Re: Hyperaldosteronism and 19 weeks pregnant

February 2, 2004

In general if you have PA you BP will get better with pregnancy not worse. This

is because the progesterone produced by the fetoplacental unit is a natural aldo

antigonist. May with PA will be normal during preg.

I can be difficult to Dx PA during pregnancy. Were the tests done before you

were pregnant?

How long have you had HTN?

How low has you K been?

What were the tests that were done to make the diagnosis of PA?

Do you take your BP at home? If not learn to do so and go to

bloodpressureline to sign up and get our guidelines for accurate

measurement. Be sure your OB is doing it correctly using the right sized cuff

etc and not using an electroinc machine-they often dont work during pregnancy.

I would get the book DASH diet for hypertension and read it and follow it as you

may need fewer drugs during pregnancy.

CE Grim MD

February 2, 2004

In a message dated 2/2/04 17:03:56, tn_weldys@... writes:

Hi,

I am also pregnant and I had hyperaldosteronism as a child. I had my

adrenals removed to stop it. My daughter has it also and my new baby

has a 75 % chance of having it as well. What I am trying to say in

my round about way is that you can be tested for one of the genetic

forms while you are still pregnant. It is a simple blood test and if

you in fact have something called GRA then it is likley that a drug

called dexamethesone can bring your BP down signifigantly. It is not

dangerous during pregnancy. It may or may not be a caused by a mass

on the adrenal. I believe that there would be no harm in doing a

ultrasound of the adrenals but that is up to the docs. Many docs do

not even know that the hyper aldo is genetic in some cases. I had

two pediatricians argue me up and down that what I was seeing in my

daughter was not in fact early symptoms of the same disease I had

had. I nearly had to kill one ER doc who tried to send my daughter

home with "just the flu" before he would listen. Just so you know

if it is the genetic form then you are at a higher risk for

aggravating the Bp with pregancy than if it is not genetic. That is

according to

several papers on the PUBMED websight. I know that your scared for

yourself and the baby and I will put in a couple of new prayers for

you and the baby. W

The first thing to be tested for is do you have primary aldo? Please get the test results that have made this diagnosis.

What is your family history of HTN. Anyone else in family also had low K.

Where are you so we can refer you to an expert in the area. The familial form is very rare. I have seen two families myself with is more that most other Drs. int he world. Indeed we reported the first familty that did not have a low K.

Now that I recall the second family the grandmother had had most of her adrenals removed in the old days when she was a teenager and the disease was not known. One of the old ways to treat malignant HTN was to do a bilateral adrenalectomy and symphthectory-called a wick procedure.

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.

February 2, 2004