Swollen feet and High blood pressure......

Hi all,

I am having a horrible time with swollen feet, i am 35w1d and my feet are so swollen it feels like the skin on my toes is about to rip apart at any tick of the clock.

I have been putting my feet up with ice packs but this is making no difference what so ever. Not only are my swollen feet concerning me but my blood pressure has again gone up.

My next appointment with the midwife isn't until tomorrow week, I am wondering if i should ring them earlier and let them know or if i should just wait until my app't on the 23rd. What do you think would be the best thing to do?

Take care Leah :D

Go in and get yourself checked. They are signs of pre-eclampsia, which i had in my first pregnancy. It can be dangerous for you and bub. They will check for protein in your urine aswell. If your BP is that high you might be induced. I remember how uncomfortable it can be. You might be fine, but it's not worth the risk. Good Luck with everything.

Leah......I would really suggest that you go and get it checked out earlier........better to be safe than sorry.

When you press on the swollen bits with your finger, does the indentation stay, or does the skin pop back up quickly?

I would ring just to see what they think if you are worried. I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia at 37 weeks, so that may also be a concern for you. Atleast if you call they know about it and may bring your appointment forward just in case, and you won't have to worry any more.

Thanks I think I will ring them tomorrow and see what they say, I would prefer to be safe then sorry. I know they wanted to keep an eye on things so they may even ask me to go in tomorrow.

Lucy, when i press the swollen bits i get a white mark and it takes some time for it to fade back to what it was when i pressed it..Does that make sense.????

Take care Leah

Leah.....definately go & get it checked. The indentation thing: when I was pg in Darwin it was so humid & hot, I swelled up a lot at times, but it was just through the heat. My midwife told me a quick way to differentiate between "blood pressure" swelling & heat swelling is if it doesn't spring back when pressed, it is likely to be related to blood pressure.

Absolutely, ring them. If you are getting swelling to the point where it is this painful, it needs to be checked. That's what they are there for!! Don't put it off for a week, if this is the warning signs of pre-eclampsia then they will need to monitor your baby for signs of distress. It's not worth waiting a week to find out.

Kerrie

I agree with everyone else, ring you midwife. Its best to get it checked out for your sake and bubs. Good luck.

Westy, go to your local hospital and get your BP checked AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. It's not worth leaving this. If it's too high, get yourself admitted. Pre-eclampsia can kill you. I'm serious.

The indentations are a good sign that something is definitely going wrong. If they don't spring back within 5 seconds, it's NOT GOOD.

PLEASE go to your hospital.

Westy - I have the same thing at the moment. Swollen feet and BP is up. Ob is keeping an eye on me - appts at least weekly at the moment and I have to call if I'm ever concerned. Like the girls said, go and get checked out please!!!! Hopefully it's not too bad and they will just keep an eye on you, but at least they will be aware of it. I was in yesterday at the ob and my BP is 140/90 - not too bad, but he still wants me back in on Friday again. My feet stay indented too. Let us know how you go.

Westy

I hope you are ok - have you seen a doctor/midwife yet??

Better to be safe than sorry!!

Best wishes

westy - i hope you have had a chance to get checked out.

let us know how you have gone,

Linda

Hi and thanks for all of your advise and concerns.

After phoning the midwife earlier on today and telling her what was happening she said i needed to go and have an assessment done today to check everything out. She said my BP was of concern.

I have a Dr's app't for 4pm this afternoon, it's not with my usual Dr- she's on holidays.But i figure seeing some Dr is better then not seeing one at all.
Luck for me i was able to get into the Dr's today, had i not been able to she wanted me to go to hospital and have the assessment done there.

I will let you know how the app't goes.
Take care Leah :D

Glad to hear it Leah, am hoping that it's nothing serious.

Hi leah, I am glad you are going to see the dr. I had pre eclampsia during my 1st pg and was enduced at 37 weeks because of it but was in hospital from 35 weeks. I hope your appointment went well, and thy are now keeping a close eye on you, you just can't be too careful when it comes to your health and the safety of your baby.

Take care Kas

Hi all,

As you know i had a Dr's app't yesterday afternoon due to high BP.Well my blood pressure was taken 3 times during a 5-10 minute time frame and the readings were going up dramatically each time, so after the Dr speaking to the midwife it was decided that i needed to be admitted to hospital for further monitoring and observation.

When we arrived at the hospital the CTG was hooked up to check how bubby was doing- bubby's doing really well so that's a huge relief. My blood pressure was taken again a few times and after a few tries some blood was taken and sent off to be checked. Once all of this was done i was taken to a bed in the maternity ward and told that i would be having my BP taken every 4 hours during the night. The readings throughout the night were ok, but this mornings was again high.

Anyway DH and DS came in to the hospital this morning to visit and to see how things had gone overnight. It looked like i would be staying in again tonight after a few high readings this morning but thankfully they allowed me to come home and rest but they want me back in on Friday for what they call day observation, depending upon how things go on Friday they will advise what the next step is.

Sorry this is so long, and i hope it makes sense Leah :D

Hoping everything goes well for you, I'm glad you are getting the care you deserve!

Kerrie

Leah, you poor chook. Hope the BP stays under control...........

Hi all,

Just thought i'd pop in and give you all an update.

Today i had a midwives and Dr's appt at the hospital and unfortunatly my BP has gone back up to 150/100 again so now i have to go back in for day observation tomorrow.
They also told me i will have to be monitored closely which means i have to have blood tests and urine tests daily from now. They told me to get some help so i have my mum coming over the weekend to stay until things are better.May even have bub by the end of the month if this continues.YAY.

