Could this be pre-eclampsia?

[likelucklove]

Just been to a New Years party (not drinking obviously!) and everyone commented on my ankles, which have been swollen for about a week now. Looks like I don't have ankles, just legs and then toes sticking out! Have also noticed in the past couple of days that my hands are swollen too, since my engagement ring which I'm sure was slipping off last week because it was too big now is actually quite tight.

Have also had a lot of pains in my ribs in the past couple of days and itchy feet, sometimes hands which I put down to wearing thick gloves and socks! And been feeling yuck which is probably a cold and seen blue lights in my vision at times.

Anyway, one woman there who I had never met before, seen my ankles and got me quite worried. She said to go to midwife (but don't have one at the moment as I'm moving doctor's) or to go to hospital. I had put it down to my weight (size 16) but she said she had never had swollen ankles or fingers like mine, and neither have many of her friends which are all bigger.

Has anyone had these symptoms and NOT had pre-eclampsia? Will ring NHS Wales in the morning for advice, but she has got me really worried now. It was always in the back of my mind but friends and family who I see regularly have told me it's ok.

Thanks for getting through this if you have! Just really worried and don't want to go back into hospital, having been in there a month ago with cervical erosion and supposed placenta previa (which have thankfully been told now was a load of tosh!)

I would get checked out to be on the safe side is my first comment, as it is better to be safe than sorry.
But I am a size 24 (when I'm not 38 weeks pregnant) and I have water retention in my legs and occasionally in my fingers (I had to stop wearing my wedding ring at 24 weeks). That in itself is normal in pregnancy but when you start pairing with other symptoms the you might need to worry.
High blood pressure, and seeing bright lights or stars can be an indication, but not necessarily pre eclampsia.
I have had both recently but haven't fallen victim to pre eclamsia, but it is important to get yourself checked out, just to put your mind at rest.
This woman had no right to try and scare you like that, everyone's pregnancy is different, but if you are worried the maternity unit or A&E are the best place to go x

To be honest I think you should see your doctor or midwife to be certain but being too warm & not moving about enough (I felt the size of a small house!) caused me to hold water. It wasn't pre eclampsia.
Good luck & happy new year x

Thanks both that was quick! Will definitely get it checked out in the morning thank you so much for your advice and perspectives! It doesn't help with my job either, I'm chained to a desk but am trying to keep hydrated. I think she was trying to be helpful and give me some advice but I always get stressed over the littlest things anyway!

Thank you very much both again, will get it checked at a more sensible time in the morning! Happy New Years also :)

The lady was possibly not trying to scare you, but wanted to make you aware that those symptoms can be associated with pre-eclampsia. As others have said, they can also be associated with other things too. As PE can be very serious it is best to get checked out, if only to rule it out.

don't want to scare you, but I would try to get checked out at least by telephone (or at least get BP checked) straight away as pre-eclampsia can (occasionally) get worse quickly. Your symptoms worry me (flashing lights, pain in ribs, especially if on right side and feeling like you are going down with something) are typical PE symptoms (but can be common in "normal" pregnancies too). At least call your maternity unit and tell them your symptoms and ask for their advice tonight? Is your baby still moving normally? Is your face swollen at all [I would urge going to hospital immediately if your answers to either of these last two questions bother you]

[I'm not an expert but have been on the wrong side of rapidly worsening severe pre-eclampsia so would always urge women to get checked without delay]

I would get seen tonight if I was you. Call your emergency midwife as soon as possible.

You can nip into most pharmacies these days and get your blood pressure measured for free and no appointment (140/90 is top of normal for most folk). My ankles have been very puffy for the last eight weeks but my BP is fine (130/80) i'm 39+2. Have you had any headaches accompanying the visual symptoms?

That's all very well, but will the OP do if it is high? Do not fuck about with PE. It can be fatal for you and your baby. This is exactly the circumstance that the emergency midwife line is there for. Not all the symptoms need to be present, the visual disturbances are significant even without headaches.

It could also be Cholestasis if you have itchy feet - hope you have got onto the emergency midwife . Ensure they take bloods and dip your urine . X

If you have flashing lights and epigastric pain you should treat that as an emergency - ie turn up at A and E . Pre eclampsia is life threatening for you and babe . Please let us know how you get on .

Don't get your BP measured at a pharmacy - it needs to be done in conjunction with a urine test and anyway the measurement itself is not so important as the overall rise so it needs to be looked at in conjunction with your maternity notes - your BP could be within normal limits but still represent a dangerous rise if it was low to begin with. (if that makes sense).

Definitely definitely get yourself checked as soon as possible. HOPEFULLY it is something benign but you need to be checked.

I went to a & e and got held up for 4 hours whilst they worked out what was going on as they are not specialists. Best to speak to a midwife, they usually will admit you to the maternity suite straight away

Thanks for all your replies.

