Midodrine And Pregnancy

[lalalisa]

Hello,

I'm 15 weeks pregnant and have been on Midodrine for 6 years - including while being pregnant. My dr's have seemed ok with it until I saw my local cardiologist today (I also see dr. Grubb on occasion). She seemed quite concerned about Placental Insufficiency and Midodrine. She mentioned that I need to be concerned if things don't measure up (with babies' development) with future visits to my OB. She also wants me to start going off of it slowly.

I'm just really confused about what to do because before this dr's visit the other dr's thought it would be better for me to have a decent blood pressure than to be off of the med during pregnancy. My blood pressure today with 10 mg's of Midodrine was 90/50 and I'm pretty scared what it would look like to be off of it.

Of course if Midodrine is really something that is going to cause complications or any problems with my baby than I am more than willing to go off of it - just not sure what to do.

Has anyone here stayed on Midodrine throughout pregnancy? Any thoughts?

Thanks!!

Lisa

[MomtoGiuliana]

Cardiologists usually seem more conservative about med use during pregnancy than ob/gyn's generally are. If you are seeing a high risk ob/gyn, I would trust their expertise as far as the level of risk you would be taking by staying on it throughout the 2nd and 3rd trimester. I know this concern about insufficient blood flow to the placenta is a concern with beta blockers as well. My sister is 5 months along and on beta blockers--they are regularly tracking the fetus and the amniotic fluid levels for this reason.

[masumeh]

I recently consulted my POTS specialist, a pediatric cardiologist, about plans to become pregnant. I take Midodrine (have on and off for three years about). He said Midodrine is no problem during pregnancy, and that it might help me have a more normal pregnancy (my first and second pregnancies occurred before diagnosis and they were horrible). I asked about reduced blood flow to the placenta, and he said no chance, it doesn't happen, he had lots of patients go through pregnancies on Midodrine with no detriment to the baby.

I am still concerned because Midodrine at high doses (my original dose some years ago) stopped my menstral cycle for a couple months. So I do believe it is possible that it can affect that area of the body. But my doc's very experienced, so I guess he knows what he's talking about. I'd be nervous anyway though. But it's not like blood pooling is good either, right? So we can't exactly win, can we?

Good luck! I hope all goes well. Usually we worry waaaaay more than we need to.

[lalalisa]

Thanks SO much for both of your input. I feel better already. The more I thought about it today the better I felt especially because this is the first of my team of dr's who's had a concern. I tried just skipping a dose tonight and was lightheaded and dizzy just sitting - it was bad. I think I'm going to get some more reassurance from my high risk OB and then just stay on it if she's still feeling good about it too.

One more question I have....Can I be on it while breast feeding? Of course I'm going to talk with my dr's about this as well but thought I'd ask you guys your experiences. Every dr. I have has emphasized the importance of breast feeding for a smooth recovery with POTS so I'm really hoping to be able to.

Thanks again for your thoughts and support,

Lisa