portal hypertention

hi 6 years ago while i was pregnant with my 4th child i noticed i had spider nevies(cant spell it) after a traumatic delivery i was told it too risky to have ne more. i found out later that because i have portal hypertention? i have had biopsy's, blood ,ct scan's, colonoscopy's and all i know is that my liver is fine but my portal veins r not. i have also been told to check my stools for change to black. this is the only information i have on it and cant seem to find ne 1 who suffers with just P H. can ne 1 out there help me understand it. thanks

[Sir_Osis]

I would pose your Q over in the "liver transplant" section (not saying you need one - but thats where the real smart guy hangs out who could better answer your rather complex question). My only knowledge of portal hypertension has to do with hepatic causes. For my own curiosity, do they monitor you for varices in this matter to (like they would a cirrhotic patient with ph)?

Do you take atenolol / propanolol or another beta blocker to keep your pulse low...

At any rate, sorry that I only served to ask you more questions (as opposed to knowing enough to answer)... see what Dr. Schiano says - and i'm guessing he may want to know your height and weight to see if that could be a co-factor.

J