To ask you about pre-eclampsia....

[sittingonacornflake]

So I guess this is kind of a TAAT but I didn't want to derail the other one....

I've been reading the thread about what's the most dangerous thing you've survived and noticed quite a few people said pre-eclampsia.

I had pre-eclampsia and other than enduring a 5 night stay in hospital after the birth for monitoring I didn't notice that I had it.

AIBU that I don't really know much about pre-eclampsia.... is it really dangerous once it's been diagnosed and you are monitored / on blood pressure tablets?

I feel silly, given that I had it, not to know this....

Yes it's extremely dangerous. My organs were beginning to shut down by the time my DD was delivered. It can lead to fitting and death. I had to have my DD at 27 weeks after being monitored for 2 weeks so they could decide when the point was that things were beginning to get dangerous. They were leaving her as long as they could but in the end I was only an hour from organ failure they said. I have never had a headache like it either.

Well given that you can die I guess you could say it's dangerous...

You can read about it here;
www.nhs.uk/conditions/pre-eclampsia/

It's not something to worry about as you have zero control over it but it's good to be aware of the symptoms and get help if needed.

Ds1 was 5 weeks early due to pre eclampsia.

I gave birth naturally and he was whisked off to scbu and at 2am a team of doctors came rushing through to me to attach a catheter as my organs were about to fail.

I’ve never felt pain like it.😨😨😨😨

It’s very dangerous.

calzone did you have that awful headache? I get severe migraines and had never experienced anything like that before but it was worse lying down. I felt as if my head was going to explode.

I had it, completely asymptomatic except for, obviously, the high blood pressure. And I had slight swelling of one hand, which is why I went to the midwife to have it checked out.

It's really strange knowing your life is in danger, like possibly imminently, yet feeling absolutely fine. I was in hospital for ages afterwards as well, as my blood pressure stubbornly refused to go back to normal after I'd given birth. Took a couple of months in the end iirc. Felt fine the whole time.

The level of severity varies, but yes it can be life threatening. For some women the onset is late in pregnancy and it’s very treatable.

For others it doesn’t respond to medication and continues to get worse leading to seizures, risk of stroke, pulmonary oedema and eventually organ failure amongst other things.

I had pre eclampsia with no symptoms (not even high blood pressure). The only reason it was picked up was because I was suffering anxiety so my midwife was coming to my house weekly between my appointments to do a heartbeat check etc for my peace of mind. It was during one of these visits a week before my scheduled appointment that she noticed protein in my urine. To cut a long story short I was induced the next day and developed HELLP syndrome requiring 10 days in hospital and blood transfusions. Everyone at the hospital was baffled due to lack of HBP but once they told me I had PE and had to be induced my symptoms came on all of a sudden my body ballooned and my blood pressure rocketed. They think the sudden symptoms were due to the stress and if I'd been at home unaware then that might not have happened so I wouldn't have known anything was wrong. I try not to think about it too much but 18 months down the line I do have the odd night where I lie awake in tears reading about PE and HELLP thinking about what could have happened

@Darkstar4855 In my case the midwives and the doctors didn't seem completely sure what was going on. Tests seemed to give unexpected results and they all seemed a bit confused by that.

There was definitely some serious concern though.

I was just terrified!

Sorry lost my paragraphs. I agree it was a confusing and frustrating time feeling fine and being told you and your baby's lives are in danger. I'm a hypochondriac and cried to one of the midwives and asked "am I going to die?" expecting her to say don't be so silly your fine . She replied "we're doing everything to make sure that doesn't happen" which made me realise this was serious.

I also remember saying to her this isn't too serious it happens all the time right? And her saying it was indeed serious. After my baby was born the midwife came in at the end of her shift and said she had been really scared. Even then it took a while to hit home what had happened.

I had no idea I was that I'll tbh. I had the trinitrite infusion and my stats are to me now, scary but I was oblivious.

10 years on however my kidneys are still fucked and I take BP meds.

*you're fine

Mine was discovered at a routine midwife appointment, sent to hospital. By the time I was seen I was having seizures in my lower limbs, kidneys weren’t working and body basically shutting down. They got me stabilised and tried to deliver, induction failed and I had to have a c-section.

I had no idea I was I’ll. if I hadn’t had the midwife appointment that day, I would have started seizing at home, and could have died.

So yes it is very dangerous.

OP - fwiw I posted a couple of incidents on that thread and my PE didn't even enter my head until I saw others mention it. I suppose because it was "medically controlled" rather than terrible accident iyswim.

