Pre-eclampsia??? Urine results 191?

[Hil]

Hi, I am 28 weeks pregnant, had a BP reading of 120/96 at the Dr's
office and was sent to the hospital for tests (blood test, bp every 10
minutes). While at the hospital the blood pressure dropped a little
but still remained a little high. My Dr scheduled a 24 hour urine
sample and had me come back the next day for additional tests. My
blood pressure was about 136/88 when I got to the hospital but the
longer I was there, it was lowered. When they came back with the
results to the urine tests and they said they were good and that the
number was 191... I'm glad that things look good but exactly what does
that number mean? Do I have a mild case of pre-eclampsia, or was the
high blood pressure just a fluke? The nurse I talked to didn't provide
much information and just said that the Dr said I could go home and
back to work.

Thanks for any info!

[[email protected]]

Hil wrote:
> Hi, I am 28 weeks pregnant, had a BP reading of 120/96 at the Dr's
> office and was sent to the hospital for tests (blood test, bp every
10
> minutes). While at the hospital the blood pressure dropped a little
> but still remained a little high. My Dr scheduled a 24 hour urine
> sample and had me come back the next day for additional tests. My
> blood pressure was about 136/88 when I got to the hospital but the
> longer I was there, it was lowered. When they came back with the
> results to the urine tests and they said they were good and that the
> number was 191... I'm glad that things look good but exactly what
does
> that number mean? Do I have a mild case of pre-eclampsia, or was the
> high blood pressure just a fluke? The nurse I talked to didn't
provide
> much information and just said that the Dr said I could go home and
> back to work.

Mild pre-eclampsia is diagnosed when you have two bp readings over
140/90 at two different times (IIRC two times in 6 hours or something
like that) *and* a 24 hour protein count of greater than 300 mg/dl.

So, no -- you don't have diagnosable PE. (Looks like your doc is
completely on top of the currently recommended protocol for testing,
btw. I'm quite glad he's taking that seriously.)

One thing that causes concern is when bp values fail to drop during the
second trimester of pregnancy, and if yours have not dropped much, then
that's something to be watched.

Here's a link to symptoms of PE:
http://www.preeclampsia.org/symptoms.asp

Here's a link to a PE FAQ: http://www.preeclampsia.org/FAQ.asp

And if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them.
--
C, mama to two year old nursling

[[email protected]]

Hil wrote:
> Hi, I am 28 weeks pregnant, had a BP reading of 120/96 at the Dr's
> office and was sent to the hospital for tests (blood test, bp every
10
> minutes). While at the hospital the blood pressure dropped a little
> but still remained a little high. My Dr scheduled a 24 hour urine
> sample and had me come back the next day for additional tests. My
> blood pressure was about 136/88 when I got to the hospital but the
> longer I was there, it was lowered. When they came back with the
> results to the urine tests and they said they were good and that the
> number was 191... I'm glad that things look good but exactly what
does
> that number mean? Do I have a mild case of pre-eclampsia, or was the
> high blood pressure just a fluke? The nurse I talked to didn't
provide
> much information and just said that the Dr said I could go home and
> back to work.

My blood pressure is higher than that all the time. I average about
140/90 (which is a major improvement from about 170/110 this time last
year!!).

If your doctor said you could go back to work, I wouldn't worry.
Worrying is just going to make your blood pressure worse, anyway!
Take care,
Amy

[Tori M.]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Hil wrote:
>> Hi, I am 28 weeks pregnant, had a BP reading of 120/96 at the Dr's
>> office and was sent to the hospital for tests (blood test, bp every
> 10
>> minutes). While at the hospital the blood pressure dropped a little
>> but still remained a little high. My Dr scheduled a 24 hour urine
>> sample and had me come back the next day for additional tests. My
>> blood pressure was about 136/88 when I got to the hospital but the
>> longer I was there, it was lowered. When they came back with the
>> results to the urine tests and they said they were good and that the
>> number was 191... I'm glad that things look good but exactly what
> does
>> that number mean? Do I have a mild case of pre-eclampsia, or was the
>> high blood pressure just a fluke? The nurse I talked to didn't
> provide
>> much information and just said that the Dr said I could go home and
>> back to work.
>
> My blood pressure is higher than that all the time. I average about
> 140/90 (which is a major improvement from about 170/110 this time last
> year!!).
>
AK! My BP runs 100/60 when it jumped to 130/80 I was put on bed rest.. when
it jumped to 144/104 they attempted induction.. Luckily it went back down
because the induction failed and i gave birth 5 days later naturaly:)

