I read some pretty passionate posts about which BP med is preferable. My BP was 160/88 this evening and I think I need something for it.
Just keep in mind that antihypertensive therapy is usually something that you need to continue for the rest of your life. Side effects can include decreases in stamina, fatigue, and sexual problems.
If your BP is a chronic issue that isn’t relieved by loosing weight, or getting off the juice, then by all means consider treatment, as prolonged chronic hypertension can lead to things such as kidney disease, blindness, stroke, and heart failure later on in life.
An ACE inhibitor may be the most preferable such as Ramipril (altace).
Try to avoid a prescription for a beta blocker such as metoprolol, or a calcium channel blocker, as the side effects of these will be more noticable.
Obviously though the medication that will be prescribed will best suit your need. So you may not have the luxury of having that choice.
Regardess, all antihypertensives either effect preload, afterload or both, and metoprolol will effect cardiac rate. These changes will reduce cardiac output, which is like placing a ‘govenor’ on your engine. This will effectively hamper you physical abilities, level of energy and stamina.
But hey, if it’s a choice between The above mentioned conditions, and the side effects, likely you will live with the sides and take the medication.
Huh, well I am off right now and I am trying to hit the previous peak I hit when I was last one, then the idea would be to start aas again at the top of that peak.
If I feel that my BP is strictly stress related and if a doc gives me a benzo will that effect my lifting?
I am constantly under stress from work so she started out giving me lexapro and sleepinp pill for night, but if that doesn’t work I’ll either need the BP stuff, or I could push for a benzo.
[quote]Diana Bolann wrote:
Huh, well I am off right now and I am trying to hit the previous peak I hit when I was last one, then the idea would be to start aas again at the top of that peak.
If I feel that my BP is strictly stress related and if a doc gives me a benzo will that effect my lifting?
I am constantly under stress from work so she started out giving me lexapro and sleepinp pill for night, but if that doesn’t work I’ll either need the BP stuff, or I could push for a benzo. [/quote]
Hey DB, what's up man? I have been on an ACE inhibitor for a few months now. Like prisoner said, I had heard it's the preferred med of choice by Bushy, and I guess I got lucky because I actually requested it over the diuretics etc., and it was no problem, the gal just wrote it up and that was it. It's a bit more pricey I believe than the others, mine costs me 20 bucks for 100 5mg tabs, once a day so it lasts pretty good.
The 5mg a day dose has lowered mine down pretty good. I just took it after a meal mind you, and it's 131/77. It has been as low as 120/75, and has topped off at around 135/88. It used to cruise around 142-8/88-94, so it's definitely made a difference. Also the pill itself is tiny and has no taste at all. I just let it dissolve right there and it's done.
I have a physical today in a couple hours and I'll get back to you as to whether or not the doc will tell me to up it to 10mg/day, or just go with this. I tried not to get on meds but it's like Priz said, fuck it, too many serious consequences down the road of life if we blow it off or keep telling ourselves it's ok.
Anyway, good luck and hope this helped a bit. I'll chime in later after todays fun time at the docs place.
I assume that ACE stands for Acetyl Cholinesterase inhibitor, is that correct Prisoner, DB? I’ve noticed zero sides by the way too.
later,
ToneBone
EDIT: My own update here…ACE stands for “angiotensin converting enzyme”, just to clarify my own question for everyone.
[quote]InTheZone wrote:
Hey DB, what's up man? I have been on an ACE inhibitor for a few months now. Like prisoner said, I had heard it's the preferred med of choice by Bushy, and I guess I got lucky because I actually requested it over the diuretics etc., and it was no problem, the gal just wrote it up and that was it. It's a bit more pricey I believe than the others, mine costs me 20 bucks for 100 5mg tabs, once a day so it lasts pretty good.
The 5mg a day dose has lowered mine down pretty good. I just took it after a meal mind you, and it's 131/77. It has been as low as 120/75, and has topped off at around 135/88. It used to cruise around 142-8/88-94, so it's definitely made a difference. Also the pill itself is tiny and has no taste at all. I just let it dissolve right there and it's done.
I have a physical today in a couple hours and I'll get back to you as to whether or not the doc will tell me to up it to 10mg/day, or just go with this. I tried not to get on meds but it's like Priz said, fuck it, too many serious consequences down the road of life if we blow it off or keep telling ourselves it's ok.
