Pregnancy

[Gemma]

Hi everyone. I have a question about pregnancy. So, my POTS has been clearing up since April and I was almost symptom free, only experienced spontaneous symptoms that were very manageable. Last week I started feeling certain symptoms that I was not sure what to associate with: out of breath upon exertion, elevated HR when walk or stand and elevated resting one as well by like 20 points. I went to my cardio did ekg and all is fine. Then 5 days later I found out I am pregnant. We have been trying for some time but this happened unexpected. I was wondering are my POTS symptoms coming back or these are normal symptoms for women without POTS as well. I am starting full time school next week and worry how I will manage it if my POTS is coming back. I read online on different forums and lots of women say that in early pregnancy they feel out of breath just walking a block, palpitations, elevated HR. Does anyone know if its normal. I also had a panic attack yesterday when my Heart started racing. Also I started feeling a little lightheaded, feeling like my body is pulling towards the ground, and a little blurry vision accompanied with hard to concentrate.

This is my first pregnancy besides the one that I had 2.5 years ago and miscarried. I wanted to know if all these symptoms are normal in pregnancy or my POTS is acting up. Also, I want to try to continue going to school which is 4 days a week, will pushing myself like this harm the baby in any way?

Thank you all mom's out there who can share your experience and answer my questions. And please do not write too many scary stories as this is a stressful time for me and I am looking for support.

[MomWithPots]

First of all, congrats!!! A baby is such a blessing!

I have went through 3 successfull pregnancies with pots. The first few weeks my hr. was a tad higher than normal (my normal is 130) and I had a few episodes of intense palpatations...surprisingly, as my pregnancy continued, my symptoms almost vanished! It was after the delivery (csection) that I had issues. My hr was all out if whack and my bloodcount was very low. They kept me an extra week for observation.

After my body somewhat settled, I went back to my everyday symptoms.

Just make sure to discuss your condition and meds with the doc!

Best of luck hun

[MomtoGiuliana]

Yes women can have these symptoms in the first trimester, in particular significant fatigue. But also light headedness, etc. An increase in hr occurs with pregnancy but not sure that happens right away for most women.

Everyone is different it is probably impossible to predict how your POTS symptoms may be during pregnancy. Hopefully you have a specialist you can consult with if treatment becomes necessary. A high risk ob-gyn would be helpful b/c they tend to know more about use of meds with pregnancy and can help weigh benefits and risks with you.

As far as harming your baby by over-exertion--in general going to school and doing normal activities esp in the first trimester are not considered to be risky, but I think it would be best to consult w a doctor about this question as everyone is different and you have a chronic medical condition.

Hope you start to feel better soon!

[misstraci]

Congratulations!!!

All the symptoms you described sound like normal for anyone early on or even throughout a pregnancy. Good luck, hopefully as hormones level out, your symptoms will also subside. I personally don't think that your school schedule and load would harm the baby. I was so scared through my pregnancies to bend certain ways, lift my hands above my head, silly stuff. I was so scared of hurting the baby or miscarrying. My mom and doctor both reminded me how resilient our bodies are and how they were designed that way. Way back in the day when women worked all day on the farm doing physical and stressful jobs everything was ok.

Best of luck to you!

[Gemma]

Thanks everyone for replies. I greatly appreciate it. My symptoms now fluctuate. Some days I feel very POTSY, like just taking shower makes me fatigue and lightheaded and my HR goes above 100, but some days I feel perfectly normal. Last Saturday I had my first panic attack . I haven't had one in over 7 months. I take no meds now. I do have a cardiologist but he is not very knowledgable in POTS but very understanding and supporting, so I am hoping if things get crazy he can advise some treatment. I also saw high risk preg doc, and he said to come back when I am about 10-12 weeks, unless some problems start. Right now I am looking for a good gyno who knows about POTS, but In the mean time I am being followed by fertility doctor up until 10 weeks.

Do you ladies think I am on the right tract with all my health care just in case my POTS gets crazy. I also, want to mention that before pregnancy my POTS was mostly stable with occasional flares for few days, especially before my period, so could be related to hormones. Also, I was taking no meds, all of the once made me worse and I decided not to take any and just pushed myself to do walks and bike and it helped.

Also, I have been reading online about anesthesia and csesion and also epidural, and it seems for POTS patients there seems to be a different protocol that anesthesiologist needs to follow. Did any of you meet before going into labor to discuss it with anestisiolohist?

Thank you all.

[MomtoGiuliana]

I was not diagnosed with POTS until after pregnancy, so no special precautions were taken for me for labor/delivery. Ideally it would be good for the delivery team to be aware of your condition. I think mainly the importance of staying hydrated. Others may have additional comments on this.

It sounds like you are doing the right things with consulting in advance with various specialists. It's probably impossible to predict the course of the condition for you. I do think it's good that you began the pregnancy in stable condition with POTS.