Tori

--
Bonnie 3/20/02
Xavier 10/27/04

[[email protected]]

> My blood pressure is higher than that all the time. I avera=ADge
about
> 140/90 (which is a major improvement from about 170/110 this=AD time
last
> year!!).

It sounds like you had elevated blood pressure prior to pregnancy.
When blood pressure increases for the first time during pregnancy, it
can be a symptom of pre-eclampsia, which is still a major cause of
maternal mortality. A significant increase in bp during pregnancy
merits careful observation and sometimes intervention if that increase
is accompanied by symptoms like proteinuria, neurological disturbances
such as headaches or visual disturbances, and hyperreflexia.

Also, people entering pregnancy with underlying hypertensive conditions
are at higher risk of developing superimposed pre-eclampsia than people
who don't have those conditions -- so your doctor is probably watching
you a little more carefully for PE than people without chronic
hypertension.

--=20
C, mama to two year old nursling

[Jenrose]

>> My blood pressure is higher than that all the time. I average about
>> 140/90 (which is a major improvement from about 170/110 this time last
>> year!!).
>>
> AK! My BP runs 100/60 when it jumped to 130/80 I was put on bed rest..
> when it jumped to 144/104 they attempted induction.. Luckily it went back
> down because the induction failed and i gave birth 5 days later naturaly:)
>
>

There's also the factor that people like you and me who run "low" don't
necessarily tolerate a "boost" as well as someone who normally runs higher.
So while someone who's normally 130/80 won't be phased much by 140/90, for
me, 140/90 is *seriously* elevated, because I normally run, oh, 95/55 (lying
on my left side)-110/70 (when I'm really, really stressed.) If it gets up to
130/80+, it means I'm not getting enough oxygen on a regular basis, whether
due to asthma, apnea or illness. If my bp gets even to 130/80, I am likely
to end up on bronchodilators or antibiotics. My CPAP keeps the apnea from
being a major worry.

Jenrose

[[email protected]]

Tori M. wrote:

> Amy wrote:

> > My blood pressure is higher than that all the time. I average
about
> > 140/90 (which is a major improvement from about 170/110 this time
last
> > year!!).
> >
> AK! My BP runs 100/60 when it jumped to 130/80 I was put on bed
rest.. when
> it jumped to 144/104 they attempted induction.. Luckily it went back
down
> because the induction failed and i gave birth 5 days later naturaly:)

I think it all depends on what's normal for you. One person might run
normally at one level, and another level higher than that is scary for
them, while another person may run at that higher level all the time.

I don't think I'd get anything done if I had low blood pressure -
stress is the only thing holding me together!! :)

Amy

[[email protected]]

wrote:
> > My blood pressure is higher than that all the time. I avera=ADge
> about
> > 140/90 (which is a major improvement from about 170/110 this=AD time
> last
> > year!!).
>
> It sounds like you had elevated blood pressure prior to pregnancy.

I did. This time last year, I had a hugely stressful job, I smoked,
and I ate fast food (tons of sodium) and pre-packaged stuff like
Hamburger Helper (more sodium). I've cut all of those things out, and
I really believe that those changes are what allowed me to (finally!!)
get pregnant. What I'm proud of is that I got my BP down that much
without drugs!! That's no easy feat.

> Also, people entering pregnancy with underlying hypertensive
conditions
> are at higher risk of developing superimposed pre-eclampsia than
people
> who don't have those conditions -- so your doctor is probably
watching
> you a little more carefully for PE than people without chronic
> hypertension.

