High Blood Pressure/ MW and Docs Telling me different things

[cupcake78]

I have had increasingly high blood pressure during this pregnancy.

I am 14 weeks and seem to be on average 130/94. Today it was 130/90 I have been told this is high, Docs have said they will monitor it twice a week. Community Midwife said I should have been signed off work??? Not sure who is right or what to do from hear. Can anyone help.

hi there, sorry to hear about your blood pressure. I don't know if you should or shouldn't been signed off work but let the doctors monitor you closely. If it is still the case in 6 weeks time, ask for a Doppler scan that can detect early pre-eclampsia. I had that and you can't play around with that. My blood pressure was also very high but only from 33 weeks. Is your feet swollen? Hope everything goes well!

Hi cupcake
That does seem quite high but if the docs were really concerned at this stage they'd whip you into hospital I'm sure. Personally I would always trust my docs over anyone else but don't be afraid to question/challenge them. If you're feeling otherwise well your docs may see no reason to sign you off, its a question you should ask when they next check your bp. I'm sure they've given you a list of symptoms to be aware of, headaches, blurred vision, nausea (although you may have this anyway) etc
Good luck, hopefully someone else has had expeience of this and can be of more help.

It is high cupcake78. It would not do any harm to stay off work for a week or two and see how it is when it is monitored twice a week. At this stage it is likely that you have what is known as essential hypertension and you may need to be started on blood pressure tablets if it goes higher. Sometimes a spell off work does the trick.

I think you can never be too careful when it comes to BP I would sign off work if thats what you think is casuing it

Thanks for your thoughts.

I am going to see my MW on Wednesday for it to be checked again and think I will have a chat with her then as I am worried about it. I have never had it before while pregnant or not pregnant.

I really don't want to be off work if I can avoid it but I do have a very stressful busy job which doesn't help.

I have been getting headaches and dizzyness and I have told them this. I have also been asked if I am getting high stomach pains which I have been but just put all of it down to prgncy.

You BP is on the high side (anything over 140/90 is normally classed as high)

What was it at booking? It is more to do with your increase since booking (i.e. your "normal" BP) rather than any one reading.

My booking BP in my last pregnancy was 135/90 (i.e. "normal" but only just) - it went down in the 2nd tri (which is normal, due to preggo hormones relaxing blood vessels) and then started to rise again in the 3rd tri. They did keep a very close eye on me in the 3rd tri - weekly BP at first, 4 times a week by the end (& I was signed off work from 32wks) They only started to get concerned when mine went up to 150/100 (which is when I was signed off & had a couple of days in hospital until it went down a bit)

Luckily mine was just a HBP problem, not pre-E related.

However for someone with a booking BP of 110/70, a BP of 150/100 would be classed as serious. So it really depends on where you started from.

At this stage it's unlikely (but not impossible) to be pre-E related, as when pre-E starts early it's normally after 20wks.

They can do extra scans to look at placental efficiency if the pregnancy is complicated by HBP and/or pre-E & to make sure baby is growing properly. I had one at 32wks & 36wks. so ask about them if they aren't mentioned.

I'm sure they will monitor you closely & sign you off or whip you in to hospital at the slightest sniff of trouble - but if they don't nag them until they do!

good luck, I hope your BP doesn't get any worse.

I have this problem too, blood pressure goes straight up when pg, but is normalish when not, i.e about 120/75 when not pg. I have had 3 m/c so think it is part of the problem. Also had ds inbetween and I had pre-eclampsia with him, but not till end of pg.

With this pg (am currently 20 weeks). My obstetrician put me on calcium and asprin. i take blackmores pg vitamins and caltrate (another calcium supplemen) he says latest research says extra calcium can lower blood pressure. The asprin is because i have borderline thrombophilia.

So far have lowest bp in a decade about 110/65 and lower sometimes. i take bp at home too, and it's true what they say because it is always higher at dr's.
I would ask/research the calcium for yourself. i eat loads of dairy and veg, so it is some sort or inadequecy with me.

You may have to go on medication, but this has lots of side effects, I hated it, in last pg. Although it probably saved my life and babies. So lucky to have it.

Anyway hope this helps and that i haven't alarmed you, try to stay stress free and sleep as much as you can, and talk to dr and get a monitor for home.

Hi last pg I had high bp - because my starting one was 120/60 which I think they got wrong so as soon as I got to 130/80/90 etc which isn't that high I don't think they started panicking becasue it was more than 20 over the starting point. Luckily it never turned into pre-eclampsia and was simply pregnancy induced hypertension - but it was a right pain in the arse as they kepy hauling me into hospital and insisted that I couldn't go on the birth unit, had to be constantly monitored in labour etc. They do have to be careful in case it is pre eclampsia and at your stage it will be a while before they can rule it out - just get them to keep an eye on you - I'm sure it will just be a bit of high bp - I sympathise - if it is any help, mine went back to normal lierally the minute the placenta was out.

Cupcake I suffered from PE in a previous pregnancy and am being closely monitored this time. My BP went up when I was about 14 weeks and was signed off for 2 weeks. Spent the time lying on the sofa and not doing very much generally - BP was much lower afterwards and has remained at a reasonable level ever since. It may be worth asking for some time off next time you see your docs as they may not be aware of your personal circumstances and a short amount of time of now could mean you end up working for much longer later.

Just wanted to add, (in case I wasn't clear) that the calcium is only meant to help lower pregnant women's bloodpressure.

ALSO just read magazine article that said 2 serves of fish a week can stablize BP. I guess you have to be careful when pg with what sort of fish, but intresting anyway.