Is my blood pressure rise temporary/secondary or reset and essential?

[girlygirl77]

I delivered my daughter by c-section in late septemer 2017 and had an acute placental abruption as the procedure began. Two days later I had severe interal bleeding leading to a 5 hemoglobin and a transfusion. My hemoglobin was back to 12 within 6 weeks.  During this as well as before and during my pregnancy, my blood pressure was a regular 110/70 or sometimes a little less. This has been the case for the many years I've been seeing my blood pressure. My son is 3.5 years as well and my records with over 20 readings have similar pressure readings. I continued breastfeeding after my daughter was born till 5/5/2018 (7.5 months). I had a bad sinus infection in february and saw an ENT and they took my blood pressure and it was ranging between 155 to 165 systolic and 90-100 on dystolic, so I was alarmed. I'm 5'7" and 138 - was back to this pre-pregnancy weight in about 6 weeks +/- 5 pounds. My obgyn thought it was the illness and I should wait to recheck when i'm well. Afer I was well and some time passed, I checked at home and it was around 140/90 so still high for me but not as bad as before.  I went to the dr and they gave me hctz 12.5 mg and it has brought it back to baseline 115/70 or sometimes even as low as 96/69. It reduced it even within 3 hours of taking the first dose. I used to run a lot before my two children and never had a health issue so this is all a surprise. I'm wondering if it was some delayed postpartum given the february figures? I only checked my post-partum at 4 wks and it was 118/72 one month after the baby. The next reading I had was in February so I dont know what it was in-between. My mom became hypertensive after 65 which is supposedly due to hormones and my dad has sleep apnea which is why they think he has it. my brother and sister do not have hypertension but i'm originally from west africa for your reference.  I took myself off of the hctz for one week and 3-4 days in my blood pressure was still low and one week after it went back up to 140/90 so i went back to internist and have been using hctz for about 1.5 weeks after restarting. I looked at labs for Feb, May and June - ALT was 44 and May was 40 and June last week it was 36 vs historical baseline when I look at prior records of about 19-22. SO something may be going on but maybe it was my breastfeeding diet which was heavier. Do you think this is simply a change in my body and this is my new scenario, or does it seem like it spiked after postpartum and is gradually going down? Or is it related to the liver enzyme elevations? What do you recommend in terms of what you have seen and your evaluation? Thanks! FYI - September 27 labs are pre-transfusion but after my c-section/hemorrhage and so may not be relevant.

[girlygirl77]

My blood returned to its previous readings last week as I stopped the medication in order to take some tests to see if there were any secondary causes. I had started a running program of 3 miles 3x a week over the previous 2.5 weeks and used to run more before I had my first child 3.5 yrs ago. I’m not sure if the running brought it down. The difference between yours and what happened to Me Is that it wasn’t inching up but shot yo drastically which is less typical with genetic or lifestyle causes. I’ll keep up the running and watch my diet though I have a pretty good diet already so harder to improve a lot. What do you think about the new Drop in blood pressure now?

[specialmom]

To me it sounds like you have a genetic predisposition for high blood pressure that will likely be your life time battle.  I had pregnancy induced hypertension with my first child and not my son who came after.  A few years go by and sure enough, what they told me was true.  My blood pressure inched up and up due to the genetic make up.  I have made life style changes which I know are hard when you have little ones.  But eating a heart healthy diet is very helpful as is exercising on a regular basis.  What the American Heart Association says is that 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 5 days a week is the goal.  It can be broken down into 10 minute increments but has to be continuous for at least 10 minutes.  Walking briskly counts.  The DASH diet is great to begin following to some extent. Watch sodium as well.  Lose some pounds if you need to.  These things give you the best chance of being med free for a chronic blood pressure issue. I would not expect this problem to resolve no matter the original trigger other than the weight control, dietary changes and exercise that you incorporate into your life.   good luck