High blood pressure after delivery

Hello,
I recently gave birth to my son (about a week ago). My blood pressure has always been about 120/80 or so, but about 36 hours after I delivered, it rose. They let me leave the hospital after I was able to get it down, but I went back to the dr. 2 days later and it was 149/98. I was really stressed out, so once I calmed down, it went down to 136/80, so I went home and have to go back in a few days.

I've had some minor headaches and my BP has ranged in the 125/75 to as high as 150/93 since then.

Has anyone experienced this? I'm so scared I'll have to go to the hospital. I now have 3 kids. I am breastfeeding and don't want this to impact that either. This is so stressful.

If anyone has any experience they can share with this, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

I was induced at almost 37 week because of high blood pressure. After delivery, it stayed high and my gen practicioner put me on medication. It leveled out but I stayed on the meds until just recently because I am pregnant. Many people told me that it should go back down but for me it didn't on its own. High blood pressure does run in my family though.
Have you spoken to your dr. about medication yet? If your bp is up now, it's going to stress you out more which will just raise it more! Why don't you call and see if they can call in a prescription for you. There is medication that you can take while bf. I know I did. I think it's safer to be on the meds than not to. You are supposed to watch sodium and excersie but neither is easy to do with kids and no sleep!

Now that I am pregnant again, my blood pressure just started increasing again. I'm not sure how the dr. will deal with it now.
Congrats on your new baby and Good luck to you!

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

i had high bp at my 3 prior appointments with my OB before delivery...

when i was in the hospital - it shot up and they wouldn't let me leave honestly because of it. they eventually put me on magnesium sulfate which KILLED me (couldn't breathe, etc.)...

once i was 'out' of the hospital (by then it felt like prison)....i had to see a cardiologist. he put me on exforge and it handled it beautifully. if you can be on that while BF - i don't know (i had no choice - i was on quite the amount of drugs in the hospital because of what the mag sulfate did to me).

i am now NO LONGER on meds - but have to see the cardiologist one more time to confirm. He had me on one pill once a day, then half a pill once a day and now none...when i go back - as long as my BP is okay - then i'm home free!

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

me me me!

mine went WAY higher tho

I had to take home a 24 monitor and then was put on blood pressure meds.

I am still on them and she's 1. But im down to the lowest dose




ETA: My #'s from that monitor came back from 70/40 to 320/287

NOT good But now im 120/something good

Message edited 10/7/2010 11:09:27 AM.

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

Thanks so much for the responses. It's just been so scary and I have to go to the dr. tomorrow to have my BP checked and I am so nervous, not to mention so tired (DS has day/night confusion). I know I have to relax.

If it is still high, I'll talk to her about meds that can be taken while BFing.

If my BP is in the 140/90 range, do you think they would hospitalize me for that?????

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

I had HBP during the end of my pregnancy and it didn't come back down for a while. I didn't have to go on meds.

Breastfeeding is supposed to lower BP, but I am not sure that's true.

It might be a good idea to get a monitor you can use at home. They are not cheap but I think they are good to have. You might feel less nervous knowing you can check it yourself whenever you need to.

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

So I went to the dr. and my BP was still on the high side. They prescribed Labetalol and said it was safe to take while breastfeeding.

Has anyone taken this drug? While breastfeeding?????

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

I was on it. I breastfed for the first 6 weeks while I was taking it.

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

I had pre-eclampsia with both DDs. Both times my BP stayed high after delivery. I was kept and extra day or two in the hospital both time (I also had a section). Both times I was placed on meds (that were safe for BFing) and within 2-3 weeks my BP was back to normal. I was told it was a hormonal issue b.c I do not have high BP normally.

PIH/preeclampsia is hormonal and from what I was told and read in 90% of cases it will resolve on its own in time. Some people need meds, others don't depending on how high it is. I was told it can resolve in a week or as long as a few months.

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

My blood pressure was high after delivery too. They kept me an extra day as a precaution and let me go home after I agreed to follow up with my doctor later on that week. By then, it was fine.

My OB/GYN said something about all the hormones that get released after delivery cause a rise in blood pressure (or something like that). She was concerned, but knew mine would go down in due time and it did.

Good luck and hang in there!

Re: High blood pressure after delivery

I had this happen to me with both of my pregnancies. With my DS, who as born 7 weeks ago, I was about 160/90. I was put on Labetalol. For me, and this was true with both pregnancies - I stopped pumping at around 2 weeks and my BP immediately went down. Also, and this may be TMI - I know when my BP was going down because I started peeing like crazy (oftentimes your BP is high because of the increased blood volume that your body no longer needs - when your body starts to eliminate that excess fluid then your BP goes down).