Hi there, im new here, just found this forum today. i am 26 years old and i have been suffering with high blood pressure since i was 17. my doctor put me on ramipril 2 years ago and i was lucky enough to be able to come off it in september 2005 but now my BP is high again (152/112). I saw my doctor today and i am concerned because she didnt seem worried about my BP reading, she didnt ask to see me again any time soon and she hasnt re-prescribed me the ramipril. Do you think this is right? My main concern is that after having my 2nd child last July, i wasn't allowed out of hospital because my Bp was really high (got upto 159/115 at its highest), so if my BP is almost that high again, should my GP have done something more? :confused: thanks in advance.
Lisa :)

If you are running 152/112 consistently, you need to be back on meds.
BUT don't assume it from one reading. Buy a digital tester and test at home, relaxed and seated comfortably for 5 minutes or more with upper arm at heart level.
Test every day or evening for a month and average the readings.

When you have the average compare it to 140/90 to determine whether to go back on any meds...ramipril is a good choice if it works well for you.

Thank you for your reply. I dont have a monitor but i do use my mums often and it has been around 145/99 for weeks. yesterday i had it checked twice and it was 145/110 and then 146/111, that was on 2 different monitors, one was a wrist one and the other was an upper arm one. i think i might have to invest in a monitor and keep an eye on it. When my bp is up i suffer with migraines and dizziness. thaks again.

Lisa

I noticed in another post that you were eclamptic after the birth of your baby. Are you still being followed by your OB? Are they still checking your liver enzymes & platelette levels as well as checking to see if you have protein in your urine? While it's incredibly rare, eclampisa can affect a person for up to a year after birth.

I was induced as well for hypertension. I made it to 41 weeks though and was not diagnosed w/ pre-eclampsia because my labs were always clean & I never did spill any protein. It was very frustrating because everyone was running around in a frenzy b/c of my BP while I was pregnant, but once I had the baby it was like nobody cared. That made me very nervous. At 2 weeks post-partem, my BP was 170/110. We got it down to 140/100 where it stayed for a while. I finally started monitoring it at home (once in the morning & once at night) and I"m actually finding that my BP is much lower than that! I was on Labetalol, now I am on a diuretic. My BP today was 117/81!! My Baby is 12 weeks old and I think my body is finally getting back to normal. I've finally lost the weight that was gained & I"ve been exercising again.

I agree w/ Lenin that you should monitor your BP, but you should also find a doc to take your BP seriously!

Hi Zekat, thanks for your reply, and Congratulations on the birth of your child :)
I have been considering getting a second opinion elsewhere but am worried i will have the same problem with another doctor, i guess all i can do is try and see what happens. I told my mum tonight about this and she agree's i should get a second opinion and that it shouldnt have been left.
I am not still being observed after having eclampsia. I was discharged from the hospital officially when my daughter was 2 weeks old but they allowed me to go home when she was 10 days old on the condition that i wasnt to do anything stressful and i wasnt to be left on my own incase of a fit. I was having my BP checked 4 hourly whilst in hospital, and as my daughter was in special care until she was 2 weeks old, when i went everyday to visit her, i had to go back to the postnatal ward for bp checks. Ive still got some of my old ramipril here and am in 2 minds to self medicate because i feel so dizzy all the time, but i probably wont.
Its great that your BP was at a good level at 12 weeks post partem, the weight loss has probably been a helping hand in that, i have gone the other way and put on 2 stone in weight, but i have PCO and find it difficult to lose it and keep it off and ive been on 3 different types of pill since the birth which hasnt helped either. :wave:

Lisa, I am new today, also. Did you go to the dr for your high blood pressure today? Perhaps you need to call and mention your concern and ask if the dr wants you to take something to get your BP lower. I would not let it go. Do you have a way to monitor it on you own? I take mine often at the grocery or drug store. It is not perfect, but it gives me an idea of what is going on. I have found from dealing with the medical profession that we have to be our own or someone else's patient advocate many times. They do well, but they deal with so many people and they are human too, so they can miss or forget things. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

Hiya. I asked my doctor yesterday if she wanted me to start taking the ramipril again and she said no not yet. I asked when she wants to see me again and she just said " see how it goes over the next couple of months". i can monitor my bp on my mums machine BUT i cant use that everyday and i cant borrow if from her as she uses it too.

As others have said, treatment is not usually started on the basis of one reading, despite what may have happened previously. I have had boderline hypertension from the age of 16, was first treated for pre-eclamsia during my first pregnancy, but by 6 weeks post partum bp had settled to reasonable level. Continued at that until 6 years ago when it had crept up again and treatment started, this continued through my 3rd pregnancy but again at 6 week post partum, was discontinued. I have kept an eye on it myself and was aware it was rising again. I made a appointment with Practise Nurse, who agreed it was high, had it checked weekly for 3 weeks, mssu, bloods and ecg later now being treated. Do you have a practise nurse you could see and explain your concerns? At highest mine was 203/125, so sometimes you do have to persevere
Take care and keep us informed.
p.s congrats on arrival of baby
Pat

Thanks Pat for your reply. Wow, your BP was really high!! My doctor seems totally unconcerned about the level of my bp at the moment and i dont know if id be able to see the nurse. Im borrowing my mum's wrist monitor when i can get over to her so i will keep a check on it that way and see how it goes. I plan to change doctors but at the moment i have some medical stuff going thru to do with my housing association and it would be a lot of hassle to change doctors until that has been sorted out.

thanks again ( baby is 9 months old soon, doesnt time fly!)

Lisa :wave:

Urghhh, The same thing happened to me toward the end of my twin pregnancy.. My BP started going up. I carried so long and was so big it seems as though it was just a stress on my body. I was induced w/ pitocin which probaly helped bring my BP up. It is hard for me to remember how long my BP stayed up I'll guess and say anywhere from 2-3 months. But I remember feeling horrid on the pills.. Which was harder because I had to tend to newborn twins.. I had never had a history with HP. But, since then I do occ. rise during stressful times..Last year it was my girlfriends wedding and the whole family including children were in it. My BP rose for about 2 weeks went down after it was over.. This season I recently had elective surgery and now my BP rose again.. I am annoyed because it has been low for so long.. The twins will be 3 and I have not had meds. in 3 years. Now after this elective surgery it went up again 140/100.. So, my Dr. put me on topral xl and stated we will not stay on this.. He wants me to recover from the surgery and then we will see from there... I am not overweight, I exercise (taking a break since surgery) I do not smoke, and I eat right.. I do not know what else I can do..

As soon as your body recovers and you get your stress level under control.. See what happens.

Good Luck..