Seems like after a visit to Dr today I have it.
Anyone else out there got it and if so what are you doing for it?
Jonboy
A bit more clarification needed:
- Are you saying that oxidative stress related to exercise is causing a chronic resting hypertension
or - That when you exercise your blood pressure gets too high?
Agreed, more clarification needed.
Exercise or lifestyle/nutrition/dehydration induced hypertension (high blood pressure)? Symptoms?
Yep, when I exercise my blood pressure is high 184/85 but then tends to drop after I get going
Normal daily non exercising BP varies from 121/56 to 138/68 to 146/80 and all inbetween
Have just worn a ambulatory BP monitor for 24 hours
Non smoker and maybe a beer on the weekends
48 years young
Lifetime athlete
Diet good, with a bit of chocolate
No family history of CV disease
Run my own business in Retail and sometimes get stressful
No stress at home except when it’s time to try and get kids to bed!
What constitutes high blood pressure?
Have done a bit of research on taking vitamin c and e for their antioxidant benefits
isn’t your BP supposed to rise during exercise?
That’s what I tbought but was told that mine was high when exercising
.
Maybe you need more beer?
You should really get a second opinion, really. Your diastolic is 85 with stress, people on here are going to tell you you are not working hard enough
Seems like after a visit to Dr today I have it.
Anyone else out there got it and if so what are you doing for it?
Jonboy
You seem to have borderline resting hypertension (current guidelines are a bit ridiculous, but anything about 119/79 is “pre-hypretension” and anything about 139/89 is “hypertension”). EVERYONES blood pressure rises to some degree during exercise, more or less depending on what you are actually doing.
Warning:
Internet medical opinion, which carries no weight. This is only offered as an explanation, not advice.
As absolute numbers, the 184/85 isn’t very concerning (ie. I wouldn’t have stopped a test because of them). Serious BP’s are 220+/110+mmHg.
The 1.5 concerning points are that:
0.5 The daily fluctuations with BP may or may not be anything. The quality of the measurement varies and at times it may be right or wrong. Hard to say.
- If you came in with a real, honest to goodness, diastolic of say 60mmHg and it increased into the 80s with exercise then that is an abnormal response and I suggest that you consider the course of action recommended by your doctor. ACE inhibitors and ARBs are probably best for athletes (and seem to work well on diastolic BP). No change in VO2max etc. If anything, an increase in stroke volume. Some Calcium channel blockers are just fine, others will significantly slow heart rate.
These medications work by relaxing blood vessels. You may get more postural hypotension with their use. I would question beta-blockers or diuretics if there are no additional cardiovascular involvement.
All in all this isn’t a big deal. If you have it, you have it. Treat it and enjoy life. Shouldn’t really change anything except decrease your risk for an adverse event in the future.
You said no cardiovascular disease in you or family, how about kidney disease?
Hello. The resting BP values you posted are high. It is now believed that resting BP above 120/80 is high blood pressure. All 3 of the resting BP numbers you posted are high. Your exercise BP posted is extremely high.
You did not post your BMI. Are you overweight? Do you have symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea? (daytime tiredness, morning headaches, naps, snoring, witnessed apneas during sleep)
Please take high blood pressure very very seriously and follow the advice of your physician. The results of untreated high blood pressure at your age can be catastrophic (brain hemorrhage , death).
Best of luck.
Maybe you need more beer?
More beets.
+1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23640589
and some coumadin …
Seriously … disregard the above … and other home remedies … and follow up on your high blood pressure with your doctor.
There are all sorts of medications that can be prescribed if that is determined to be the proper therapy.
There are meditation and relaxation techniques that lower blood pressure** … **and weight loss helps …
Good luck
.
Thanks very much for your advice.
If medication is recommended as an endurance athlete what do I need to look for.
Thanks very much for your advice.
If medication is recommended as an endurance athlete what do I need to look for.
First. Your doctor is the authority. If he strongly suggests something, I strongly suggest you go with it.