Anyway, good luck and hope this helped a bit. I'll chime in later after todays fun time at the docs place.
I assume that ACE stands for Acetyl Cholinesterase inhibitor, is that correct Prisoner, DB? I’ve noticed zero sides by the way too.
later,
ToneBone[/quote]
Hey what’s up dude. I figured you might have some experience on this.
I just went in to the local CVS and I am up to 169/90, then I checked it again and it was 162/88. No good either way you look at it, and I’ve been off the sauce for a few months!
Without asking my doc called in a beta-blocker metoprolol for me. I think I will wait to start taking it or not take it at all because it sounds like the ACE inhibitor might be the way to go.
The doc gave me no reasoning for giving me this particular med and I’d like to hash that out before taking it.
This shit sucks. I’ve never had high BP before taking my present job and doing a masters full-time at night.
[quote]Diana Bolann wrote:
InTheZone wrote:
Hey DB, what's up man? I have been on an ACE inhibitor for a few months now. Like prisoner said, I had heard it's the preferred med of choice by Bushy, and I guess I got lucky because I actually requested it over the diuretics etc., and it was no problem, the gal just wrote it up and that was it. It's a bit more pricey I believe than the others, mine costs me 20 bucks for 100 5mg tabs, once a day so it lasts pretty good.
The 5mg a day dose has lowered mine down pretty good. I just took it after a meal mind you, and it's 131/77. It has been as low as 120/75, and has topped off at around 135/88. It used to cruise around 142-8/88-94, so it's definitely made a difference. Also the pill itself is tiny and has no taste at all. I just let it dissolve right there and it's done.
I have a physical today in a couple hours and I'll get back to you as to whether or not the doc will tell me to up it to 10mg/day, or just go with this. I tried not to get on meds but it's like Priz said, fuck it, too many serious consequences down the road of life if we blow it off or keep telling ourselves it's ok.
Anyway, good luck and hope this helped a bit. I'll chime in later after todays fun time at the docs place.
I assume that ACE stands for Acetyl Cholinesterase inhibitor, is that correct Prisoner, DB? I’ve noticed zero sides by the way too.
later,
ToneBone
Hey what’s up dude. I figured you might have some experience on this.
I just went in to the local CVS and I am up to 169/90, then I checked it again and it was 162/88. No good either way you look at it, and I’ve been off the sauce for a few months!
Without asking my doc called in a beta-blocker metoprolol for me. I think I will wait to start taking it or not take it at all because it sounds like the ACE inhibitor might be the way to go.
The doc gave me no reasoning for giving me this particular med and I’d like to hash that out before taking it.
This shit sucks. I’ve never had high BP before taking my present job and doing a masters full-time at night. [/quote]
Hey man, I'm back now. The doc said I was looking good, no problems. Also, I asked him some stuff about the ACE and in particular the one I'm on, which is Lisinopril, which is the same as Prinivil/Zestril. Apparently it's a very good bp med, and 5mg is a low end dose, so there shouldn't be any negative effects on the kidneys or anything else. He looked in my chart and there had been one of each type of bp med recommended, ie: diuretic/ACE inhib/beta blocker.
I got the ACE easily, and I suppose it wouldn’t be a problem for you either if requested, unless there was a specific reason,(doubtful), that they wouldn’t want you on it. Supposed to have very, very few sides, and I’ll attest to that, some rare cases have some people developing some type of cough from it, but this is a very low percentage of folks.
Anyway, that's all I know about it, and I'm sure you'll research the difft ones, hopefully if you do decide you want the ACE inhib, it won't be a hassle for you. You never know with "Gods favorites" aka MD's, what they will think/say/do. Good luck DB.
ToneBone
How high is your pulse rate? Is it high from stress too? Beta blockers aren’t good for people who exercise a lot and diuretics aren’t good for people on juice. I would stay away from benzos and dig deaper to try and find out the cause so you and your doctor aren’t just throwing serious drugs at the problem hoping somthing sticks.
[quote]InTheZone wrote:
EDIT: My own update here…ACE stands for “angiotensin converting enzyme”, just to clarify my own question for everyone.[/quote]
Correct, and it is a medication that works via two different pathways - It is actually the kidneys that secrete Renin which converts to angiotesin I and II as I recall.
This takes place of all places within the lungs.