Take care Leah

glad to hear you have your mum helping you leah. i hope your BP stabilises for you,

Linda

Heh.. where would we be without our Mums? I've just decided to call mine and ask her to do the school pick-up today because as the day goes on I just get too tired and sore to want to get in and out of the car! I'm going to get her to take the kids to sports so that I can go and soak in the hydrotherapy pool and feel weightless for a while!

Kerrie

Hi there Leah

I hope you don't mind me asking but at what point in your pregnancy were you diagnosed with HBP and what was your BP at that point for them to diagnose you??

Also have they put you on any Medication?? or is it just a matter of them monitoring you??

I'm 18 weeks and this week for some unknown reason my blood pressure has risen - last Thursday it was 150/85, then on Monday it was 155/78 - which meant that i had to go to the hospital - where it dropped to 145/78 they then sent me home....with the need for me to follow up with my GP which i did on Wednesday and low and behold she totally freaked that they sent me home which in return made me panic a little - it seems that there is a lot of talking going on but not much action.

I've been advised to transfer to St George hospital as they have a Hypertension unit and Sutherland Hospital (where i am already booked) don't - however when i called the hospital (St George) to see if I can get an urgent appointment again I got the feedback that yes this was urgent however I need to fill in paperwork and get my doctor to fill in her bit before they will make an appointment (and they wonder why i have HBP....)

So to cut a long story short i'm interested in other peoples circumstances and results as you lovely ladies seem to give me more info then any of the docs of the hospitals...

Sorry for the long winded email - I'm just a little concerned about this situation.

thanks heaps

dianna 8-[

Hi Dianna

My BP was diagnosed as HBP at 23 wks roughly.I think for memory it was 140/85, just below the danger point which is 150/90 and I had traces of protein in my wee.At that point the doc said because I had HBP so early on I had to relax or maybe cut back on work hours or go on maternity leave.I took the option of maternity leave thanks to my employer freaking out and scared to have me there.My BP dropped and stayed normal untill this week.

I have had sudden swelling of my feet, legs and ankles and headaches.My BP was back up to 135/85.The doc said its the lower number that they worry about, cause if it hits 90 then theres a problem.They didn't do a wee test or anything.I got a newbie doc and all she said was "oh well we are seeing you weekly anyway and its to soon to put you on HBP medication!?' WHAT THE?!I only have 2 wks to go and she was talking medication!How dumb!Little late for medication I thought.But I'm like you there seems to be no urgency in them following up or treating HBP.Needless to say if I have bad headaches again or any other symptoms that its flaring up I'm going straight to the hospital and demanding more tests!!!!

My BP shot up as soon as I became pregnant, so I was put on medication when I was about four weeks pregnant. My BP was consistently measuring about 150/90, even with medication, so they increased the dose which has brought it down to about 145/85.

Fortunately I don't have any of the other symptoms associated with pre-eclampsia, I did start to get swollen ankles at one point and was told to put my feet up more, once I started resting the swelling went down but my BP remains borderline. I don't anticipate any problems, but I did have this issue with my first pregnancy and my BP went sky-high during labour which resulted in them transferring me to an emergency ward during labour (note - you do NOT want to be getting in an ambulance and changing hospitals in the middle of labour, it's NOT a fun experience!) and I had to have an epidural to bring the BP down. The second labour I went through, there were no BP problems at all, even though it was registering a little high throughout the pregnancy.

Sorry if this is TMI, I just thought you might be interested in another experience. Having HBP does not automatically mean you will have pre-eclampsia, it's just a warning that you need to monitor your health.

Kerrie

Hi there All

Thanks for your replies - they are very helpful

In the mean time since posting i have managed to score an emergency appointment on Monday at the "High Risk maternity section" at St George hospital - I called a few people and miraculously it took the receptionist at the specialists to tranfer my call to the hospital - i think she had a little chat with someone because I was offered an appointment pretty much straight away after that - it helps to grovel a little i've discovered.

I've also got an appointment with the Specialist on the 7th Sept (the earliest one available....) so here's hoping all stays ok until then.

When I did the urine test it also came up with traces of Protein - but obviously not enougth for the hospital to be concerned as they sent me home....

Just out of curiosity - what are the side effects of taking medication for HBP through pregnancy?? no one has told me that part yet - they just seem reluctant to administer it....

In the mean time I've seen my naturpath who has me taking - calcium, magnesium and fish oil supplements - as these are not only good for the baby but are also beneficial for HBP - here's hoping they work - she has assured me that these will work - she is also going to take my blood pressure twice a week - one on a week day the other on a Sunday to see if the root cause of my dramas are work related and stress related - i'd bet money on it that it is - but at 18 weeks pregnant I'm not that prepared to give up work yet if i can avoid it - but if i have to, i have to - either way want to get all the advice i can get before making any major decisions.

Geez pregnancy can be a trying time..... #-o but staying positive as that's about all i can do. O:)

thanks again for all your feedback

dianna xx

I haven't come across any reluctance to administer BP medication during pregnancy, it's apparently safe to take Aldomet (methyldopa) throughout pregnancy - but then, my BP has been borderline ever since my first pregnancy, so I guess I was an automatic candidate for medication once it rose.

The way I'm given to understand it, the umbilical cord is a little like a pressure hose, if your blood pressure is too high then the blood doesn't pass through the cord properly and your baby doesn't get the nutrition it needs, which is why they monitor HBP so closely when it hits that borderline area when you are pregnant.

On the plus side, this is not a rare condition and a lot is known about it. Next time you see your doctor, bug them to give you as much information as they can about it all, so you can make informed choices. Here's hoping you are well and healthy!

Kerrie