Anyone here with hypertension?

[sarahsthreads]

I've been monitoring my blood pressure at home (at my doctor's request) because in the office it's ridiculously high (like 160/110!) and she wanted to be sure it was actually high and not white coat hypertension.

Well, it's high, but not that high - more like 140/90-100. I just get extra stressed in the doctor's office on top of that, apparently! But it's still high enough to be concerning.

I already essentially follow the DASH diet and it hasn't changed anything. I can't seem to find any way to be less stressed about life - life with two young children and a small business is just plain stressful. I have zero time to myself to exercise (see two young children plus small business referenced above). So my doctor put me on methyldopa (we haven't ruled out trying again for another child after my m/c late last year, and I guess this medicine is safe for pregnancy?), but I've been on it for a week with really no impact at all on my blood pressure.

How long should it take to notice a difference?

And, am I crazy, or should I ask her to check my thyroid levels (again)? As far as I remember, they were normal last spring when I went for my full physical, but I do have a few of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, and I guess hypertension (especially of the diastolic (bottom) number, which is the one that's quite a bit higher than it should be) can also be related...

Any BTDT or advice would be appreciated!

Sarah :)

[Tondi G]

no specific advise to the med you mentioned but my husband has high blood pressure and take 3 different meds at this point. When he started taking the meds he saw a change in his pressure right away. I would call your doctor and let her know that the med she has you on is really not working. There are a ton of different medications to treat hypertension but I am not sure what is ok to take during pregnancy.

If it has been a year since your last physical there is no reason why they couldn't run another blood panel and check your thyroid levels just to be sure that there isn't something going on.

[KLD313]

I don't have a chronic problem with it but right after had DD my blood pressure got really high. They gabe me meds in the hospital and they worked right away. I'm guessing they're supposed to be fast acting because if the pills didn't work right away they were going to give me IV meds.

[Kaylee31]

I was diagnosed w/pregnancy-induced hypertension last week and my dr. prescribed me Labetalol. I actually got my first dose while I was in L&D for a non-stress test along with BP monitoring, and my BP continuously dropped from about 158/94 to 130ish/68 within a hour. So the meds had an immediate effect and are safe to use during pregnancy.

[Indianamom2]

Not to be nosy, but are you taking birth control pills? Sometimes those can cause women to have high blood pressure. Might be something to consider.