Dizziness almost to the point of fainting in pregnancy

[JeMeSouviens]

I am 20weeks pregnant, just need a little advice, or assurance if anyone has had similar please.

The first time was a couple of weeks ago at the anomaly scan. I was lying on back, obv, for quite a while, felt nauseous and dizzy. Sonographer had me turn onto my side, and recovered quite quickly. He said it was probably baby lying on major artery and moving positions would move it off.

Yesterday I was swimming with DS, and felt myself becoming nauseous so got DS and I out of the pool before I collapsed. Vision went very blurry/spotty and was very close to passing out. Managed to call the lifesaver over, laid on side, gave me oxygen, and called ambulance.

When the paramedics arrived they took my BP with handheld machine which was low, they double checked it to make sure. Got me in the ambulance, checked again, but it was normal. So they figure their handheld wasn't working properly. Off to hospital, and BP normal there. After a couple of false starts on the ECG (again equipment failure!), had a good reading. Doctor came in saw me, and said it'd just be low blood pressure, eat more salt.

I have a checkup on Tuesday (with above Doc), so can ask him more then, but until then, I guess I'm just wanting to know if I'm at the point of passing out due to lack of blood/oxygen, then what effect would this be having on the baby? I'm worried the baby wouldn't be getting enough oxygen as well.

Would this be a sign of something else? I'm not sure what to ask the doctor about on Tuesday, but want to get to the bottom of it, in case it's something to be concerned about, and he was quite blase about it. I'm also feeling very breathless a lot, even just walking up a few stairs or carrying anything, and just generally a bit weak.

TIA

If not BP, then probably anaemic. Definitley needs checking out though.
Baby will be fine - it's you who'll suffer.

I have very low bp due to pg and it is horrid. You could be having dips.

You poor thing, it's really unpleasant, isn't it? How low is low? In both my pregnancies I got down to 80 over 50 and felt quite dizzy with bad headaches. No amount of bp-raising tactics worked, and yet the doctors were delighted - 'you're not going to get pre-eclampsia!'. I don't know how low you have to get before it really gets dangerous, but clearly a bit lower than 80/50 - I have two very healthy, non-oxygen deprived girls.

Best of luck - it could also be a sign that you're not getting enough fluids, so always have a bottle of water with you.

Hey, Pixie, why did nobody suggest bedrest for me? I struggled through it somehow, as I said, my gynaecologist was supremely unconcerned. It's actually really useful if your elder DC is still in a buggy - I used to lean on the buggy like a zimmer frame - stopped me falling over a number of times.

Thanks for the reassurances, and glad to hear you've got lovely healthy babies.

Yes it was around 80/60. I think I'm rather as it could be just the equipment being faulty, but then maybe not! It was a bit of a nightmare day, as DH is abroad and as we haven't been here long, couldn't think of anyone to call to help with DS (the lifeguard was great, got him changed and came to hospital for a bit until he calmed down)

I will ask Doc to check for anaemia on Tues, that's worth a shot.

Meant to say I did feel quite thirsty after recovering, so will take that tip too, to carry water with me.

I had this a few times while I was pregnant with DS - it started with my vision going a bit funny and then I just had to lie down with my eyes shut until it passed about 20 minutes later.
The things I found helped most were to have a big drink of water and something to eat as soon as it started to go funny (seemed to make it pass quicker)and not to panic. There is aosme kind of pregnancy-related condition which is like a migraine but without the headache, I seem to remember. I'll try and find out some more for you.

Hi JeMeSouviens,

I'm no medical expert, but had exactly what you describe in your final sentence throughout my last pregnancy with my now 19mth old son, and today (at 16 weeks preg.) fainted on a bus (first actual faint of the pregnancy).

Throughout my first pg I fainted, so got a fair bit of advice from a range of medics (people kept phoning ambulances at work even though it happened so often), and the consensus was that it is absolutely normal for some women. I've always had quite low bp, but it definitely gets worse during pg, and leaves me feeling tired, listless, confused and disorientated (and a bit weepy if I'm in public and it's out of control, which is embarrassing). Doctors have said that it's just the added strain on all of the organs put upon you by the baby, and also when I've had blood tested after an event it's always shown very low blood sugar, which is a cause for the wobbles. I have been much better so far this time (it had happened lots by now last time) and I think it's because I'm not working and can slow down more often, and eat regularly. Incidentally, it seems that if you have a condition like PCOS it might be more likely to happen because of the insulin resistance and inability to process glucose properly, but I'm not 100% on that.

So, practical advice-wise, what I took from my experience was: eat low-GI foods regularly, and keep a high-GI one with you at all times in case of an episode (if blood sugar is linked to yours), and rest when you can. Sorry none of that is very earth-shattering!

The good side is that my ds has been absolutely fine (second what nickytwotimes said - the baby takes what it needs and you go short), and I felt immediately better the day after I'd given birth, and it didn't come back until pg again. Although it's unpleasant and inconvenient, I think it might be healthier than having rising bp during pg and all of its side effects.

I'm sorry for a huge ramble - but HTH and hope it improves for the rest of your pregnancy!

thanks for the advice, will try it out.

I'm in the same situation at the moment - 27 weeks and I feel dizzy, nauseous and light headed if I stand still for more than a couple of minutes. If I keep moving I can fend off a faint (maybe because the blood flows) but once I stop that's it.

It's horrible - you have my sympathy!

Hi, i had this about the same time as you, no one could tell me wht this happend and i actually passed out in a shop!

But someone did say it's when the baby is getting bigger and flipping and moving it unbalances you.

anywho all was fine after a while and had a very healthy baby

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