I have borderline hyper-tension as well. Last night I took my blood pressure and it was 151/67.. that top number sort of concerns me, it fluctuates alot. Have you had a stress test done? I had both a stress test and an eco-cardiogram done, just in case.. cardiologist told me to watch my BP, medication wasn't necessary as long as both numbers stayed below 140/90.

FYI I'm 27, 5'11" at 154lbs /w very low BF ~6%.. hyper tension comes from my dad's side of the family. Strangely, my dad has full blown hyertension. Not medicated due to the side-effects, doctors are convinced he should've had severe complications by now, but he hasn't. I guess "normal" BP isn't normal for all people.

mike

Your post caught my attention. Do you have a stressful lifestyle? In Feb. I was diagnosed with having Lyme disease. (so much for running in the trails!) after undergoing severe exhaustion and a slight change in facial expression casued by Bells Palsy...a by product of Lyme for some people. Needless to say, they caught it very early and put me on 80 mg Prednisone and other antibiodic medication for over a month. I missed two FULL months of training and during the time, my Blood Pressure went up to above 170/90. My resting HR was hovering at about 79-83 bpm. It stayed this way for two full months. I was concerned and scared as shyt! I went to the doc. I was told that it was a side effect from the drugs and that I may be "anxious". I had blood work done to determine LDL and HDL levels. I got an EKG and several other tests. Again, fortunatly, nothing was wrong. Now that I'm off the medication and settled into my new job, my stress level is much lower. I am back down to 115 / 67 (last I checked). For me, the high BP was a result of severe stress and anxiety.

Are you stresses? Are you anxious? If you are, it could be attributing to your high BP.

Best!

F

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I have routinely been in the 120/80 range and a bit higher since my college days. I'm 28, 5'11", 170 lbs and live a pretty stress free life and have exercised forever. After my brother was diagnosed with renal cancer, I went in to get checked on since high BP can be an indication of a kidney tumor if there is a history in the family. I turned out fine but got all my blood checked. My cholesterol is low (120, I think) and if my high BP continues I'll probably go on medication. But I wasn't familiar with any side effects. There certainly may be. I'm just aware of any. But keep exercising. It's good for the BP. But my doctor isn't too worried about it, but says it isn't something I can ignore. After years of it there can be long term damage from the hypertension.

Rather than worrying about the long term consequences of medication you should think about the long term complications of hypertension... hyeprtension is linked with more problems than can be listed in this post. 140 is actually considered hypertensive by many cardiologists now... to give you an idea of the the goals that cardiologists are now setting, they are shooting for 125 as hypertensive.

If you are trying to go for a non pharmacological intervention, decreasing your sodium intake would be a very very very good place to start. But this is very hard to do...

Talk to a couple of doctors... Hypertension is not going to kill you tommorrow but it will lead to some serious complications and you want to do something before the irreversible vascular and organ changes occur

High blood pressure runs in my family. I also like salty foods and snacks. Running and tri training forestalled it for many years, but two weeks ago at age 54 I was prescribed Benicar to lower my pressure. It is brand new; only on the market since last year. The only side effect I've experienced is some light headedness upon quickly standing up. My doctor is a runner and cyclist, so he was sympathetic to my desire to remain competitive.

Recent information is that high normal blood pressure is considered criteria for treatment. That is, it is no longer regarded as normal.

Naturally, I didn't want to have to take a "pill" because in my mind it made me a weak person. However, the medication acts as a vasodilator. Now I'm thinking that if it allows my blood to circulate easier and faster, it could actually be a performance enhancing drug. I've noticed no negative affect on my training. I'll have to see how I fair in the upcoming competitions. My prediction is that I'll do fine.

I am considerably older than you (55 !) however my BP and chloesterol are identical. My RHR is 38-42. My MD put me on medication about 5 years ago due to a history of heart disease in my family. I had a stress test etc. and showed to have a runners heart whatever that is. Also checked pulmonary function which is excellent.

There are several types of meds available with the diuretics being the ones to stay away from considering the type of training and racing triathletes do. I have been on an Ace inhibitor with no real problems.
There was good article in Runners World about 18 months ago that had a good discussion about BP and exercise with a detailed chart of side effect to runners. See in you can find it on their web site. If not let me know and I will see if I still have it and will make a copy if you wish.

Hope this helps.

fal7

While I am older (48) the other particulars of your story are very similar to my own. Recently, as a result of losing about 20 pounds over the course of the last year and a reduction in stress (too long to go into here) my blood pressure is now normal. I too wanted to avoid medication at all costs, but my family has a history of all kinds of problems. Hopefully I can continue to put off taking drugs. For me, the tri training has really helped.

Thanks for all the replies. It's encouraging that this isn't a completely abnormal problem. To answer a few of the questions asked; I'm a high school teacher but I don't think teaching is NEARLY as stressful as some make it out to be. Actually, I think I've got it made. I've never had a stress test but I have had an EKG test and a 24 hr HR monitor test where they monitor heart rhythms for a day: nothing unusual. I've heard side effects from meds can be liver or kidney damage over the long haul. I just read last night that there can be arterial damage over the years from BP as low as 130/80 and that the new guidelines say that those numbers are considered called pre-hypertensive. I have the same attitude about meds, I'd like to avoid a pill if possible, however I think it's becoming clear that the damage from being even slightly hypertensive is worse than any side effect from meds.

Considering that when I got interested in triathlon I weighed 232 and couldn't swim 25 meters, I'm cetainly better off now than back then.

unfortunately something i need to keep an eye on as well due to heredity. several things i've gathered over the years:

exercise regularly (duh)

limit/avoid sodium, alcohol, caffeine, nicotene

get proper sleep

reduce life stresses

eat more fruit & veggies, less junk

supplement potassium, magnesium, calcium, vitamin e, fish oil (supposed to help balance sodium and other magical cellular adjustments)

despite all this you may discover that your BP just won't come down to optimal levels. one thing the docs warn about is the difference between systolic - diastolic. ie, 140/70 = 70, called isolated systolic hypertension (or something along those lines). this ultimately leads to hardening of the arteries despite your marathoning/ironman abilities. that means stroke. no good. for any of you younger folk with elevated BP, make your dietary changes now. older folk probably want to make changes and consider meds. kind of a bum deal, exercise 15 hrs/week, eat well, DIE ANYWAY!

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Marty Gaal, CSCS
One Step Beyond Coaching
Triangle Open Water Swim Series | Old School Aquathon Series
Powerstroke® Freestyle Technique DVD

Amen to 15 hours a week and DIE Early. BUT think how good looking the corpse is!!!