I phoned up NHS Direct this morning, who said to go straight to hospital. Went there and maternity assessment unit were lovely, BP was normal and so was my urine. Didn't do bloods to check iron as I had them taken two weeks ago and she said not much will change?

Basically told me to take it easy and sit with my legs up as I do every time I can. Said that she will make a note to keep an eye on me as I could be a possible sufferer later on.

Ankles and fingers still bad and been having other symptoms. She had no explanation for this but since I didn't have any major other indicators, they said nothing it wrong you just need to go on maternity leave ASAP.

Feeling a bit deflated as I feel like a pain and don't want to go in for every little thing but the midwife was helpful and gave me their number. Fingers crossed no more trips to hospital but she predicted I will be back in with anemia/PE before the baby comes!

Thanks again everyone, helps to have people who have unfortunately had to go through it and gave me a kick up the bum to go to A&E!

I would get checked out. I had PE with dd1 and had swollen ankles and hands, headaches, feeling unwell and pain in the ribs. It's really not something to mess about with so urge you to get checked out tonight at maternity unit or hospital

likeluck I have pre - eclampsia twice - they both had very different presentations , so please feel free to pm me if you ever need any support.
Action For Pre Eclampsia advise that you should insist your wee is checked EVERY time you have contact with MW or Docs.
You are not a pain !
Be very vigilant and monitor for headaches - they do not have to be blaring headaches . The second time I had PE it was a low level ache above my eyes .
If you start vomiting or feel nauseous call emergency MW .
Thankyou for letting us know how you got on , please keep updating when you can .

You should start preparing yourself if your bp goes above 140/90.

Or if your bp has a rise of more than 15 units from what it was at your initial MW assessment x

I had really severe pe from week 28. Hospitalized several times. I had absolutely no symptoms.

The only time I had any symptom was post emcs, when they were bringing my bp down from its crazy high, I has slight visual disturbance, bit like migraine aura.

Please don't feel you are being a nuisance. The mw's at my local hospital were great, and just really relieved I was ok.

I wouldn't be happy with that. You need your bloods done, full blood count, iron and liver function. You have odema, epigastric pain and visual disturbances and malaise. What was your bp at booking and last night? how many weeks are you?

Urine is normal and bp is normal so not pre eclamptic currently . Although the risk is there for it to develop.
I would advocate that OP gets checked out daily or at least every 2 days .

Could be HELLP syndrome though.

Are you a HP ? X

I'm glad it seems ok at the moment (although I would have wanted the blood tests just to be sure - liver function would not have been checked before). Don't hesitate to go back into hospital / call again if your symptoms worsen at all - because you have concerning symptoms and pre-eclampsia can both develop and worsen rapidly.

Interesting. I've been getting headaches with flashing lights since 2nd trimester (put down to pregnancy migraine - but this is nothing like my pre-pg migraines), slight swellings in ankles and fingers on and off and I noticed the other day my BP was up, though the consultant at the time wasn't bothered (was there for a positional scan). BP was 100/60 at 8wks and at 37+1wks was 120/80 (previous check a few days before [reduced movements] was 110/74)!
No epigastric pains and the swelling's just a little bit. Urine dips have been fine every time. I have had some nausea, but have put that down to indigestion and housing a hooligan (very active baby).
I know my 27wk bloods were fine (was in hospital at the time with UTI and contractions), but they've misslayed the results...
Seeing MW Wednesday, so might ask for a why no concern.

I keep feeling like I'm being hysterical. And I really don't think there's anything wrong, but at the time I thought it was a heck of a jump.
Probably just late pregnancy and housing said hooligan...

Sorry for the lack of update, I've been in work and resting a lot! Thank you for all your advice, I've got a midwife appointment on Wednesday (they couldn't get me in any sooner) so will bring up my concerns with her since I am now registered and seeing someone new.

Lord - My BP was raised at the start of the pregnancy, it was a very stressful time. So it has actually dropped which is good, but they have kept an eye on my BP since. I will push to have blood taken at my appointment and will push a bit more if I still have symptoms.

NannyPlum - Maybe I'm being a numpty but what is HP?

I will ring the hospital if anything happens, she was really good but it was busy because it was New Years. I know that's no excuse but hopefully everything is OK for now. Have listened to the midwife though and am going on maternity leave in two weeks so I can relax and prepare just in case anything develops and I have to go back in, since work would just automatically put me on maternity leave if I went back to hospital now.

Oeisha - Sorry this is late but please get yourself checked out if you still have symptoms. What did your midwife say? From the stories here, you cannot be too careful with yourself and baby's health. I thought the same, that I was being silly and hysterical, but it is a serious problem or could be something else. Hope everything is ok

Thanks ladies again, you've been a great help and made me feel much better! I might go over to the dedicated pre-eclampsia thread here if I get anything else.