How do deal with anxiety of postnatal high blood pressure

[coffeeandjuice]

My bp has always being fine but now it's all over the place. They had to stop me from having a seizure a few weeks ago which was very scary then I was in hospital for 10 days after.

I've got three under 4 and we moved house on Friday. I generally feel tired and run down all of the time? Is this normal?

Bp is 59/90 to 90/144 in any given day. I know the anxiety isn't helping but I can't seem to control it. Has anyone been in a similar situation? How do you manage it?

I assume you mean 90/59 and 144/90?

Are you on any meds?
Have you had blood tests?
I'd speak to your gp in the first instance

If they had to stop you having a seizure I’m assuming you had pre eclampsia. If you suffered from pre eclampsia this can take your body a while to readjust after pregnancy. It’s a multi organ condition, predominantly effecting your kidneys which in turn control your fluid balance and blood pressure. If you had pre eclampsia that severe you nearly had a seizure I’m assuming you’re on medication? Usually this is followed up by the GP but also can take a while to normalise especially with the hormones from birth settling

Oh you poor thing. My diagnosis of very high bp when ds was born kicked off a long phase of bp-related health anxiety for me. It didn't help that ds had to have surgery at 5 days old.

Looking back now with clarity at the fog of fear I was in, this is what I'd advise...Try very hard not to get into the habit of worrying that your anxiety is affecting your bp, because it will get you in a horrible vicious circle of panicking about getting anxious! When you feel anxious, don't fear it or fight it, just remember that everyone gets anxious about things, it's normal and it will pass. Feeling anxious doesn't necessarily mean your bp is rocketing.

You can't stop your anxiety by willpower, but you can do lifestyle things which will help both your anxiety and your bp. Vigorous exercise is the best imo, even if it seems like a big ask. I took up running, but brisk walking with the buggy or dancing around the house to loud music will do!

Also, cut down as much as possible on caffeine, alcohol, sugar and salt. I also read a really helpful book called 'The Compassionate Mind' by dr Paul Gilbert. It helped me understand why we get anxiety and how not to be scared of it.

12 years later I'm still on low dose bp meds to be on the safe side, but back then my bp went down a lot quite quickly from lifestyle changes and has never gone properly high since.

Oh and trust your gp to medicate you, and rememberthat you're in a much better position than all the gazillions of people walking around who have no idea they have high bp. For a long time I convinced myself that my bp was entirely under my own control, and that every time I ate something unhealthy or 'allowed' myself to get a bit anxious, I was making my bp go up. That was the anxiety talking!

Apologies for the essay(s)! It was a dark time for me and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!

I had postnatal bp and was on medication for it for 3 months. I was worried I would be on it forever. I felt a bit depressed because of my worry. Now it’s been over a year off the meds. My bp is good now and I check it every week to be sure.

You can control your bp w diet for sure. I went on a bit of a detox and did a whole30 diet (only for two weeks and then added oatmeal and brown rice to diet ) and now having wheat. But still cut out dairy. Anyway, after four days on the diet I was worried about my BP bc I felt I was using a lot of salt. Anyway; to my huge surprise it was the best it’s every been at 105/64. And it’s pretty much stayed that way since I’ve started eating healthier. This is even w having coffee (black). And before this my results were 120/80 range.

I wouldn’t go on any strict diets though after giving birth. But for example try not eating so much processed foods. Eat more natural, healthy foods you cook yourself. Get exercise.

Thanks for all of the reassurance and the advice about the BP

In the midst of it, it's so scary, especially when it just seems to hop all over the place. Lazy this is exactly how I feel the way you're describing.

The doctors did at one point say it was preeclampsia then started talking about it being hypertension.

It's been four weeks and I suppose it just feels like it's been a long time. I guess I'm magically expecting to feel better at week 6 but I guess that's not going to happen!

I'm on two types of tablets and an heavily medicated at the moment. In the ten days at hospital I think they did 6-8 sets of bloods and ruled anything else out other than it been related to my pregnancy.

@Mamabear12 and @lazylinguist , did you feel like you couldn't do as much after you'd had the baby. For example, 5 weeks ago I was in the park helping my toddlers on the play equipment quite energetically. Yesterday I couldn't even get around the shop without getting so dizzy I had to call it a day

It's hard to remember really, as it was a long time ago. The anxiety was the worst for me, so I remember that feeling much more clearly than how I felt physically tbh. I remember feeling kind of dizzy and fizzy in the head, but only while I was still in hosital. I got back to normal physically fairly quickly, although I was pretty overweight and very unfit, which made me feel crap combined with being post-childbirth. I had a 2yo at the time too.

Although the anxiety was awful and I ended up on permanent meds, it was a healty wake-up call for me. I've been healthier and fitter in the last 12 years than I had been throughout most of my 20s and very early 30s.

I actually never felt dizzy. It was more me just feeling anxious all the time. So worried about my health. Still feel like I’m not back to myself after 15 months post birth. Even though I’m at pre pregnancy weight, eating healthy etc. And my BP is back to normal. Having babies definitely takes a toll on the body!

I developed post natal pre eclampsia immediately after the birth of Dc3. I had 3 under 3 when she arrived. It was treated in hospital and I was discharged a few days later. ( baby was in nicu). I was re-admitted a fortnight later though as my BP was dangerously high and I felt very unwell. I ended up on beta blockers, a high dose very regular bp checks with GP. I would get regular dizzy spells, floating spots in my vision leaving me wobbly. This continued for approximately 3 months before any improvements that they could begin to slightly reduce. I also became incredibly anxious, stressed and worried too much about small things along with feeling utterly miserable. After six months i went to a different GP and he reviewed my medication and diagnosed post natal anxiety ( scored highly in some sort of test for it) but low for pnd. My meds were reduced and I went to do some cbt for the anxiety. It took about 10 months though for my BP to return to normal. Thankfully the anxiety eased too. I never experienced it with previous dc or with dc4 after.

Thanks for your replies. @EcoCustard, this is my third baby in three years too. Your symptoms seem to be exactly like mine. They tried reducing my meds today but bp back up to 120ish / 80-96 and chest feels very tight so clearly not ready yet.

Sorry you went through those experiences but it's reassuring to know what the path ahead may look like and there may not be a magic cure at the 6 week mark

OP I feel for you, I had awful pregnancy hypertension right at the end of my pregnancy, readmitted to hospital a week after birth (without baby) and loads of medication to keep it under control for about 3 months or so. I also had anxiety and self referred to IAPT, did CBT which really helped. My BP is fine now and I was able to come off the meds.

Thanks @PawPatrolOnARoll, I'm really hoping that they will change my meds and that will help with the dizziness etc. It doesn't help that all consultations are over the phone .
I'd really feel better if a doctor could listen to my chest and do bop etc.

Ps love the name