Blood pressure....

Hey...need some advice...think oopump may be best suited here?! My wife gave birth bout 2 months back. Last week she had severe headaches, body pains, dizzy spell. Went to doc, sent us to specialist physician. She was admitted to hospital, numerous tests were done, all came back clear. However her blood pressure was 160/120. Her normal readings used to be 110/70 so quite a jump. They did a 24hr monitor for her pressure, doc wants her to monitor from home for a month then take it from there, says she must cut down sodium and loose weight.. Yesterday reading was 168/117, today 164/111. At hospital think lowest it came down to was 140/90. So, with it basically being elevated around 160/115 most of the time, should we wait the month or should I go to another doc and get a second opinion or just get pressure pills for her??

Those blood pressure numbers are quite high and you don't want them to be elevated for too long, first off is she currently quite over weight? Does she consume quite a bit of salt and carbohydrates and what is her fluid intake like? It would be suggested you get that covered asap, so blood pressure meds would be a good call, try an option for an Arb over an ace inhibitor. There is a product called Co zomavek which is an arb with the inclusion of a low dose thiazide diuretic which could drop that blood pressure quite quickly and then you can sort out the route of the problem.

Very dangerous readings.. Over 100 and you looking for a heart attack, not a very good doctor, it calls for an urgent intervention. You not looking for a doctor to tell you if you should or shouldn't take blood pressure medicine, you NEED to take blood pressure medicine and then work on the points Empire says...

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have ciplazar at home currently which I use. Is it fine to give her that in the interim?

Yes it should be fine. Keep an eye and seek medical advice immediately if it drops yo quickly or other side effects rise.

Thanks pump, just got off the phone with the gp and voiced my concerns after reading your post and said a month is too long to monitor as per what the specialist recommended. He agreed and said to bring her in tomorrow, so hopefully, will get prescription tomorrow...will let you know what he prescribes. Thanks again guys, I would not have known any better and let her wait a month before going back to the "specialist"

I would not fuck around here with a GP, something happened w.r.t. the preganancy and needs to be sorted.

You need to see either a Gynae or a Physician (or both) but this is above a GP's pay grade.

Is she breastfeeding? Because some meds you cannot use while breastfeeding.

But, before you go. Is she taking any supplements to eg increase breastmilk, etc etc. It could also be any myriad of things so importatn to identify and isolate any new additions to what she's using.

Is there any element of post partum depression? This could exacerbate things, although such a huge increase in BP will be unlikely.

But remember, a Doctro can only go on what you tell him/her. Proper history is CRITICAL so that they can make the right decisions otherwise it's just a guessing game and process of elimination until something works, which may then cause other iatrogenic complications later on.

Been to physician, ran loads of tests, all clear. He wanted to wait a month to check her pressure readings...

Blood pressure medicine is normally very safe for a baby, but go have a chat tomorrow.

Wayne what was the story with the doc.

Hey Pump, doc gave a script for losaar 50/12.5mg. Think its the same as what I use but with a diuretic. Wants her to start with half tab and take from there. Also wants to check microalbumin in urine. So will take from there and see how it goes. Thanks for asking. And once again many thanks for the support and advice.

Wayne wrote: Hey Pump, doc gave a script for losaar 50/12.5mg. Think its the same as what I use but with a diuretic. Wants her to start with half tab and take from there. Also wants to check microalbumin in urine. So will take from there and see how it goes. Thanks for asking. And once again many thanks for the support and advice.

Nice idea he had with that. Just get yourself some potassium (It's called slow-k) you get it from the pharmacist. You don't want to lose to much potassium or other vital cardiac enzymes.

Keep me updated please.

No need for Potassium supplementation. Hydrochlorothiazide is Potassium sparing. Furosemide depletes Potassium.

00pump wrote: Keep me updated please.

will do, thanks. Will start her on it today, did give her 50mg of Zartan yesterday, pressure was 154/106. Once she starts on losaar today, how long you think before we should see an improvement?

3 days

Wayne wrote:

00pump wrote: Keep me updated please.

will do, thanks. Will start her on it today, did give her 50mg of Zartan yesterday, pressure was 154/106. Once she starts on losaar today, how long you think before we should see an improvement?

Zartan is a great drug, well done on the docs recommendation.

I'd like to jump in this thread for some advice...

Stats - 38, 187cm, 115kg, not on a cycle.

I've been using meds for hypertension for about 6 years now. I was diagnosed with HT when I was very fat, since then I have lost quite a lot of weight and got a lot fitter.

In the past month I stopped taking the meds (ran out, was busy and didn't get around to filling the prescription). I have been monitoring my BP daily ever since I stopped, and it's always been 120/80 or under.

I know I should go discuss this with my physician but I am not keen on wasting the time/money associated with that.

Am I being stupid or is it safe to stop the meds unsupervised as long as I am monitoring the BP and don't see it high?

Blood pressure is a tricky bugger, losing weight can bring it down, so can many other factors in life. It can take weeks to truly see what your what your BP is at once stopping meds. If you sitting at that mark throughout the day I would see no reason to further take them.