# Postpartum hypertension?



## ZoraP (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm 6 days pp and am feeling great, doing well with baby, etc. I seem to be in perfect health, EXCEPT that I began having high blood pressure (for the first time ever in my life) immediately after the birth, and it is still continuing now. (In fact, it's even a bit higher now.)

Has anyone had experience with this, and what was the reason/solution? As things stand now, I'm being monitored every couple of days. If I have symptoms (like headache, dizziness, etc.), I'm to go directly to the hosp, if it stays the same, I'll be started on meds, and the hope is that it will fall over the next few days.

I'm feeling pretty anxious about this because I never anticipated such a problem -- please share your experiences if you've had this, too.


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## AlexisT (May 6, 2007)

Full blown eclampsia can occur as long as six weeks postpartum, so keep a close eye on this. I know one person who had postpartum PE twice (eclampsia the 2nd). I don't know about mild hypertension postpartum.

In my case, pregnancy unmasked chronic hypertension and I am now on medication.


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## soxthecatrules (Oct 20, 2008)

ITA with Alexis.

I found my post-partum pre-e even more scary than the regular pre-e. I was already on labetalol and then was put on a second BP lowering drug for 10 days. It took about 36 hours after the first dose of the second drug for my BP to return to a more "happy" range.


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## ZoraP (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks to both of you -- I'm sure I haven't had chronic hypertension before this (I'm well-monitored and have always had low to normal pressure whether pregnant or not). Also, I never had pre-e of any type with any pregnancy -- this is my third delivery. So it's still mysterious why this would happen to me now.

What meds are you on that are safe for breastfeeding? TIA!


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## msmiranda (Apr 22, 2009)

I agree about keeping an eye on it because eclampsia can occur postpartum, but there is also regular postpartum hypertension, which peaks 3-6 days after the birth. Apparently it is pretty common. I researched this after my 3 mo was born in July and I was feeling kind of wonky. I did have some pretty high BP readings, which stressed me out, which made the readings higher . . . but according to my research, postpartum eclampsia is more likely to present with vision disturbances than preeclampsia, so I took that as my guide. (I have high-normal BP under the best of circumstances so the high was not that much higher than normal for me). There's a lot of info out there on the internets about it, but I warn you that reading it just terrified me. The fact that I hadn't slept basically since the birth didn't help.


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## ZoraP (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, Msmiranda, that sounds like what's going on with me. My pressure peaked at 170/110 at 6 days pp and I'm already down to 140/90 at 9 days pp. (My usual level is 110/70!) I was scared by my web research more than just the oddity of having high bp for a few days. Looks like it will resolve itself for me, though.


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## Mumofboys (Oct 6, 2021)

ZoraP said:


> I'm 6 days pp and am feeling great, doing well with baby, etc. I seem to be in perfect health, EXCEPT that I began having high blood pressure (for the first time ever in my life) immediately after the birth, and it is still continuing now. (In fact, it's even a bit higher now.)
> 
> Has anyone had experience with this, and what was the reason/solution? As things stand now, I'm being monitored every couple of days. If I have symptoms (like headache, dizziness, etc.), I'm to go directly to the hosp, if it stays the same, I'll be started on meds, and the hope is that it will fall over the next few days.
> 
> I'm feeling pretty anxious about this because I never anticipated such a problem -- please share your experiences if you've had this, too.


Hello, old post I know. But curious did your bp resolve itself ? And did you need medication??
Currently 8 weeks pp and Dealing with it


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