Guest guest Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 For Lynn and anyone else thinking about starting a family. I hear what you say Dr Grim but here is my two pence worth for people to think over. Spironolactone should not be taken during pregnancy or whilst breast feeding. This advice is from the British Pharmacy. Basically it is an instruction of " no, no way, never " . I'm not even sure if it would be easy to become pregnant or sustain the pregnancy if taking higher doses of spironolactone as it mimics female hormones and can mess up the menstral cycle. That is just my gut feeling and I've no evidence to back it up - just seems to be common sense. High BP during pregnancy is a risk factor. My BP was high during my last pregancy and caused complications. First two pregnancies BP was okay but not wonderful. I wasn't diagnosed with Conns until 15 years after my last pregnancy and my BP had been rising all that time. The thought is that I already had the PA when pregnant. I know Dr Grim has said " many " patients have sucessful pregnancies but there are no statistics here or an indication of the % of sucess / fail / complications / unable to conceive nor are the parameters of success given. Maybe there is no reliable statistical data on this. My last pregnancy resulted in a live birth but my child has had problems all her life and the medical profession are now of the opinion that my high blood pressure, hormonal imbalance during pregnancy etc could be a major contributing factor in her health problems. A sucessful pregnancy may be counted as a live birth of a " normal " baby but my child's problems did not become apparent until 3 months after the birth which was (and is) recorded as a successful birth. This is something to think about. High BP at any time increases the risk of stoke etc so if your BP is high without medication before pregnancy you are running risks before you even become pregnant. If you have the geneticly transmitted form of PA you need to consider if passing the disease on to your child is a risk worth taking. Despite how this reads I am not trying to be a doom and gloom merchant but attempting to put in words some of the concerns I would have if I was considering another pregnancy (which I'm not!) The urge to have a baby is very strong and not a rational thing. No pregnancy is risk free even in a very healthy mother. All you can do is be aware of your special case and take as much care as you can. Best wishes to everyone, helen in a cold and snowy Scotland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 Did they also find the data that BP frequently normalizes during preg without meds as Progesterone is an naturally occurring anti aldo and indeed aldo normally goes up remarkably during pregnancy-at least 100 fold normally-the reason this does not cause HTN is though to be the placental production of progesterone. Clever thing the human body. May your pressure be low! CE Grim, BS (Chem/Math), MS (Biochem), MD. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Hypertension Published over 230 research papers, chapters and reviews in the area of high blood pressure: epidemiology, history, endocrinology, genetics and physiology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 I wrote a while back asking the same questions as Lynn. My gyneocologist researched spironolactone and pregnancy and found that there was only three documented cases of women being pregnant while on spironolactone. All three had healthy babies with no problems from spironolactone (both male and female). However, the drug company does suggests controlling BP with other drugs while pregnant. As my doctors and I do more research, I will post what I learn. Good luck! > For Lynn and anyone else thinking about starting a family. > > I hear what you say Dr Grim but here is my two pence worth for people > to think over. > > Spironolactone should not be taken during pregnancy or whilst breast > feeding. This advice is from the British Pharmacy. Basically it is an > instruction of " no, no way, never " . I'm not even sure if it would be > easy to become pregnant or sustain the pregnancy if taking higher > doses of spironolactone as it mimics female hormones and can mess up > the menstral cycle. That is just my gut feeling and I've no evidence > to back it up - just seems to be common sense. > > High BP during pregnancy is a risk factor. My BP was high during my > last pregancy and caused complications. First two pregnancies BP was > okay but not wonderful. I wasn't diagnosed with Conns until 15 years > after my last pregnancy and my BP had been rising all that time. The > thought is that I already had the PA when pregnant. I know Dr Grim > has said " many " patients have sucessful pregnancies but there are no > statistics here or an indication of the % of sucess / fail / > complications / unable to conceive nor are the parameters of success > given. Maybe there is no reliable statistical data on this. > > My last pregnancy resulted in a live birth but my child has had > problems all her life and the medical profession are now of the > opinion that my high blood pressure, hormonal imbalance during > pregnancy etc could be a major contributing factor in her health > problems. A sucessful pregnancy may be counted as a live birth of > a " normal " baby but my child's problems did not become apparent until > 3 months after the birth which was (and is) recorded as a successful > birth. This is something to think about. > > > High BP at any time increases the risk of stoke etc so if your BP is > high without medication before pregnancy you are running risks before > you even become pregnant. > > If you have the geneticly transmitted form of PA you need to consider > if passing the disease on to your child is a risk worth taking. > > > Despite how this reads I am not trying to be a doom and gloom > merchant but attempting to put in words some of the concerns I would > have if I was considering another pregnancy (which I'm not!) > > The urge to have a baby is very strong and not a rational thing. No > pregnancy is risk free even in a very healthy mother. All you can do > is be aware of your special case and take as much care as you can. > > Best wishes to everyone, > > helen in a cold and snowy Scotland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 The human body is a wonderful thing indeed! I have a couple of concerns about pregnancy with Conn's which may well be unfounded. First that you would be advised to come off all medication prior to attempting to become pregnant so there would be an increased risk of stroke etc at this time. Second that this drug free period may be prolonged if you don't " fall " quickly which would / could increase the risk. (It took me a year to fall pregnant with my first. Mind after that I seemed to get the hang of it and the other pregnancies came along rather too quickly......) Is there any evidence of increased risk of eclampsia (spelling??) with hyperalosteronism? I don't know just a thought. Also would induction (once the baby is " mature " ) be advised to try to avoid the risks of a mature (or over-mature) placenta no longer making as much progesterone as earlier in the pregnancy? Helen Original Message: ----------------- From: lowerbp2@... Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2004 21:28:55 EST hyperaldosteronism Subject: Re: Re: CONNS AND PREGNANCY Did they also find the data that BP frequently normalizes during preg without meds as Progesterone is an naturally occurring anti aldo and indeed aldo normally goes up remarkably during pregnancy-at least 100 fold normally-the reason this does not cause HTN is though to be the placental production of progesterone. Clever thing the human body. May your pressure be low! CE Grim, BS (Chem/Math), MS (Biochem), MD. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Hypertension Published over 230 research papers, chapters and reviews in the area of high blood pressure: epidemiology, history, endocrinology, genetics and physiology. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 What did your BP do with each pregnancy. Using the DASH diet would help avoid drugs and improve BP control. My guess is that PA protects against eclampsia as the BP gets better. Can you survey all of your site folks to see what problems they had with pregnancy? Did BP get better or worse. How long did it take to go back up after delivery if it got better. CE Grim MD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Indeed if we can get 20 or 30 women to tell us about their pregnancies before and after the DX of PA, I think we can write a paper about it! CE Grim MD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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