Pregnant with Heart Problems

[Ruby Sneakers]

Hi There

Just wondering if there are any other mums or mums 2 be who have/are going through pregnancy with heart complaints.

I have a mild condition called vasovagal syncope (pretty much means due to low blood pressure and an overly sensitive ticker i pass out regularly if i dont take care) and SVT (heart pulpitations) and am just wondering if anyone else has had to deal with these during pregnancy? I have spoken to my drs but no one can give me a straight answer to what should do - "See how u go" is not a moto i tend to live by if i can avoid it especially when it comes to my health and my bubs health.

Any info would be great!!

Thanks :)

[TripleTime]

I have low BP & know to pass out at the drop of a hat.

The further i got in my pregnancy, the higher my BP got. Good in a way, with less chance of passing out. In the 1st trimester i dropped a few times due to over heating my self in the shower or standing the sun to long during a freakishly hot summer.

Im now on medication to stableise my BP.

[mini_me]

Im waiting heart surgery - still on waiting list ... Ive had heart problems during all 3 of my pregnancys. Drs laugh when i say im illergic to being preg :laughing: before preg im fine (generally) while i preg i get all sorts of problems - pulpertations is my major complaint my heart races around the 280 bpm when not medicated feeling faint, hard to breathe - which makes me breathe faster, so heart races more oh lovely exciting stuff. I suffer with RVOT (Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Tachycardia) - my irregular 3rd pulse which is going to be lasered off after i have my Coarctation of the Aorta fixed its a narrowing of the aorta creates 2 different blood pressures - 2 different pulse rates in each arm - and why the hospital enjoys using me like a science experiment for their students :gloomy: its measuring 6mm round where it should be 20mm

Unforunately it really is a see how you go.... almost every pregnant woman has different ratios of what they can handle. First pregnancy they just put it down to common pulpertations 3 times hospitalised over night stays. 2 preg got to 20 weeks then hospitalised for a week, then 36 weeks i was having constaint dizziness just wouldnt ease up and back in hospital cos oxygen wasnt getting around properly. 3rd pregnancy i managed to stay away from hospital until 37.5 weeks.

I guess all i can suggest if you dont feel "right" breathing fast & lots of pulpertations or long runs and you feel a little light headed - and resting isnt helping best to ring the hospital. When i was passing out, before the dizzy spells came heaps of pulpertations was a pretty good sign to quickly sit down

Are you on any medications?

[Ruby Sneakers]

Hi
Thanks for ur response.

No I am not on any meds currently because everything theyputme on gave me side effects that worsened one of the 3 conditions in some way (beta blockers lowered my BP too much, Florenef made me too nauseated, some other medication that i had to get through a trial made me get constant migrains and feel as tho i was going to hurl everytime i turned my head)

I cope ok without anything at the moment (my biggest issue is my location - I have to live in Townsville due to army posting) but i pretty much dont do anything other than work behind a desk, go to the movies or generally sit around with no stress. The weather knocks me around too much.

Every doctor i see keeps telling me "see how it goes" and I dont want to risk falling pregnant and heavily relying on my partner to get through the day as it isnt possible. (he spends a lot of time out bush)

I have been warned there is a risk of bed rest being a big part of my late pregnancy but I was hoping to work as much as I could until the baby was born as I wouldnt be returning to my job after... but im a bit of a thorough person so trying to soak up as much info so i can try and do my best to avoid any dramas

[mini_me]

fair enough. sounds like its a very big problem for you. Where as mine is more of a pregnancy menace, although usually by 12 weeks im close to normal and right now im not even close :dizzy: hot weather has a lot to do with it.

The thing to keep in mind is when a woman is pregnant it sticks extra pressure on their heart to pump, if your heart is already having a hard time, not sure how your going to feel. Although beta blockers eventhough they dont work well for you now - might work whilest your pregnant as blood pressure goes up a lot. My non pregnancy bp is around 130/80 when im preg is jumps up to 140/95 ave beta blockers bring it down to 110/60 helps stop the pulpertations

[Ruby Sneakers]

At the moment my BP is generallly around 80/40... can go up and down. But as pregnancy increases it, that may actually help me...:fingerscrossed:

[Chrissie78]

Hi,

Yes, I suffer syncope. As just wrote in another thread, am 6weeks pregnant and so very happy, but a little nervous too. Nervous about fainting during the pregnancy, passing it on....and also about how I will cope with the actual birth. I often pass out as like a pain mechanism! Would be very interested to hear from any ladies who have been through labour with this condition. Thx!

[kiwigemini]

They discovered my heart problem during my 3rd pregnancy!
It turned out that my pregnancy heart murmur was a bicuspid aortic valve (moderate regurgitation) and a dilated ascending aorta. They just watched my BP very carefully ( PE with previous pregnancies) and constantly listened to my heart and asked if I had dizzy spells and or out of breath. I was thought, I'm pregnant, of course I have those problems!:laughing:
I saw a specialist every week as I also had a dangerously low platelet count during my pregnancy. No more babies for us, way too stressful!
All the best.:hugs:

[katejaz]

Hi, I'm newly pregnant, and an old heart kid....
I was born with a coarctation of the aorta, VSD and bicuspid aortic valve. I was diagnosed late, and as a result have had hypertension for much of my childhood and early adulthood. I had my last surgery when I was 21, and have been on betablockers since.

My BP is well controlled and I think that before I got pregnant I was probably as fit as I've ever been.

I have no idea how I am going to cope with that later stages of pregnancy, and am also worried as congenital heart disease carries a 1 in 8 chance of having a baby with something wrong....
Nice to know other people are going through it too, and doing ok!

[Ruby Sneakers]

I had my bub last week via csection and we are both really well although as I am still recovering my bp is still quite low and have to be careful how much I do...

I hope u have an easy pregnancy (mine was a nightmare!!!) xoxox

[kiwigemini]

Pinupsez - Congratulations on the safe arrival of your bubba. Sorry to hear you had a difficult pregnancy. Hope your BP improves soon, it must be scary when trying to look after a little one.:hugs:

Kate & Chrissie - all the best for your pregnancies, I hope they are uncomplicated and nothing gets passed on to bubs.

For some reason my cardio is very anti me getting my children checked out. I don't see the big problem.:rolleyes: