Medication for blood pressure

Notifitsraining

I have had raised blood pressure for a while and my doctor has now prescribed the calcium channel blocker Amlodipine (5mg per day) for a trial period. He is aware of and sympathises with my wish to continue my training for this years hamdful of sportives I intend to complete this year. Does anyone have any experience of this treatment and side effects?

However I notice that one possible side effect is increased sweating. I am already very proficent at sweating and am concerned this might prove a problem on hot days on long hills!

jimmcdonnell

If you experience any side effects at all, they're likely to only last for a while. It's a calcium channel blocker - long story short it relaxes your arterial walls so lowering BP.

I'm on 4 flavours of hypertension meds, a diuretic, calcium channel blocker, beta-blocker and an angiotensin II receptor antagonist (try saying that 3 times quickly). I've been on various combinations for 14 years now, and apart from the first couple of months where I felt a little spacy, I honestly can't say I feel any adverse side effects. I do sweat a lot but then I always have. The Wikipedia page for amlopidine doesn't mention excessive sweating, though it does mention a 1 in 10 chance of swollen ankles, which I do find I get after a day standing up at work, or a long seated train/plane/bus journey.

I ride as hard as I ever did, and apart from the difference caused by carrying 2 stone more than I did when I was in my 20s I can't spot any BP medication related issues. Don't worry about it, get out & ride!

huuregeil

If you're suffering from high blood pressure, have you considered your diet? Particularly, vegetarian or vegan diets have long been known to reduce blood pressure, and the effect of not eating meat is both quite strong and lowers blood pressure quite quickly. E.g.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6743632
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6129380
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3026552

Old papers but, as I said, this has been known about for a while.

jimmcdonnell

Yes, diet always worth trying. For what it's worth (and always remembering, the plural of 'anecdote' is NOT 'data'), my diet is predominantly vegan (though I'm not one), with plenty of fruit, only rarely allowing myself salt (and how I miss it!), and of course plenty of cycling exercise, but over the 14 years since diagnosis my BP has continued to rise. Constant monitoring and changes to my cocktail of meds keeps it in control. 95% of hypertensives have 'essential hypertension', which is a fancy way of saying 'no idea why your BP is high, it just is'.

brucey72

I have been on Amlodopine, also 5mg since 1992 when I had a kidney transplant. The only side effects that I have suffered is swollen gums and fluid retention in my ankles when travelling by plane. I can't 100% guarantee that these side effects are related to the amlodipine however as I'm on a cocktail of other drugs for anti-rejection. No sweating problems though.

Amplodipine has not affected my cycling at all as far as I'm aware (I didn't cycle before my transplant so have nothing to compare to) and i am able to compete on a level playing field with my club mates doing races, TT's and 100 mile + sportifs. I completed the Marmotte sportif in france last year and am signed up to do it again this july.

It was a different story when I was also taking a beta blocker however!!

Notifitsraining

I suspect my blood pressure is at least partly a hereditary problem (my father suffers much higher blood pressure than me and his father suffered also). However, I also think my own personality traits haven't helped - i.e. being somewhat disorganised in a pressurized position, and just letting too many things wind me up - usually inanimate objects!. My diet isn't bad, though one can always improve it, however I suspect I need to relax more to give them a chance of working (I don't mean not training)!

It's good to hear some good reports though - I haven't dared pop the first one yet!!!