Uh oh. High BP

Dang dang dang. At my 28 week check on Tuesday my BP was 136/65. It's usually around 110/over something. The nurse didn't seem too worried and my urine must have been okay. It's been nagging at me though because I've never had a high reading. So tonight at the grocery store I used one of their BP machines expecting it to be lower. It wasn't. 142/85. Crap! I went to use the bathroom and then tried it again. 150/80. I called the doc on call. She ran through the list of physical symptoms to watch for. Headache, pain in my right side, vision changes, vomitting, etc. Nope except my vision is a little blurry. So she told me to watch for those and if nothing changed to come in on Monday to be checked.

Today my head feels a little fuzzy but doesn't really hurt. I plan to stay off my feet. I packed a hospital bag just in case I end up there.

What is a 24 hour urine test?

TIA!

 

Mine was borderline high for weeks but came down when resting so I was allowed to remain pregnant and just watch for symptoms. I hope you are so lucky. I never did have protein in my urine when tested.

The 24-hour urine test basically means they give you a jug and you collect and pour urine in the jug every single time you need to pee (and I seem to recall that you have to keep it in your refrigerator -- ick!). I haven't done it but SIL has underperforming kidneys and has to do this every year for her regular checkup. They do a 24-hour check because it's more accurate to check a full day rather than only one elimination.

 

The first reading that you had was fine. The others to were mildly high but your bottom number was still low which is good. I would just keep off your feet as much as possible until Monday. Hope it all works out ok.

 

Try not to stress over your BP or it will just go up. When I did my 24 hour urine I actually kept the container on ice in the bathroom so that it didn't have to go in my fridge. They need to check for protien in your urine. Maybe your BP will just stay borderline. To put things in perspective, with my first child my BP at one point was 220/100. (Needless to say I was hospitalized at that point.) Try to take it easy, Lisa

 

I'm an ER nurse, and I can tell you, the B/P machines in the drugstore, Kroger, etc are not always correct. Plenty of folks come in to see us, after they've had a high B/P reading there, and been just fine. Another thing to remember is that you should look at a trend of b/p's ... not necessarily just one reading.

24 hour urines are a piece of cake .... just like it sounds ... you'll be keeping your urine in a jug for 24 hours, then dropping it off in the lab.

 

I'm not trying to scare you - I'm just going to tell you my story. I had an appointment on a Monday and my BP was 140/80 - which is high for me. The nurse didn't seem too concerned. I was bummed because that's the highest my BP has ever been. I am a teacher - so at school we have a nurse. I had her take my BP 2 days later (I just had a feeling) and it was higher than my Monday reading. I called my doctor and told them the reading. He said for me to take it easy that night and get another BP reading in the morning. I didn't have a headache - but my eyes seem to be a little weird.... they were just different than normal.

I had a feeling that "this was it". I packed my bag, straightened up the house a bit, and organized all the monthly bills ( ). The next day my BP was 160/90!! I called the doctor and told them this. They had me come in and do a 24 hour urine collection.

The next day I delivered the urine - they checked it, I was admitted, air lifted to our area's "big hospital", and I had a c-section 16 hours later.

I was 32 weeks and 2 days. The twins spent 17 days in the NICU.

I had the easiest pregnancy up to that point. I was still working, cleaning the house, and I felt great!! I was in great shape - but that doesn't matter with preeclampsia. Keep an eye on your BP. If it hadn't been for our school nurse - I wouldn't have know my BP was rising.

Like I said - this wasn't to scare you.... it's just my story.

 

QUOTE(lilly_&_hunter @ Mar 30 2008, 06:31 PM) [snapback]695803[/snapback]
I'm not trying to scare you - I'm just going to tell you my story.


I appreciate these stories and I agree with the "not feeling quite right" feeling. I might have discounted the grocery store BP machine if I hadn't used it a few times before with a regular result. I'm glad I did it because otherwise I wouldn't know my BP was getting elevated and I should take it easy. I posted a separate post about spending 3 hours getting monitored at the hospital yesterday. I wasn't going to call but the OB called to check on me and sent me in. There, lying down, my BP was around 135/85. Better but not great. They did a single urine test and blood work. All those looked okay and they sent me home. I still feel weird. Just a fuzzy headache type feeling. I bought a home BP monitor but it is way off. If it's accurate, DH is dead. LOL

I'm trying not to worry but it's hard. I'm taking it really easy this week, eating more protein, vitamins etc. There is not much else I can do.

 

My BP would not go down with rest. Is your doctor doing a 24 hour urine sample for you? With me - it seemed like as soon as I realized I had high BP.... it just kept rising. The highest it ever got was 165/110 (the doctor said the bottom number is the real concern) - and this was with meds through the IV. On a Monday my BP was a little high and by Saturday our twins were here. It just happened so fast.

Preeclampsia is a nasty thing.... listen to your body and call your doctor if you feel like something's not right. Sounds like you are being very careful - good for you!

Take care

 

[SIZE=10pt]The 24 hour urine screen is to test for protien in your urine (sign of pre-eclampsia). My blood pressure was around 165/90 for about the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy I never did have protein in my urine though. I ended up on Procardia for contractions and they figured it would help with my bp too. Well they took me off of it at 35 weeks thinking I would either deliver or they would deliver me because of bp issues. Neither happened and I ended up being induced at 37 weeks. They will just continue to monitor you and if you ever start feeling any of those symptoms just make sure you call your ob. I ened up getting a bp cuff to take mine at home. It may have just been elevated because you had been on your feet and moving mine always was when I first got in, they started taking it at the end of my appt. and it was usually a little better.[/SIZE]