I had severe PE that was very nearly untreated. I had no symptoms at all and it wasn't until I was recalled after the results of a blood test and sent to hospital that they realised how ill I actually was. I felt absolutely fine and tried desperately to go home and see DS1 as I was convinced it was all a fuss about nothing. One MW sat with me for over an hour and convinced me to stay as I was incredibly poorly. Over the course of the next 12 hours my BP went through the roof, my kidney's started to fail and I swelled up like a balloon. DS2 ended up being born at 32 weeks thankfully absolutely fine just need a stay on NICU.

Me on the other hand I was still really poorly post birth and they couldn't get my BP down at all. It was incredibly frightening as I had no headache, no bright lights and until I was already in hospital being monitored my BP was fine as well. Its a silent disease in many cases which makes it even more dangerous.

iheartttc that's exactly what happened to me I was recalled due to blood results and phoned my mum to take me back up complaining about the fuss. Had to pick my daughter up from school on the way there and remember saying to her I won't be long we will be home soon and can get a Chinese for dinner. I refused to believe anything was wrong and wanted to go home.

Nearly 8 years on (It's nearly his birthday actually!) I still can't believe it. It was incredibly scary as it literally came out of the blue...I obviously knew about PE but assumed Id have a severe headache, swollen legs or high BP. I had nothing at all which is why it's so deadly. I will forever be grateful to that MW for making me stay.

I had loads of questions in hospital as its apparently very unusual to have PE with your 2nd child if you haven't had it with the first if its the same father (and yes I was asked that!) but DS1 was born at 36 weeks cause my waters just broke. They came to the conclusion that I was actually developing PE then and my body dealt with it that way.

iheartttc your experience is so similar to mine. I was constantly asked that as well although the first midwife to ask me explained why she was asking me so I wasn't offended. Both my children have the same father and my first was born at 40+5 with no problems. I don't even have an risk factors for PE I guess I just got very unlucky.

Yes i had it with middle DD. I had no headache just extremely swollen ankles and then my fingers swelled .The first midwife i saw fobbed me off said i was fine but i decided to go to my Dr's next morning who promptly admitted me to hospital. I was actually so ill i nearly died and was in hospital for six weeks ,DD a month early .But now a happy healthy child .I never forgave that midwife and banned her from coming anywhere near us .It was an incredibly scary time and my DM told me my husband cried in the car on the way home after i was admitted he thought i was going to die .It literally just sneaked up on me .I then had it again with my youngest DD but only mildly right at the very end .But interestingly my DM had it the same when she was pregnant with me but they called it toxcemia then .

I too was asked if it was same father which it was .Only thing they could put it down to the fact it may have been because my mum had had it .They did say if my DD's get pregnant they will need to be monitored carefully because if the family history.

My DSis had pre-Enclampsia when she had her DD (now 9). She was very ill. She'd already been suffering from gestational diabetes and she had low amniotic fluid. She had a most horrible headache, but she only went into hospital that morning because she had a scan booked (they were monitoring her closely. They kept her in and she had an immediate emergency C section. She was 32 weeks gone, so my DNiece was 3'3lbs.

She very nearly died afterwards; it was a very scary time for us all, we nearly lost both of them. So yes, it's very serious.

I had pre-eclampsia and I had no idea. It was picked up from protein in my urine. Other issues with dd were picked up and I ended up having a c-section at 28 weeks and the pre-eclampsia was never mentioned again! So until this thread I didn't actually realise it would make me ill not dd

I had it, it culminated in a stillbirth and a blue light across town followed by five days in ICU for me. My family was told there was no prognosis and the doctors described my recovery as "miraculous". It was the closest I've come to dying.

I was in hospital for 7 weeks with PE. I felt fine apart from a terrible pain under my ribs. I was kept stable with meds and monitored every 4 hours. I rather enjoyed the rest tbh! After the birth I was given magnesium to prevent seizures but I still felt ok.

Oh, and it was my 3rd baby ( same father) no problems with the first 2 pregnancies

You're not being silly I think the reason you can ask that question is that in the past, when midwifery was in its infancy, women aren't diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and they just went into full blown eclampsia, then what we now know as HELLP syndrome.

So there are 3 stages to eclampsia:

1. Pre-eclampsia, which is detected by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Symptoms are swelling of the feet, ankles, face and hands caused by fluid retention (oedema); severe headache; vision problems; pain just below the ribs - but not everyone has all of the symptoms, and severity of the symptoms doesn't necessarily match the degree of pre-eclampsia.

Eclampsia - seizures that occur due to severe pre-eclampsia.

HELLP syndrome
"H" is for haemolysis – this is where the red blood cells in the blood break down
"EL" is for elevated liver enzymes (proteins) – a high number of enzymes in the liver is a sign of liver damage
"LP" is for low platelet count – platelets are substances in the blood that help it clot

Generally, the only cure for severe pre-eclampsia is delivery of the baby.