Pregnancy Questions

[ethansmom]

Hello all! I used to hang out on this forum ALL the time, but it's been many years. I came back because I am pregnant and having some concerns.

I have two children, ages 6 and 4 years old. I was diagnosed with POTS nearly 8 years ago, about 6 months prior to my first pregnancy, and did very well during and after the pregnancy and birth. Same thing with the second, BUT during that pregnancy I found out that I actually have Lyme Disease, and that POTS is a secondary condition to that. So basically for the last 4 years I have been treating my symptoms as Lyme and not POTS, and I have done reasonably well. Other than chronic fatigue and some dizziness, I lead a pretty normal life as long as I stay on my beta blocker (acebutolol). In fact, 2 years ago I opened a photography studio and have been well enough to photograph weddings and stand on my feet for hours- something I never thought I'd do!

However, I just became pregnant with my 3rd child and I am 9 weeks along. Other than the typical terrible morning and all-day sickness, I am having severe symptoms that are concerning me which started on week 5 of the pregnancy, the same week as the nausea and other pregnancy symptoms began.

Basically, I am unable to stand up for more than a few minutes without feeling terribly lightheaded, dizzy, weak, and trembling. I'm having lots of palpitations and brain fog too. It's terrible- I've been bedridden for almost 5 weeks now and am only getting up once a day to pick up my son from school. I am having a terrible time taking care of my kids and it's scary and awful. I haven't been in a state like this in over 8 years when I first got sick, and it's not a place I ever wanted to go back to!

I don't know what to do- I am eating regular meals, drinking as much as I can, consuming a good amount of salt, resting a LOT, and trying to stay positive. But I am afraid that it won't get better, and I don't know how to fix it! I don't have a POTS specialist in my area because I haven't needed one in so many years. I am seeing a cardio next week that came highly recommended, but not sure what to expect from that visit.

Is there anything else I can do? This may by my 3rd child but its my first time having any difficulty with the pregnancy. For those who have, I would love to hear what your symptoms were at what points in the pregnancy, how it affected your daily living, how you coped...and how was the delivery?

We are planning a birthing center birth just as we have with the other babies. I have had great deliveries and other than some scary palpitations while pushing with the last baby, things have gone well and I felt that NOT using meds was probably in my best interest. Any input is appreciated!!

[kayjay]

Congats- and I won't be much help... but I did have some thoughts about the birthing center. I had problems first during pregnancy, and my daughter ended up in the NICU for almost a week- she is fine.. but you may want to thing about having your child in a yucky hospital just in case.

Also I nearly died (I think) during the birth of my son as my BP just bottomed out.

Just my thoughts. Birthing centers are sooo much better but you don't need to have Meds just because you are in the hospital... but I the baby needs something you might be closer to equipment and Doctors.

Hope you don't mind my two cents and I really hope you are feeling better soon! When I wear rocker shoes- it helps and maybe you could try the spanks made for pregnant people.

Also V8 has helepd me very much. Do you know what you are having.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Hi Jessica

Congratulations! I didn't know you were pregnant--or unfortunately having problems (from what I had seen on FB)...

With the first two, you didn't have a worsening of POTS symptoms in the first trimester? For some reason I thought I remembered that you did, and then things got better as the pregnancy progressed. That is a fairly typical pattern for POTS patients (as you might remember I was the opposite).

As kayjay said, a hospital will not necessarily encourage you to take meds. Can you look into the practices at your local hospital(s)? It also has to do with your ob/gyn's practices.

Just for example, I gave birth in a hospital. Up until I had a life-threatening crisis, I labored in a low lit comfy room with no meds and limited monitoring.

I hope the cardiologist can be of help. hopefully you will feel better as your blood volume increases.

BTW my sister is 7 weeks pregnant. She is on DINET too--also has POTS--ErikaPT.

[Brye]

My babes are 7,5,2,1. I had POTS symptoms with the last pregnancy but wasn't diagnosed until after. One think you didn't mention is support hose. They helped some of my symptoms when I was pregnant. Sorry I can't be more helpful but be sure to take care of yourself. Hopefully friends and family can help out with your kids to keep them entertained and happy. It's hard keeping up with kids when your pregnant much less pregnant and not feeling well!

Good luck!

Brye

[Aprilmarie52]

Hey Jessica!

Long time no see! Congrats on the pregnancy! I had a hard time in the first trimester during both of my pregnancies. My dr thought it had something to do with the rapidly changing hormones. I dont really have any advice other than to just try and make it until the 2nd trimester. I took benadryl which actually helped with with the trembling. Keep us updated!

[Mrs. Burschman]

I have nothing useful to add. But congratulations, and I hope it goes as well as possible!

