Hypertension, Beta Blockers and fitness
bompington
Posts: 7,674
I know this kind of stuff has come up before on these forums but as usual I can't find anything useful with Search, so here's my story and an appeal for any useful advice, as I'm sure there are at least a few people on here with similar stories.
I was diagnosed with high blood pressure a couple of years ago now. My GP put me on a succession of drugs: Losartan, Amlodipine, Bisoprilol. It wasn't until all 3 were in action that my BP came down - from around 170/110 to 130/80. They've diagnosed Left Ventricular Hypertrophy ("enlarged heart") and investigations are ongoing: at least the crippling night time migraine-type headaches that first caused me to go to the doctor have gone, and that's a very, very good thing.
But I feel like **ite. I can't get my heart rate above about 125 however hard I try, I get out of breath going up the stairs, I'm half asleep all day (but only half asleep most nights). I've put on a fair bit of weight (83 to 94kg).
To be fair, some of this is due to a change of job (too far to commute by bike) and other life stuff that's meant I have covered very few miles over the last couple of years. But since March or so I'm back to doing at least 100 miles a week, I'm slowly losing weight and I can feel a bit of fitness coming back - Strava is a useful tool for watching improvements, and for all the caveats about using it to compare with others, in the 2 or 3 months I've moved from more than 60% down the leaderboard on local hills to about 50%. But uphills are still desperate, I still get out of breath going up the stairs, and I still feel like **ite most of the time.
Bisoprilol is a beta blocker, and these do seem to be implicated in a lot of these side effects - not to mention a fair bit of evidence that it's not really that much use. But as it seems to be the drug that actually got my BP down to somewhere near OK, my GP is very reluctant to chage it.
Does anyone else have any experience of this kind of thing? What has worked for you? Has anyone persuaded their GP to stop beta blockers (or just stopped themselves :shock:), and what happened? Do I just have to put up with this?
I was diagnosed with high blood pressure a couple of years ago now. My GP put me on a succession of drugs: Losartan, Amlodipine, Bisoprilol. It wasn't until all 3 were in action that my BP came down - from around 170/110 to 130/80. They've diagnosed Left Ventricular Hypertrophy ("enlarged heart") and investigations are ongoing: at least the crippling night time migraine-type headaches that first caused me to go to the doctor have gone, and that's a very, very good thing.
But I feel like **ite. I can't get my heart rate above about 125 however hard I try, I get out of breath going up the stairs, I'm half asleep all day (but only half asleep most nights). I've put on a fair bit of weight (83 to 94kg).
To be fair, some of this is due to a change of job (too far to commute by bike) and other life stuff that's meant I have covered very few miles over the last couple of years. But since March or so I'm back to doing at least 100 miles a week, I'm slowly losing weight and I can feel a bit of fitness coming back - Strava is a useful tool for watching improvements, and for all the caveats about using it to compare with others, in the 2 or 3 months I've moved from more than 60% down the leaderboard on local hills to about 50%. But uphills are still desperate, I still get out of breath going up the stairs, and I still feel like **ite most of the time.
Bisoprilol is a beta blocker, and these do seem to be implicated in a lot of these side effects - not to mention a fair bit of evidence that it's not really that much use. But as it seems to be the drug that actually got my BP down to somewhere near OK, my GP is very reluctant to chage it.
Does anyone else have any experience of this kind of thing? What has worked for you? Has anyone persuaded their GP to stop beta blockers (or just stopped themselves :shock:), and what happened? Do I just have to put up with this?
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Comments
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Amlodipene did it for me, sort of.
I'd been on 5mg daily for years with no side effects or problems. A new GP decided that it would be best to up it to 10mg, so I did. About 3 days later I was out on a long ride and had to bail out, feeling pretty sick. I put it down to a bug/virus, rested a few days and went out again, with the same result. For about 2 months I couldn't really ride for more than 30 minutes without feeling completely whacked, - it took a while to put 2 and 2 together, I went back to 5mg and all was back to normal.
The usual caveat though, is that everyone reacts differently (and this is an internet forum, not a clinic...). Chat through the problem with your GP, there may be a way to isolate which drug is making you feel bad, and there may be an alternative.0 -
I'm watching this one closely because my blood pressure is borderline. It was first measured at age 21, weight 75kg, training for half marathon, never drank or smoke, and was borderline then. Now 42, weight 90kg (down from 18st at heaviest a few years ago), it is still borderline. Got a shock result of 170 over 90 at work (monday morning stress for you) and got 150 when I was routinely measured at an NHS walk in clinic for something else. Measured at home, i'm mostly between 140 and 130 over 80.
I've tried to eliminate sodium from my diet, but i think it runs in the family. At least my Cholesterol is very low. I guess i'll just have to keep smashing out the mileage and get my weight back to 75kg, then no-one can just sneer and blame "lifestyle choices" for the problem.0 -
Perhaps you may feel better on another Beta Blocker, wont change your ability to increase your Herat Rate though. If you lose weight you may reduce the need for as much medication.0
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Yep get your weight down as much as possible, you might also want to switch in some less cardio type exercises, where the low HR cap wont be such a hindrance. I have family members on blockers following heart attacks and they focused on getting off them as quickly as they could. Getting food down helps and intermittent fasting helped me lower both my cholesterol and resting HR. I've been training hard, last few weeks and my resting HR is coming in at 34-36bpm on low food days. Sadly as I'm now getting old, the other end no longer has the capacity it did - otherwise I'd be off to compete in the tour
I know gym instructors on blockers and they find weights can be done without any restrictions, but big endurance cardio is a problem.0 -
+1 on the weight loss. With I.F. I've now lost 17 pounds since Christmas and I'm getting close to where I want to be. When the doc suggested a blood test I was astounded to be told both cholesterol and triglycerides were down to the desirable range for the first time. But I keep noticing other effects too. My wife assures me that I no longer snore, and I feel completely rested when I wake, often before the alarm goes off.
My sister has alarmingly high BP, but mine is still 120/80...0 -
I'm supposed to be on beta blockers but refused to take them - forewarned is forearmed. Lots of arguments and in the end they offered me a substitute, a new drug called ivabradine. It lacks the negative impact of bbs on aerobic exercise. I've no idea whether its any use for your condition (based on a quick skim of the leaflet probably not) and usual caveats apply of course, I'm not a doctor/cardiologist nor do I advocate going against your GP's opinions...
except...
It's your body! The only person who makes decisions about what pills I take is me. I don't need "permission" to not take bbs.
You might want to check out the cardiac athletes website which is run by a cardiac physiologist.
http://www.cardiacathletes.com/
I've got a lot of help there in the past.0 -
Unfortunately it is not an exact science. Reducing weight, sleeping properly and eating healthily will help. For medication what works for one person will not for another and your body can also build up tolerance over time. What your GP is saying is they have reduced the real risk of high blood pressure and doesn't want to make changes to quickly. High blood pressure medication can make you feel like you are not yourself compared to when you had uncontrolled high blood pressure. It can take time to find the right balance.0
