what's with females having babies and heart problems

[nikgirl28]

Pretty much every single female I talked to that had kids has weird heart rhythm episodes...i'm really bothered by this because i think there should be more information on pregnancy and how it affects your heart during and after pregnancy....i started getting frequent one minute heart-pace-went faster episode after my first...and then after my second child i got SVT and PAC constant...i tired of doctors saying it's anxiety....no no no because pregnancy puts a big strain on your body and after you have the baby your body is trying to get back to normal and that unfortuntely includes your heart...but what causes this???  hormones? digestive system?  not having enough blood volume?
just tired of the lack of information that's all...  :(

[degrassi]

Every mother you know has "weird heart rhythm episodes"??

[nikgirl28]

a lot of mothers i talked to have weird heart rhythm episodes...some refer them as panic attacks to post pardum depression...cause that is what we are being told they are...only we know that it's a heart rhythm that causes panic attacks and depression...i have hardly had any pvcs..never had pacs and definitely no svt until after my pregnancy...i heard of one woman on another health board whom went into a-fib for 3 days 2 weeks after her baby was born....something is up with our post pardum bodies for sure....

[aussie mum]

Wow.... hopefully this recent discovery on PPCM will shed some light for the doctors out there !! It sound thes-able but i do wonder why i only got it after the birth of my third child ??

Thanks for your great post !!

[anacyde]

That information on PPCM and prolactin from that study is extremely misleading.  That info was gathered using rats that were genetically altered to develop peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) thus the results of that experiment cannot be taken as perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination.  At best it offers ONE possibility of many.  Bromocriptine is no longer given to women because of serious associated health risks - including the development of cardiomyopathy.  So you see, there are flaws, serious ones, on that study.

The most current information on PPCM shows that autoantibodies and viruses are present in many PPCM patients.  It is thought that having an autoimmune predisposition, or contracting a cardiotropic virus during the immune-suppressed state of pregnancy, can contribute to pregnancy-related heart failure.  Most of these women recover with standard heart failure treatment - not with Bromocriptine.  Some women go on to have successful subsequent pregnancies - MANY more than previously thought.  The key seems to be early detection and initiation of heart failure medications.

As to the question of why the rhythm issues present themselves after childbirth, I don't know.  I was fine after my first child was born, but I have been plagued with PACs and SVT since the birth of my second.  I know there are a lot of us, and the only thing that seems common is hormonal changes.

[anacyde]

For the best and most current info, keyword for "Fett, JD PPCM" and you'll find lots.

[Pum]

My heart rhythm problems started a few weeks into my first pregnancy. My theory (and I read something along these lines somewhere but don't quote me) is that the increase in volume of blood in pregnancy changes the heart a bit. Then when the blood volumes return to normal the heart is a bit more sensitive to electrical disturbances. Combine that with any PPD which magnifies focus on health issues and you have the recipe right. Not to mention blood sugar variations while breast feeding and hormones plus your thyroid goes a bit wacky after childbirth.  

All totally worth it in my book.