Pre Eclampsia / Blood pressure quick question, can anyone direct me to a decent website

[BigBadMouse]

Hello folks,

I'm on 4th pregnancy (26 weeks) and not had any particular blood pressure problems in previous pregnancies but this time I am having symptoms I would like read up on to see if they are something I should get checked out.

Being 3rd successful pregnancy MW appointments are a bit few and far between and just want to know if I should maybe bring the next one forward to get this checked out.

Can anyone direct me to a website with reliable information that will tell me if my symptoms are normal or need a further check up. Would phone the midwife tomorrow to discuss but they are notoriously hard to get hold of.

Thanks

Best to call a MW with any symptms such as blurred vision, continual headaches, swelling, fainting, severe pain under ribs, bleeding etc.

What are the symptoms you're worrying about?

(on number three here (32wks) after a placental abruption and abnormal placental blood flow both apparently linked to bp and p-e, so I know a bit, might be able to ease your mind)

just to add to VS's list, any kind of visual disturbance (stars, shooting lights), severe frequent headaches (doesn't have to be continuous) and very sudden weight gain.

I had unexplained high bp throughout pg and was monitored v closely for pe (although it never showed). They recited the symptoms every appointment!

If you are worried then just drop into your pregnancy day unit - they'll take your bp to put your mind at rest I'm sure.

Thanks, I don't think it is that severe tbh, just a bit of dodgy blood pressure.

Symptoms are suddenly feeling very faint with nausea, my hands suddenly seem to swell up then go down, headaches / migraines (which give me disturbed vision, flickering lights etc). Don't think I have had sudden weight gain.

What is a pregnancy day unit?

If my BP is going up and down I would think it unlikely they'll catch it at a dodgy time (as these things tend to work out).

tbh I think it is just normal pregnancy stuff but wonder if I should get it checked out (probably more worried after MC on PG3 - actually there is no probably about it...)

Hi Had pre-eclampsia with both pregnancies (from 28wks & 30 wks)only had servere high bp so best to get it checked out.
A really good site to visit is
www.apec.org.uk and www.preeclampsia.org/forum/default.asp you should phone up the day unit and tell them your concerns,best to be safe and put your mind at ease.

One of the ladies on my antenatal group had PE with spiking BP, so her blood pressure would rise, then go down and she was very bloody ill with it (I don't know if you know Peachy?), the faintness and nausea is probably blood sugar rather than pressure, I've had it a few times and was just told to be extra careful about getting up and making sure I ate/drank enough.

The headaches, as soon as you get any visual disturbances call your midwife, they should have an emergency number for the community midwives in your area which will get the on-call midwife out to you asap, headaches during pregnancy are normal, As long as they go with medication, you can take co-codamol or paracetamol to ease them but if they don't go, again call the M/W, same as if they last for more than two days.

I used to go and get the GP's practice nurse to check my bp regularly.

When it got too high I also used to have a sort of "fizzing" feeling. Iwasn't too headachey but swelled up like a hippo.

I'm sure you're fine - I'm not an expert but was told it's pretty rare to have several "good" pregnancies and then develop PE - it's much more common with first pregnancies or if you've had it before.

However I agree with VS that the disturbed vision definitely needs checking out as that's one of the common symptoms of pre-eclampsia.

A pregnancy day unit - maybe they don't have them at all hospitals but at my hospital (London) it was where they did all the stuff that was too complex for a routine midwife appointment to deal with but didn't require overnight stays, so blood tests, monitoring of the foetus, pre-eclampsia monitoring, consultant appointments etc etc. There was a number for it on my notes.

If they suspect you may have PE what will probably happen is you will go into the day unit for half a day and they will monitor your BP on and off for several hours, as well as taking bloods to check your liver & kidney function, they may also want you to do wee tests over a longer period (I think there is thing where they test your urine over 24 hours although I was never asked to do this).

Good luck - hope it's all fine!

Thanks very much everyone for taking the time to reply .

I usually get a lot of headaches with visual disturbance, but each time I have been pregnant I have been completely headache free.

The headaches I have been getting with this pregnancy are lasting 3 days or so at times, paracetamol helps a fair bit but doesn't cure it - it just seems to go of its own accord. That is pretty much what I experience when I'm not pregnant. This time we are having a boy - the other pregnancies have been girls and I do wonder if that has made the difference. MS was totally different this time too .

I was also suspecting my blood sugar was a bit dodgy. It has been with every other pregnancy and I get very shakey at times too which I suspect is linked.

Anyway, I have an appointment with my MW on Tuesday. Thanks to your replies I know which bits are importnant to tell her. No pregnancy day unit down here, the hospital is over an hours drive away and things seem to be done by the local MWs more here (hence why they are so busy).