Postpartum blood pressure after pregnancy-induced hypertension, did it settle eventually?

[Hopingrae]

Hi, I'm hoping there are some mammas who have been through similar.

I have a 5 week old baby girl. Around 38 weeks pregnant I was diagnosed with pregnancy induced hypertension and put on 100mg of Labetalol twice a day. After birth I had a spike and was put on 200mg twice a day. I'm now in the process of tapering off under the pharmacist at my GP surgery. I got down to 50mg once a day which was going fine but over the past week I've had some spikes (like 153/96) and have been put back to 100mg once a day. I'm finding my BP readings bounce around a lot, even in one sitting (I was told to take 3 readings in a sitting and take the lowest one as correct BP). So for this morning's readings the highest was 150/96, the lowest was 126/87. I'm finding it a bit stressful and I just wondered if anyone has been through similar and found BP settled eventually?

Hi there,
I had the same, hypertension/pre eclampsia came on in the last week or two of pregnancy and I was on a couple of different blood pressure meds which they gradually tapered off over several weeks. I think somewhere around the 6 or 7 week mark it settled so I could come off the meds but it wasn't back to pre-pregnancy levels. I went on to have another pregnancy and didn't have hypertension in that one.
It sounds like your BP readings are starting to come down and good you are getting some lower readings, I had up and down readings for a while. I know it's hard with a young baby but time for you to rest, have a shower, go for a walk all helps.
It's unsettling when this happens and I wish you the very best and that it settles very soon.
💛

I have experience in this area. You may find it helpful to understand what is going on physiologically - when you give birth there is a lot of fluid that has to first be 'reabsorbed' by your own body and then pass through, hence the pattern of BP going down then up again after labour is over is very normal - this is not your fault, and there is nothing to suggest that amending your 'lifestyle' would change this, it's just the natural course. I imagine you are also now feeling anxious at the thought of taking your BP, so could you discuss with the pharmacist the option of 'pausing' the tapering and staying on 100mg once a day for a week or so, then re thinking next steps as there's very few side effects with this medication, especially at this dose (FWIW 100mg once a day is arguably a sub clinical dose, so it sounds to me like your body is naturally settling). You could also explore more long acting BP medications, as labetalol comes on/off again relatively quickly. Final thought - another strategy for helping with any anxiety around your readings is to take your BP immediately before you take the labetalol, then again at 30 minutes/1 hour/2 hours after taking it as this is when you'll be feeling the full relaxing effects of this beta blocker and it may reassure you to see the number come down. I wish you all the best 💖

@Ferriswheel101 thanks for sharing your experience. I agree, the word "unsettling" definitely resonates with me! I'm glad your BP settled eventually. This was my DC3 and I've not had issues in previous pregnancies. I keep thinking I'm nearly there with a few days of normal results and then it spikes again. I'm getting very anxious of my blood pressure monitor for sure 🙈

@MakeMeJuno thanks so much for your message, it is definitely helpful to know what is happening physiologically. I've not had much more of an explanation than "it's hormones", but who knows what that actually means?! I did wonder how much affect my current dose actually has over a 24 hour period. Maybe my BP is in a natural state of fluctuation before it'll eventually settle (I hope). It's just a bit scary, I don't really know what it means when it's moderately high but not dangerously high, am I at immediate risk of anything or is it just the longer term impact if it's not managed that's the concern... I've got a review on Thurs with the pharmacist so hopefully she can shed some light.