I am a 36 year old female. I have a healthy 2 1/2 year-old. I developed Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension during my pregnancy in 2003 and was not placed on meds. I developed hypertension last Oct 05. My BP ranged from 120/78 (NORMAL) TO 150/100. I recently had a cardiac work up and my tests were normal. I will be going for a renal scan tomorrow. I was placed on low dose Labetalol in January and since then my doctor increased my dose to 200mg in the am and pm. My BP has been running normal as of this week but my symptoms are awful. My doctor is decreasing my Labetalol dose and starting me on Cardene.

As soon as my BP is regulated, I want to try and get pregnant.

I have seen a maternal fetal medicine doctor and he seems to think I can be on any BP med as long as it is not an ace inhibitor.

I am so nervous to be on any BP meds during pregnancy.

Is there anyone who has been in my situation? If so, what BP meds were you on? Did you develop any problems? I read about Cardene, but I just do not want to take two drugs for BP while I am pregnant. Any opinions, information, or advice would be helpful.

I wanted to post this under the pregnancy category but it states that it is for women who are pregnant already.

Thank you :)

I've done a considerable amount of research on the subject since I developed hypertention at the end of my pregnancy. Most of my research has been geared more toward meds & breastfeeding though (which is much easier because there has been a ton more research done!) I'm still trying to find a good med and I'm 10 weeks post-partem. I am currently on the same dose of Labetalol as you, but I can't stand the side-effects so I was just switched to a diuretic. I think you can trust your doctor that most meds will be fine w/ the exception of the ACE inhibitors.

I know in my research that a TON of women who are pregnant seem to be on Aldomet. I dont' know much about this drug, but it's a category C which is a little better than the Labetalol. Labetalol is a category C except for 2nd & 3rd trimester when it's a D. The Calcium channel blocker is a category C also, I beleive.

I hope you can find something you feel comfortable with. I know a few women who entered pregnancy w/ high BP and had good outcomes. I think it's great that you are so on-top of it. Also, don't forget that BP tends to naturally dip during the 2nd trimester. HOnestly, my BP ran as low as 90/60 for much of my 1st & 2nd trimester!!

Thanks for your reply.

I have researched Aldomet and see it as a category B only.

As for Labetalol, I only see it as a category C. Please advise where I can find the information that states it is a D in Trimester 2 & 3.

Thank you! :)

I am in the same situation. I developed PIH and have been on meds since giving birth. I tried Toprol, but that hasn't worked. Because I would like to get pregnanct again, my doc put me on labetalol yesterday. What side effects did you both experience?

I was on methyldopa from 14wks to 26wks and this steadied my bp. I had my baby at 371/2 wks but no my bp is 129/94 so I've been put on water tabs and zandip.

I currently decreased my dose of Labetalol to 100mg a day because of my symptoms. My maternal fetal medicine doctor wants my BP at around 130/85 when I get pregnant. Pregnancy in the beginning, can lower your BP. This way the uterus will get perfused. So far, my BP on 100mg a day has been around 120's/70's.

The symptoms I have experienced from Labetalol are scalp tingling, feel as if my R foot is severely swollen, severe achiness in bones like I have bad arthritis and I cannot move my joints, and tingling/heaviness in my limbs.

I currently went to a nephrologist who specializes in hypertension and she is regulating my BP meds. She told me to lower my Labetalol dose and wanted to start me on an additional BP med as well. I lowered my Labetalol dose as stated above and my BP is still okay. I am not starting another medication. I am going to discuss this with her when I see her. I hope to decrease my dose of labetalol to 50mg a day. I figure the lowest dosage and least number of drugs are better for pregnancy.

I had a renal scan to check my kidneys and I am waiting for the results. I have to go get some blood work and do a 24 urine to make sure protein is not spilling into my urine.

I am in the medical field and this can make things worse.

I was going to ask my doctor about Aldomet. This med seems to be the only category B drug out there for BP. Were there any symptoms that were experienced during pregnancy when taking this? How about after?

Please let me know. Thank you!

Hi there, I didnt have a problem with my BP during my first pregnancy in 1998 but with my 2nd last year, it was constantly up. I was put on Labetalol but i found that didnt do anything at all and at 34 weeks my BP was diastolic ( think i got that right) 105 so i was hospitalised and induced at 35 weeks because they couldnt stabilize my bp. after the birth of my daughter, my bp got higher and higher (reached 159/115 at its highest) and they said i had eclampsia, wouldnt let me anywhere on my own as they said i could have a fatal fit at any time, it was scary stuff but, i had no problems besides that, and my daughter is now a healthy 8 month old. good luck to you.

lisa