High blood pressure in pregnancy

[ilikepinacoladas]

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this.
My blood pressure has risen from 120/70 to 150/91. I am 35 weeks pregnant. I have no protein in my urine and am not swollen etc.
I am most worried as I have had a few 'attacks' of what I think is my blood pressure going very high. I get palpatations, shortness of breath, and a horrible feeling of total panic. It has happened twice and lasted 15mins-30mins but I haven't had my pressure checked during one. I used an at home monitor an hour afterwards that read 150/104 but don't trust my reading as I was borrowing the monitor. My GP and midwife are monitoring me by seeing me next Wednesday.

I was wondering is it possible to have random spells of high blood pressure without it becoming preeclampsia? Could it just be stress related? Does it affect birth? Is it very important to try and get measured soon after an 'attack' or is it only sustained pressure that matters?
I will ask these questions of my doctor and midwife but feel a bit worried waiting until Wednesday and the doctor was annoyed with me yesterday as the midwife passed me off onto her after her normal hours so was a bit blunt. She didn't believe me until she saw the reading on the blood pressure monitor.

Thanks

I get this in pregnancy, pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). It’s horrible and can turn into pre-e. They’ll monitor you closely and likely induce at the first sign of trouble. I’m 35 weeks and in the same boat (for the 3rd time round), try not to worry (it raises your bp!)

Thank you for your reply I'm sorry you have been through it 3 times! I'm not usually an anxious person but this makes me feel so panicky! Do you know what the signs of trouble are? Is it protein in urine?

I had these random spells woth my twin pregnancy. They started around 30 weeks and i had to go in a few tines for blood oressure monitoring over a couple of hours but it always settled. At 35 they stopped being random and started being constant and I had the protein so I was admitted for a week before they delivered the babies.
Has a midwife or Dr recorded your high BP?

If they've measured your blood pressure once and it was high then waiting until next week to recheck seems a little casual. Is there a Day Assessment Unit or something similar at your hospital? Really you should have a BP profile where it's taken every 5 minutes for half an hour to see if it's staying up. If you have 'borderline' readings this process is repeated a couple of times a week to keep monitoring closely. Even if you don't have pre-eclampsia, PIH is a separate problem with potential health consequences and needs managing.

Ah ok so they can switch to constant. My worry was that I might not be high at my weekly monitoring and the problem could be missed. The midwife recorded it when it went up to 140/78 and GP recorded at 150/91 so they are both in my notes. Thank you for replying

Yes I felt it was a bit casual too! The GP said if still high next Weds they will send me to the assessment unit but I am worried that it might be low at that 1 appointment and it will be another week until checked again

So if the initial reading from the midwife was much better it seems more likely that you wouldn't be at the treatment threshold, but I would still try to be seen for a BP profile if you can contact the assessment unit directly. Try not to focus too much on the attacks you have, they could mean something or nothing and you could easily have high BP inbetween times that you're unaware of. Did they tell you to watch closely for headaches, visual problems, pain under your ribs and make sure you're feeling good movements?

I went into hospital at 32 week when bottom one was 105. It then went down to in the 90s, said i could go home if it went under 90. It never did. I had odema but didnt get protein until 38+ weeks and bottom one went to 125.
I was induced then . Ds is 22 now and i think things have changed since then

OK that makes sense, thank you. Yes I was told to watch out for all of those. I have left a message with my midwife to let her know the reading the GP took yesterday so just waiting to hear back from her in case she can get me into the assessment unit. Thank you it is hard to know when I should be pushing for things and when I should just follow their time scales. I just know that I don't feel well but then does anyone in the 3rd trimester!?

I'm sorry to hear you had such a long hospital stay bruffin! I think I would go mad. But glad to hear your your DS is 22

He was worth it ilikepinacoladas, he is lovely most of the time

I was told to look out for sharp pains high under ribs, headaches and seeing stars/dizzyness. Next preganancy i had slightly raised blood pressure at my 37 week midwife appointment and dd decided to come along the next day.

