67 year old , 40 year background in running and cycling .I have for the last 15 years been on the borderline in regards to having BP meds for high blood pressure as I have always controlled it with diet and exercise .
Doctor recommends them now and I am a little concerned about any possible side effects that would effect me .Just wondered if anyone has experienced anything good /bad when taking blood pressure medication .
Doctor said the chance of you taking them at 70 is probably 75% anyway so let’s start with a low dose and see if we can hit the target numbers .
There are several different classes of meds. Over the last 30 years I’ve taken 3 different types, all with no noticeable side effects. Talk to your doc about you maintaining active exercise and he/she should be able to find something compatible.
51yo Male on candesarthan for 14 yrs with no side affects, only had to double the dose within that timeperiod.
52 year old male, have been on low dose Irbesarten for 4-5 years (although just bumped it up to get regularly get under 120 bp).
No side effects for racing and training after about 3 days. My recollection from when I started the meds was I was a little dizzy / light headed those first 3 days at times.
Cheers.
Disclaimer: MD here
It is important to let the doctor know of your sporting priorities as some medications (well classes, ie what mechanism of action they use to lower your blood pressure) can have an adverse effect on your performance.
In general though, what they likely use as a first line agent will not cause you issues but we really need to know what they have started you on.
Hello,
I am in Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) since 2019 (now I am 48). Particulary in Valsartan (Diovan) 80 mgr.
No side effects in daily life. Training >15h/week. Only thing I have noticed, but can´t tell if fully related to the medication or maybe age, is that right away as I cross the finish line of an IM (not happened on shorter distances), a sudden feeling of sleepiness drops on me. No light-headed. It is a need to close my eyes and lie down. Just maybe 10 seconds after crossing the line, so all of the times the medical guys come and pick me up because I just feel like ZZZzzz… . It last for about 30 minutes. Then I am just fine. Never happened to me before. Never while training either.
Over the decades I have taken several different blood pressure and BPH medications. Some caused back pain, others dry eye & mouth and others a cough type symptoms.
Right now I’m taking Valsartan (Diovan), no problems noted.
I also should note that Valsartan (Diovan) doesn’t have a quick acting cause and effect. That is, your B.P. doesn’t drop a numbers of hours after taking a tablet. It’s effect slowly builds after several days, so it can take weeks to determine the correct dosage.
51 years old. I’ve been on BP meds for about 15 years. Started with lisinopril but developed the cough so they switched me to losartan. I’ve been on the same dose the whole time. If I take it, my BP is normal . If I miss a single dose my BP is elevated the next day.
I’ve never had any issues at all. One thing that I swear is true: my sweat got “saltier†after I started taking the meds. I’ve never seen this mentioned anywhere, but when you’ve been working out and sweating your whole life, you notice when something is different. I’ve never changed my salt supplementation as a result. Just something I noted.
FWIW, I think a beta blocker would be a bad choice for someone wanting to be a competitive athlete. I would not be interested in taking one. If your doctor prescribes it, I would have a discussion about why they would want that particular medicine.
ARB’s are my go to med for athletes w htn
.
I took amlodipine for a while but found my heart rate wouldn’t really get above 130-140bpm and my legs would feel really heavy at harder efforts. Switched to lisinopril which had no negative side effects, but I have a congenital heart defect, so my cardiologist recommended losartan as some studies show ARBs have beneficial aortic remodeling properties compared to ACE inhibitors. No side effects with losartan either other than lower bp and generally feeling better.
In my opinion there is almost no downside to getting on bp meds. It may take some time to figure out correct med and dose, but this is a really treatable issue and most medications has barely any negative side effects.
For reference I am 27 (I know pretty young, cardiologist couldn’t find anything life style to cause hypertension but meds work to control it) and I workout ~15hrs a week
FWIW, I think a beta blocker would be a bad choice for someone wanting to be a competitive athlete. I would not be interested in taking one. If your doctor prescribes it, I would have a discussion about why they would want that particular medicine.
I was on Metoprolol for nearly 2 years (for afib, not blood pressure), and that was a miserable experience. My HR maxed out at about 115bpm, which is what they intended, but that made anything more than an easy spin or fast walk an anaerobic activity…
Great read and summary from Dr. Larry Creswell:
Athletes and High Blood Pressure (athletesheart.org)
Shot in the dark but has anyone taking an ARB experienced low blood pressure during an event?
I’ve experienced lightheadedness three marathons in a row, usually after a couple of hours of running. After the third experience, I ruled out hydration/nutrition/pace. The confounding thing is, it’s never happened on a training run but on those race days it’s been like I can’t hold my head straight on my neck.
Medication = 25mg Losartan for mild hypertension the last several years. Had a treadmill test after the first episode and if anything, SBP was high during the last few minutes, not low. What I’m wondering is if the loping, low/mid Z3 pace I’m going on race day is a good comparison to the high-intensity experience of a treadmill test with respect to the med. I’m doubling down on the frequency of my at-home BP monitoring so I hope to be able to answer the question myself eventually…
I visit a cardiologist twice a year and have the usual tests done as a matter of routine…everything checking out ok. Any observations are appreciated…
Shot in the dark but has anyone taking an ARB experienced low blood pressure during an event?
I’ve experienced lightheadedness three marathons in a row, usually after a couple of hours of running. After the third experience, I ruled out hydration/nutrition/pace. The confounding thing is, it’s never happened on a training run but on those race days it’s been like I can’t hold my head straight on my neck.
Medication = 25mg Losartan for mild hypertension the last several years. Had a treadmill test after the first episode and if anything, SBP was high during the last few minutes, not low. What I’m wondering is if the loping, low/mid Z3 pace I’m going on race day is a good comparison to the high-intensity experience of a treadmill test with respect to the med. I’m doubling down on the frequency of my at-home BP monitoring so I hope to be able to answer the question myself eventually…
I visit a cardiologist twice a year and have the usual tests done as a matter of routine…everything checking out ok. Any observations are appreciated…
Not DURING an event.
But, yes I did have issues with hypotension once upon a time. I provided my doctor with about a months worth of BP data (mornings, using standard protocol), which showed low 90s/50s. With that he took me off of the meds, and we watched my natural BP again over the next few months. The regulatory system can take a while to “rebalance” itself and find a new normal. For me, I never needed to go back on them.
I’d start by collecting some data, using AHA standard protocol and discuss with your doctor based on that information.
59 year old male. Been on BP medicine for a long time. Unfortunately, I also have PVCs so I am on atenolol for both. Atenolol slows you heart rate so much that its hard for me to get to 120 bpm so I would suggest against this. I don’t think it is a typical first med but if your doc suggests it, I would have her/him suggest something else.