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]

but then why do so many women breast feed and not get PPCM?  Or why after one pregnancy and not the one before?

are you over PPCM, Aussie.  what was your ef?  I imagine you took the usual meds, but I am wondering if you had to stop nursing when you took the meds.

[deedle1976]

Hi degrassi,
Women who don't breastfeed get PPCM as they too have a surge in prolactin towards the end of pregnancy and then a massive release of the hormone right after birth. It is this that likely does the damage as the end of pregnancy or early postpartum is the time that PPCM usually rears its ugly head. This theory is not yet proven though. They discovered by accident that PPCM in mice was caused by faulty prolactin and hypothesized that the same thing was responsible for PPCM in women. This led them to treat women with previous PPCM with bromocriptine during their second pregnancies. None of the women taking the drug developed PPCM whereas most of the drug-free women did, which supports the prolactin hypothesis. This was only published in February 2007 and more trials are needed.

I do wonder if prolactin levels remain elevated longer in breastfeeding mothers and if they have greater heart damage as a result. I don't know if this is the case. It's very interesting I think.

[aussie mum]

Well it could be so.... Post partum depression vs ppcm i got both for the first time after the birth of my third. So now do i wonder would i have got one without the other ??

Guess i'll never know !!

[degrassi]

OK ....so a lot of women get wacko after they have babies....is that the point?   And that causes their hearts to be irregular?  It is an outcome of post partum depression??  Nursing or not?  I am really intrested in this, and I am not being sarcastic.

[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.

[anacyde]

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