my bp had risen

[BlingLoving]

Call your doctor. Seriously. You don't have to say, "I've been obsessively checking my blood pressure". Just say - I'm experiencing extreme headaches, then dizziness and lightheadedness. Leave it to him/her to assess whether this is BP related.

[doodledee]

Hope you've sought advice by now as this is a potentially serious sign of pre-eclampsia. Don't mess about doing own blood pressure - leave it to experts. Good luck x

[beckie90]

i havent obsessively checked it anyway just at the times ive felt really unwell to see if it was related, think im just been abit paranoid with what they would say, but tbh i shouldnt be botherd bout what they would say. im gonna call upto the surgery in the morning as its a little late now. thankyou

[Petalouda]

Jeepers beckie, that sounds frightening.
Get down the docs now and let us know you're ok later!

xx

[beckie90]

well petalouda this pregnancy has been nothing but frighting this time round, ive had everything possible lol. midwifes phone is off now, so think im gonna wait till the morning which sounds daft.i have had 3 urine samples over the last few weeks which did contain protein, but bp checks were fine. and then on wednsday at my midwifes appointment, everything was fine. im just baffled. but definately will get it checked out tommorow

[Petalouda]

Oh no, poor you. Hopefully this will mean a nice easy baby instead!

Do make sure you get checked tomorrow, I'll be checking the boards to make sure! And if you get anything weird in the night, make sure DP whips you to A&E.

Hope it's nothing though, take care.

[beckie90]

thanks petalouda, i will post on the april thread when i find out

[Northernlurker]

Right I'm going to speak frankly - you are being foolish now. As I read it your history is:

Previous high BP in pregnancy
Protein in recent urine
visual disturbance
headache
One high reading, one low reading

THere are some major red flags here and you need to stop worrying about what people will think and get checked tonight. Ring the labour ward for advice or go to A&E. You are potentially risking your baby and your life if you ignore this collection of events.

[beckie90]

yea i know i have had high previous bp, but they just told me it was one of those things and kind of made me feel like i was wasting there time, as my hospital always do. i had protein that time too. but nothing ever came of it. i wasnt going to ignore it i was just going to wait till the morning, as i feel the doctors surgery is much more understanding than my labour ward, who just seem to ignore me, and send me home regardless

[Northernlurker]

THey should send you home if you are ok and your observations have settled. Sending you home if your readings are normal is ok. That's not ignoring you, it's assessing you and making a clinical decision on the likely outcome. At the moment you aren't giving them a chance to do that. Come on - stand up for yourself, ring and say: 'Hello I would like to come and have my BP taken please as I've had a high reading at home plus headache and visual disturbance' Then off you go, get it checked and take it from there. If anybody at the ward gives you any nonsense ask for their name and ask if they are saying that asessing you over the phone they are totally confident in saying you have no cause for concern and are not at risk.

[ilovesprouts]

.

[Northernlurker]

Hope you are ok.

[m0nkeynuts]

Hope you're ok too. My BP slowly crept up during my first pregnancy and I was told if I ever had headaches and/or flashing lights, I was to go straight in.

[tlise]

Knowing your history they should be wary of sending you home, if for nothing else but if anything happened, you could sue them!! I have high bp anyway and have been told that if I have anything I am worried about, I am to ring them or go straight in. Some hospitals and doctors are totally crap. be careful doing it yourself though, they aren't always accurate, especially if you're not trained. My trainee midwife said mine was 122/80 last week...my usual one redid it as it was vastly lower, and it was more normal at 141/80. if you feel unwell, make an appointment to get it done properly, and ignore the looks. Can;t be too careful x

[Northernlurker]

[Northernlurker]

I hate it when this happens - Beckie - if you're around can you let me know you and bump are doing ok?

[Petalouda]

Echoing Northernlurker, please let us know you're ok Beckie

[beckie90]

hiya sorry all, only just checked this, we are fine i spoke to my midwife she said that as my last urine sample didnt contain protein, shes not too concerned but to keep an eye out on the headaches and flashing lights. they havent happend since and my blood pressure hasnt risen, although it keeps dropping terribly