I see that other people have posted similar threads and I'm just looking for answers. I had a baby May 1st (my 3rd child) and 5 days after he was born, I started having weird symptoms.
-Labile blood pressures, ranging from 180/115 to 115/70, sometimes within the same hour.
-Tingling in fingers and in feet.
Those were the initial symptoms. I did have pregnancy-induced hypertension, but it was mild and well-controlled on labetalol 100mg twice daily. There was some confusion as I was discharged from the hospital... I hadn't been given the labetalol for the two days that I was in the hospital, and when I was leaving, the nurse told me to just check my BP twice daily at home. So I wasn't taking the med. I initially blamed the BP spike on the abrupt discontinuation of the med, and assumed maybe the tingling was related to that since they started on the same day. My BP's continued to run quite high for weeks and I ended up having to increase the dose of labetalol to 200mg three times daily. It has only recently decreased to the point that I am back to 100mg twice daily.
Since then (about 5 weeks ago), the symptoms have only worsened and increased.
-Tingling in back of neck and scalp.
-Numbness in left pointer finger, left ankle, and left large toe (feels like a rubber band is wrapped around it at the knuckle).
-Shakiness/tremor.
-Twitches in various body parts at various times.
-Light sensitivity.
-Headaches.
-Neck pain and stiff neck.
-Occasional involuntary muscle jerks.
-Internal "vibrating" sensation in my lower abdomen and sometimes in my hands and feet (feels like phone on vibrate).
-Hands cramped up one day, and since then I have had deep aching in my hands and feet where it feels like they could cramp again. My potassium was low at the time of the cramps, but it has been treated.
The onset of symptoms caused me severe anxiety, so I know that some of these things can be anxiety-related. However, I do not believe the consistent numb spots are a figment of my imagination, as well as many of the other symptoms that are very real. However, at 9 days post-partum, I went to my doctor about it and began taking Zoloft. I started at 25mg, worked up to 100mg, but felt that maybe some of these symptoms were side effects, so I recently decreased to 75mg. I also have a prescription for lorazepam 0.5mg to take if needed for severe anxiety, so I take it in the evening sometimes to help me sleep.
I've had lab tests run for everything, including B12, folate, thyroid, and the usual stuff also. The only values that were remarkable were:
-Calcium (low)
-Vitamin D (low)
-Potassium (low)
-Glucose (frequently low, 40's and 50's... stress kills my appetite)
-Magnesium (high... no clue why)
I had an MRI and MR-venogram of brain, both came back normal. The neurologist thought some of my symptoms may be due to low calcium, but I've been supplementing and on recheck of it, it was back to a normal level.
So I just don't know where to go next. I'm going to call the neurologist back for another appointment tomorrow, but when he called me to report the normal MRI and MRV, he basically seemed at a loss. He said maybe it was a problem caused by the epidural that I got. I waited until the last minute to get the epidural. I was having contractions one on top of another at that point, and I was not able to relax and sit very still. As soon as it was placed, my body started pushing on its own and the baby was born within minutes. The numbness never really kicked in, except for one spot on my right thigh. But if it was a problem with the epidural, would it really affect me above the level where it was placed? When it is inserted properly, it doesn't affect arms/hands, and I definitely have the tingling/numbness in my hands and in my neck/scalp, as well as neck stiffness/pain and headache.
If anyone has read this far, thank you very much. I feel like I'm dying and losing my mind simultaneously. I want to feel healthy and normal again, and I just don't know what to do.
This discussion is related to
postpartum neurological symptoms.