Oh wow that must've been a shock after all the waiting for your DS

I did. It started creeping up at 35 weeks, at hospital every other day from 37 weeks. Until they told me when I went for a check at 39+1 they told me I wasn’t going home that time. She was born by semi elective C section that afternoon. Monitored my BP for 6 weeks after, went sent back to hospital when she was a week old because it was sky high.
I had high BP a few years previous, pregnancy naturally lowered it until the end when it started to come back up. Still on medication now.

Thank you for that RhinoGirl, it's good to hear what the outcomes could be. Must've been very stressful for you!

I hope you're ok. I developed pre eclampsia at 34 weeks and was admitted and induced straight away but my bp was consistently a lot higher and I had protein/swelling etc straight away. It all worked out really well so don't worry. It's scary but you are almost at term now.

In my experience the bottom number being 90 is what they call borderline and wouldn't normally require urgent treatment or daily monitoring, but it's a condition where things can develop quickly so if you don't feel right then phone your assessment unit/triage and explain how youre feeling. They'll be happy to see you.

I had PIH right from the beginning that got higher and higher throughout my pregnancy.

I was admitted to hospital quite a bit towards the end. Was under a consultant and the plan was to induce on my due date. Gave birth following a sweep 3 days before due date.

The PIH made me feel ill as you describe sometimes but the meds made me feel worse. BP shot through the roof in labour so constant monitoring before and after. Was then readmitted 5 days post natal and kept in (with baby) for a few nights whilst they worked to bring it back down. I have only just stopped taking medication 4months PN.

None of that sounds very positive haha but it was honestly absolutely fine and I hope it all turns out well for you too.

As an aside 90 was a good day for me, I was averaging 144/115 I think so I have high hopes that you'll be okay

Thank you, I'm so glad it worked out really well for you

I had it start about 34 weeks with DS, had two overnight admissions when it went truly high and was put onto medication to control it - the downside being that med would mean baby would have low blood sugar when born. I then had to have was twice weekly bp checks and urine tested each time for proteins was also told to read it at home daily (and go to hospital if bottom reading went over 100) was also induced as they didn't want me to go past my due date. Never developed pre eclampsia.
It took a few weeks for me to come off the medication it all went back to normal. Now 15 weeks with dc2- have been put on low dose aspirin am also classed as high risk and will have extra monitoring this time as am told it usually recurs....

Thank you Susan and JFW, it is so helpful to have all of the details from your experiences but very sorry you have had to go through it! I am feeling calmer that the 91 is definitely the lower end which explains why they are not rushing me for more tests.

I had pih with ds, kept creeping up ay mw appointments and they said any headaches or auras/dizzyness etc to call hospital.

One splitting (nausea inducing) headache later I was on a ward being kept in overnight for obs because my blood pressure was 200/185. Nurse said to me no wonder your head hurts!

They wanted to induce me but I requested to go to term (as it was nearly four weeks early)

They gave me some blood pressure medicine and regular monitoring.

Ended up induced about three days after due date (first available slot) and that was fine (had epidural before they gave me the drip and slept through most of it)

It didn't turn into pre-e, had no protein in wee or anything but the medication did make me feel a bit light headed.

They kept an eye on my blood pressure during labour but the epi dropped it back down to normal (120/80 for me) and it stayed that way after ds was delivered.

Also sorry, I forgot to mention, I had a BP profile done in hospital and mine was erratic. As low as normal and the 200/185 being the highest.

That it didn't stay the same didn't seem to be the issue, just that it was high at all

I have had PIH with all four of my pregnancies, my body started creeping up from 34/35 weeks each time. I was admitted and induced around 2 weeks early each time. And my bp came down to normal levels straight after delivery.

Hi @ilikepinacoladas

I had exactly this a couple of weeks ago (34 wks) - high BP and pulse plus one + protein & ketones, booked in for a check in a week's time whichever me in limbo worrying although also reassured by their lack of urgency! They also took bloods and a second urine sample in case of UTI.

I went back for the monitoring and my BP was completely normal - checked 3 times over about half an hour. Bloods all good too.

At my next appt just passed, the BP was completely normal again. So it seems like just one of those things. Hope it's the same for you.