Amy

[HopeSprings]

Hi and congratulations! Ok, hopefully this doesn't happen to you, but I had an absolutely 100% miserable time with my last pregnancy. It was bad from the 1st trimester all the way up until and after the delivery. I was extrememly dizzy the whole time. I could barely see straight. My heart was racing all the time, but more so the first trimester, then was somewhat better. I was intensely nauseous the entire first trimester and absolutely STARVED - no matter how much I ate (and I ate A LOT) I could not get rid of that deeply hungry feeling. I also had to care for my 4 year old son and go through the summer like this. I could not take it anymore towards the end-- so I asked to be induced early. I was due around Sept. 6th -- I was induced the night of August 26th, had the baby the 27th. I saw a high risk OBGYN the first trimester, then switched to a regular OB and was monitored by the high risk OB's on the side. I have to say though, as much as I tried to educate the Dr's about POTS, they didn't really get it. I had a consult with the anesthesiologist prior the delivery date to make them aware of what the epidural and different medications might do to me because of the POTS. In the end, the actual delivery was fine -- I did ok with all the pushing, the Pitocin and with the epidural. I have to say in retrospect, I regret the early induction-- I feel guilty for not letting my daughter come out when SHE was ready. If I could go back and do it again I would ask for help with my son, so that I could just rest at the end and wait for my daughter's arrival. It was just too hard to be THAT sick and care for the four year old. Anyway my daughter came out just fine -- she is now 14 months old and doing well. I will never have another baby though -- I can never go through that again. My most important advice to you is GET HELP from friends or family if you can. Pregnancy is demanding enough, let alone having a serious illness on top of it. You'll need to rest. Good luck.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Naomi--how are you now? That sounds like me from week 23 or so on. 1st trimester was pretty normal for me. It took me a long time to recover, although I also had a c-section. By the time my daughter was a year old I was pretty stable again with mostly mild POTS symptoms.

[Tammy]

Hi! I want to second the idea that if things get really bad, to try and find someone to care for your other two children's so that you can focus on resting during this pregnancy, if you already haven't. I would never go through what I did when I first got sick and trying to take care of kids while you are that sick, is beyond difficult - been there and wish we could have figured out someone to help with my daughter. Otherwise, you can try drinking ginger tea by YOGI and add in a little bit of ginger spice too. But ask your doctor first before, to make sure that's okay for you to do while pregnant. Compression stocking may help some and also if your doctor can find a med that you can take while pregnant to help the tremors/internal vibrations, maybe just benedryl and tylenol together sometimes takes the edge off of them. Hope you are feeling a bit more functional soon

[lissy]

Hi,

To be honest I have had 5 children and I never knew what was wrong with me until I had my last and that was almost 2 years ago. I was always going to the ER and complaining of these POTS symptoms and no-one thought nothing of it. I just got All of my medical records this year and found that my heart rate and BP was a big difference with sitting and standing and know one ever said anything and that was recorded way back in "2000" anyway every pregnancy I was very dizzy and fatigue especially right after delivery.Around 5 months I had migraines with auras and lots of tingling. I had major blood loss with my 3rd and they had no idea why my uterus filled up with huge clots I was pretty sick for a few weeks then I got pregnant with 4th it was pretty much the same dizzy, headaches,tingling,hypoglycemia . Then the 5th I had extreme fatigue dizziness I'd wake up with one hand swelling had some really weird aches and pain that would last and they would do ultrasounds and things to check for blood clots but everything was always normal. I could no longer have an epidural after the 1st my BP dropped dangerously low I vomited something black and couldn't take of my baby for a month that was with my 1st. Sorry I'll get back to the 5th LOL I couldn't have the epidural so they gave some other pain med my eyes crossed I felt like I couldn't breath and not longer after I had her, the next day I was as white as a ghost very very weak and dizzy they said my iron was OK and said I'd be going home the next day well when I went home I was way toooo tired I couldn't do anything I actually moved my mattress into the kids room just to do the feeding and make sure I heard them if they needed anything I was out of it. I went from doctor to doctor trying to find out what was wrong with me and finally I demanded a echo cardiogram at a ER, They found out I had postpartum cardiomyopathy and my ef was 45% and the cardio I seen said I needed a stress test and at that time I couldn't get my heart rate up pass 130 running and luckily that resolved on its own a month later he said I couldn't take any meds at that time because my BP was too low. They told me to never have any more kids (which I wasn't going to anyway) because it would kill me. I don't know what really happend when I went to Clev.clinic they said it was unlikely that I had postpartum cardiomyopathy because I recovered so quick it may had been POTS all along and all the blood loss from 5 pregnancies just made it worse. I don't want to scare you in no way but I'd have a OB that was very experienced with this condition . Since my last pregnancy I lose my complete life I got way worse and this has been 2 years ago. I still feel the exact same as I did the day I brought her home. I pray for you to have a healthy pregnancy and that your symptoms stay at a minimum. Just remember extra fluid during labor and your hormones and blood volume is changing alot right now which affects everything. Take care

Lissy