Nope, he said that everything's cool... 'Course, I've only seen him
twice, and one of those was basically a "meet and greet and draw a ton
of blood" appointment...

Amy

[[email protected]]

wrote:
> wrote:
> What I'm proud of is that I got my BP down that much
> without drugs!! That's no easy feat.

No, it's not! Did you change your exercise habits as well?

My mom and grandmother both have high bp (there's my maternal family
history risk) despite regular exercise, veggie diets, and so forth. So
I'm always looking for tips. :-)

> > Also, people entering pregnancy with underlying hypertensive
> conditions
> > are at higher risk of developing superimposed pre-eclampsia than
> people
> > who don't have those conditions -- so your doctor is probably
> watching
> > you a little more carefully for PE than people without chronic
> > hypertension.
>
> Nope, he said that everything's cool...

Well, that's because he can't actually do anything to stop it. All he
can do is monitor you, and there's no real point in mentioning that
he's going to monitor you since that's why you're paying him. And he
monitors everyone. Around 5% of all first-timers get PE, and all he
can do for dx is watch people with risk factors a bit more closely.

Most prenatal care is designed to catch PE (and a few other things.)
Both the blood pressure check and the urine check are for PE, and
everyone does them, every visit.

> 'Course, I've only seen him
> twice, and one of those was basically a "meet and greet and draw a
ton
> of blood" appointment...

Oooh. Fun. :-)

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

[Jenrose]

> Most prenatal care is designed to catch PE (and a few other things.)
> Both the blood pressure check and the urine check are for PE, and
> everyone does them, every visit.
>


BP is the *only* standard prenatal care doctorish thing that I do with any
frequency. Then again, since that one time with the whooping cough when my
lungs were non-compost-mentis, my bp hasn't been higher than 110/68, and
that was when I'd been trudging around more than usual. But I know that if
my bp goes up *at all* that there are a zillion reasonably simple things I
can do to bring it back down, and it's the easiest barometer I have of how
my various lung issues are doing.

Jenrose

[[email protected]]

> But I know that if
> my bp goes up *at all* that there are a zillion reasonably simple
things I
> can do to bring it back down, and it's the easiest barometer I have
of how
> my various lung issues are doing.

Yeah, you have a nice tight correlation between the asthma/ apnea and
the bp. For me, nothing brought my bp down, which is what clued me in
to the presence of PE. :-) Walking didn't help, bedrest didn't help,
changing my eating and fluid and salt intake didn't help, deep
breathing didn't help, cancelling work didn't help, drugs through an IV
didn't really help for long... :-/ Getting the placenta out helped
eventually; after 6 months of labetelol my bp was back down to normal.
But two days after delivery it was still 220/116 on meds, and at the 6
week followup it was still 150/90 on meds. Took a while for the
kidneys to repair.

Now it's 96/66; I just checked.

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

[[email protected]]

wrote:
> wrote:
> > wrote:
> > What I'm proud of is that I got my BP down that much
> > without drugs!! That's no easy feat.
>
> No, it's not! Did you change your exercise habits as well?

That's the last step. It has taken me a year to do all of this
(because I finally figured out that you can't change everything at once
- you have to make one change, get used to it, then make the next). I
quit my job in May, I started using www.savingdinner.com in July. Quit
smoking in August. Quit fast food in September. Had a vacation in
October and didn't change anything. Then the holidays hit, and we were
waiting for the new health club to open up near us (which it did just
before Christmas). The plan was to get a membership for ourselves as a
"Christmas Gift" - but the day we were going to go (the first day back
from the relatives') I found out I was pregnant.

I plan to join soon, probably this month, but I'm just not sure where
all the time is going (answer: I'm sleeping a LOT more than I used
to!!).