Beta Blockers: These drugs are terrific with angina, coronary artery disease, heart attack, blood pressure etc. However, I would question the use of a beta blocker to control blood pressure IF there are no other compelling reasons for their use. Sometimes there are and sometimes those reasons outweigh the change in exercise performance. These will lower your heart rate and may make you feel more tired. Interestingly, in someone limited by cardiac issues (angina, ischemia etc), they will increase exercise capacity. Beta blockers are also WADA prohibited in some sports. As far as I know, Triathlon is not one of them, but shooting sports like Biathlon etc they are (in case you do biathlon in the winter etc).
In this instance I would ask "Triathlon is important in my life, will this drug affect my performance and if so, is there an alternative that will treat me as well without decreases in cardiovascular performance?"
ACE (Angiotension converting enzyme) inhibitors and Angiotension II receptor agonists (ARBs) both seems to be well tolerated in athletics. I wouldn’t question their use if indicated. I do not know of any that are prohibited by WADA, but I also haven’t exhausted the list. AFAIK not banned by WADA. These are also pretty effective in treating elevated diastolic pressures. If one of these were recommended to me, I wouldn’t question taking them.
Calcium channel blockers: Most have a cardiac effect. As a blanket statement I’ll apply the same as I said about beta blockers and I would ask the “is there an alternative question”.
Diuretics: Many if not all are prohibited by WADA meaning you’d need a TUE. No cardiac effects, but in my opinion can be difficult because of the mineral (calcium and potassium) loss as well as dehydration etc. Probably not worth the hassle.
Again. This is internet opinion, not medical advice. If your doctor says that you need a beta blocker or calcium channel blocker and gives you a good reason, I’d listen to him and not some random dude from the internet.
Yep, when I exercise my blood pressure is high 184/85 but then tends to drop after I get going
Normal daily non exercising BP varies from 121/56 to 138/68 to 146/80 and all inbetween
Have just worn a ambulatory BP monitor for 24 hours
Non smoker and maybe a beer on the weekends
48 years young
Lifetime athlete
Diet good, with a bit of chocolate
No family history of CV disease
Run my own business in Retail and sometimes get stressful
No stress at home except when it’s time to try and get kids to bed!
What constitutes high blood pressure?
Have done a bit of research on taking vitamin c and e for their antioxidant benefits
Doesn’t sound to me like there is an issue. I’m no cardiologist, but I have my issues that are a LOT worse than yours.
My max exercise HR is 200-210 BPM. Back when I was exercising, my resting HR was generally hovering about 50. When I had a CT angiogram, I was able to get my average resting HR (for about 15 minutes) to 39BPM, without meds. When I did my treadmill test at the cardiologists (pre meds), he stopped my test at just 175BPM because my BP was 285/105. He was afraid I was going to “stroke out” right there and then. He was not happy when I told him I did 1/2 marathons at 175BPM average. He was also visibly displeased when I told him I had a couple of gears left. He said my numbers were the highest he’d personally ever seen in someone that lived. (Finally I win at something!)
My BP is medicated now, but without meds it normally runs about 135/90-95. With meds it was 119/78 at my last check up.
I do have exercise induced asthma that now is also medicated. So that might be a contributing factor.
Doesn’t sound to me like there is an issue. I’m no cardiologist, but I have my issues that are a LOT worse than yours.
My max exercise HR is 200-210 BPM. Back when I was exercising, my resting HR was generally hovering about 50. When I had a CT angiogram, I was able to get my average resting HR (for about 15 minutes) to 39BPM, without meds. When I did my treadmill test at the cardiologists (pre meds), he stopped my test at just 175BPM because my BP was 285/105. He was afraid I was going to “stroke out” right there and then. He was not happy when I told him I did 1/2 marathons at 175BPM average. He was also visibly displeased when I told him I had a couple of gears left. He said my numbers were the highest he’d personally ever seen in someone that lived. (Finally I win at something!)
My BP is medicated now, but without meds it normally runs about 135/90-95. With meds it was 119/78 at my last check up.
I do have exercise induced asthma that now is also medicated. So that might be a contributing factor.
It’s all fun and games until someone has a stroke.
I’m glad you had the test and ended up meds. Those numbers certainly warrant it.
What medication are you on, how do you feel, How did the angiogram look, etc (for more info for the thread)?
I was training for an IM when I was 45, and thought it wise that even after several IM’s I should get checked out. I went to my sports doc with 7 ‘issues’. sore shoulder, sore ankle, click in my neck as well as a pain in my chest when I ran hard. It was just to the left of the sternum and hooked around under my left breast. It hurt all the time, but worse when I’d run hard. It hurts right now, almost like a broken rib (which I’ve done too many times)
The doc immediately sent me to a cardiologist and that’s where the drama started. In essence I felt fine, but running hard hurts (legs, lungs, arms, everything hurts when you’re at the limit right?).
From time to time, mainly when running, I’d get really out of breath, more than I would at other times at the same effort. Sometimes when swimming I’d get it too. Turns out I have tachycardia, arrhythmia and ectopic beats. From time to time, for no reason, my heart would race from say 150BPM while running, to sometimes over 240BPM. Generally the bursts would last 5-30 seconds. My HRM would beep like crazy. If the episode would last more than about 20 seconds, I’d feel a tightening or thickening sensation in the sides of my neck. If it went over 40 seconds, I’d start to really really get out of breathe and sometimes get light headed, but otherwise would feel fine, just annoyed and my involuntarily slowing pace. Depending on the length of episode, it would take 1-5 minutes to feel like I’d recovered.
In a half IM about 4 years ago now, I was running up a gentle hill when I could feel an episode. I checked and my HR was over 200. Per my doctors orders, I slowed to a walk and check my HR. Still over 200 so I stopped. Still over 200. After about a minute, I sat down, but still 200+. After another minute or so, I lay down, getting strange looks from other competitors as they ran past. After 8 minutes total, it finally slowed to about 180. I got up and walked to the finish line since I arguably felt fine.
At the finish line, in a disappointing time, I asked the RD (a buddy of mine) if there was an ambulance handy. He called one off the course and I lay down in the ambo for about half an hour, hooked up to a machine. Even lying down, 30 minutes after I walked across the line, my HR was 159. They gave me a print out and it looked like a 2 year old had scrawled it left handed. Unless you knew it was a heart print out, you would never suspect. I actually felt embarrassed taking the ambulance attendants time as I felt fine. Sure, a but puffed, but I had just finished a long hard race.
I took the printout to my GP and then cardiologist and both were flabbergasted that I wasn’t dead. Neither of them could believe I felt fine.
I went to the after race party, had few beers and danced the night away with some lovely single women 
I can’t take beta blockers as I get a non-stop cough that prevents me having anything resembling a normal life. I pretty much couldn’t work when I trialled beta blockers.
I switched to a drug called Cozaar, then Hyzaar (I think the hyzaar is a stronger version of the Cozaar). Thankfully even tho it’s not a funded drug here in NZ, because I can’t take beta blockers, the government pays for it.
When I take my pill every morning, it reminds me I’m mortal and that’s a drag. More annoying is that I feel absolutely no different when I take my pills or not. After multiple tests by multiple doctors, none have been able to figure out what the pain in my chest is, other than to rule out that it’s my heart! WTF?
When I had my CT angiogram, my cardiologist said my heart and arteries are “better than textbook”. He said that in the textbooks, they always show the cut-aways with some plaque, some hardening of arteries etc. He said mine are ‘perfect’. My problems all seem to be electrical, not physical if you know what I mean.
I had a heart MRI also and thanks to my terribly irregular heart beat, it took over 90 minutes to do a 25 minute test. Some of that however was because I fell asleep twice during the test. The poor lady testing me had a devil of a time taking the necessary pictures between heart beats, because they were so irregular.
My cholesterol is normally 2.1 to 2.3 (metric) and my ratio’s are perfect. My doctors are as baffled by my numbers as they are about finding a cause. I take my pills and live my life. One day I will die, just like the rest of humanity. Nuthin’ any of us can do about that
A buddy of mine had a stroke at about age 50 and his life really turned to shit. He’s basically OK physically, but lost his job and has had to travel the world looking for work. Strokes can ruin your life, and not just physically. Take care people