> My mom and grandmother both have high bp (there's my maternal family
> history risk) despite regular exercise, veggie diets, and so forth.
So
> I'm always looking for tips. :-)

I think it helped that I'm 28. I'm also overweight, so I had a lot of
room to improve (still do, he he... None of these changes has made a
bit of difference on the scale. Damnit). I think a lot of it had to
do with will - I was going to prove that doctor who tried to force me
to use anti-hypertensives wrong. :)

> > Nope, he said that everything's cool...
>
> Well, that's because he can't actually do anything to stop it. All
he
> can do is monitor you, and there's no real point in mentioning that
> he's going to monitor you since that's why you're paying him. And he
> monitors everyone. Around 5% of all first-timers get PE, and all he
> can do for dx is watch people with risk factors a bit more closely.

Huh. One would think that he would've made me "high risk" or something
if that were the case. Last time we were there we asked him
specifically about my BP and he said it was fine.

> Most prenatal care is designed to catch PE (and a few other things.)
> Both the blood pressure check and the urine check are for PE, and
> everyone does them, every visit.

Huh. Well, he doesn't seem to be any more concerned about it than he
is with anyone else. If he is, he's not letting on.

Amy

[Jenrose]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
>> But I know that if
>> my bp goes up *at all* that there are a zillion reasonably simple
> things I
>> can do to bring it back down, and it's the easiest barometer I have
> of how
>> my various lung issues are doing.
>
> Yeah, you have a nice tight correlation between the asthma/ apnea and
> the bp. For me, nothing brought my bp down, which is what clued me in
> to the presence of PE. :-)

If my bp went up and I wasn't sick, wasn't having asthma attacks and the
CPAP was still clearly doing its job, you can darned well bet I'd be doing
everything I could to figure out why.

Jenrose

[[email protected]]

>> Around 5% of all first-timers get PE, and all he
>> can do for dx is watch people with risk factors a bit more closely.
>
<snip>
> Huh. Well, he doesn't seem to be any more concerned about it than he

> is with anyone else. If he is, he's not letting on.

The biggest risk factor is "previous history of PE." The second
biggest risk factor is "first baby." The other risk factors I can
think of off the top of my head are: maternal family history of
hypertension or PE, existing hypertension or kidney or liver or
autoimmune disease, BMI over 30, and possibly carrying a male fetus.
http://www.preeclampsia.org would have more info on this.

I got severe rapid-onset PE at 33 weeks (DS was delivered by C-section
at 34 weeks even and spent a week in NICU) and my risk factors were
first baby, maternal family history of hypertension, and male fetus
(though we didn't know he was a boy at the time.) And no one was
particularly concerned about me either; this is just one of the various
risks of pregnancy that everyone runs. Some of us just hit the
jackpot. :-)

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

[Donna Metler]

I'm still running about 130/90 with no meds 10 weeks after delivery. Last
time, it took 3 months to get off medication, and 6 months to get back to
pre-preg. levels (which for me are about 100/60).

For me, my BP seems to start creeping up as soon as I get PG, and then start
spiking at 20 weeks or so. This time, we were able to keep it right around
the 140/90 until 30 weeks, and it didn't spike really high until 35 weeks,
and the baby decided that she was coming then.

In both cases, I didn't have any signs of protein until the BP went really
high, and then my numbers jumped through the roof literally overnight.

--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Band/Choir
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
And Allison Joy, 11/26/04 (35 weeks, PIH, Pre-term labor)

[[email protected]]

> In both cases, I didn't have any signs of protein until the BP went
really
> high, and then my numbers jumped through the roof literally
overnight.

It's funny how differently it manifests in people. My bp gradually and
slowly crept up from 90/60 to 130/80 with trace protein, at which point
I started worrying (increase of 40/20 over initial values) and did
everything I could think of to lower it for a week, at which point I
woke up swollen, borrowed Mom's cuff, and got a reading of 220/116.

--
C, mama to two year old nursling

[[email protected]]

> In both cases, I didn't have any signs of protein until the BP went
really
> high, and then my numbers jumped through the roof literally
overnight.

It's funny how differently it manifests in people. My bp gradually and
slowly crept up from 90/60 to 130/80 with trace protein, at which point
I started worrying (increase of 40/20 over initial values) and did
everything I could think of to lower it for a week, at which point I
woke up swollen, borrowed Mom's cuff, and got a reading of 220/116.

--
C, mama to two year old nursling