The results are the medication stimulates both vasodilation and diuresses, to achieve desired effects.
[quote]Pretzel Logic wrote:
How high is your pulse rate? Is it high from stress too? Beta blockers aren’t good for people who exercise a lot and diuretics aren’t good for people on juice. I would stay away from benzos and dig deaper to try and find out the cause so you and your doctor aren’t just throwing serious drugs at the problem hoping somthing sticks.[/quote]
My RHR is in the high 50’s to low 60’s. Apparently my mom has a condition called fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) which usually only affects women, but untreatable high BP is a symptom of it. So taking to ToprolXL (beta blocker) is one way to find out if I suffer from the same condition. If I have it the Toprol will be completely ineffective. I just found all of this out yesterday.
Holy crap. Two days of lexapro, ToprolXL, Ambien and Vitamic C and I am at 122/69.
Nuts.
Can someone explain why the beta/calcium blockers are bad for athletes?
[quote]Diana Bolann wrote:
Holy crap. Two days of lexapro, ToprolXL, Ambien and Vitamic C and I am at 122/69.
Nuts.
Can someone explain why the beta/calcium blockers are bad for athletes?[/quote]
Wow, that's great dude. Are the first two both for bp? I don't know about the last question. Certainly looking good now though. Fantastic.
ToneBone
[quote]Diana Bolann wrote:
Holy crap. Two days of lexapro, ToprolXL, Ambien and Vitamic C and I am at 122/69.
Nuts.
Can someone explain why the beta/calcium blockers are bad for athletes?[/quote]
Forgot a question I had relating also. Does anyone know just how bad it is to go on cycle with moderate/light doses while taking these meds, and how bout HOT-ROX too? Just curious, I'm sure it depends on length and compounds and diet, but in general how safe/unsafe is it to play this game while on bp meds? Just watch the bp?
Mine didn’t go up very much when taking the ACE inhib and cycling a shorty.
TBN
I think the Lexapro is for stress although it’s a depression med and I don’t notice anything from it. I opted for this in lieu of a benzo because it’s prescribed for anxiety.
The Toprol is the same as metoprolol which is a beta blocker.
I also started taking 3 grams of emergen-c brand vit c because I read that it can help.
The one thing I am concerned with is that the ambien can have a transient positive effect on BP and I took 10 or 20 mg at 6am because I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. Then I tested my BP at about 11:20am. So I have to check it a few more times today, though it’s looking good so far.
[quote]InTheZone wrote:
Diana Bolann wrote:
Holy crap. Two days of lexapro, ToprolXL, Ambien and Vitamic C and I am at 122/69.
Nuts.
Can someone explain why the beta/calcium blockers are bad for athletes?
Forgot a question I had relating also. Does anyone know just how bad it is to go on cycle with moderate/light doses while taking these meds, and how bout HOT-ROX too? Just curious, I'm sure it depends on length and compounds and diet, but in general how safe/unsafe is it to play this game while on bp meds? Just watch the bp?
Mine didn’t go up very much when taking the ACE inhib and cycling a shorty.
TBN[/quote]
Good question.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Well beta blockers (as Pris mentioned) place an artificial upper limit on your HR. This limits performance…
Calcium is needed for muscle contraction. A Ca channel blocker will negatively affect skeletal muscle contraction, as well as cardiac muscle contraction. This too, will affect performance.
ACE inhibitors do not affect either cardiac or skeletal muscle, making them less likely to impinge upon your training sessions, as well as everyday activities.
Bushy[/quote]
Great, thanks for the explanation Bushy.
I’m certainly glad you let me know which way to turn when I had to start taking one. You never let me down when I needed help/info.
ToneBone
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Well beta blockers (as Pris mentioned) place an artificial upper limit on your HR. This limits performance…
Bushy[/quote]
BBB,
Is this the mechanism of action or a side effect?
[quote]Diana Bolann wrote:
bushidobadboy wrote:
Well beta blockers (as Pris mentioned) place an artificial upper limit on your HR. This limits performance…
Bushy
BBB,
Is this the mechanism of action or a side effect?[/quote]
Just some small quibbles.
-
Prisoner is spot on, once again.
-
OP: I hope you had a urinalysis and that there was no blood or protein in your urine.
-
Calcium channel antagonists are not calcium antagonists. While it is true that there may be small aberrations of the neuromuscular action (detectable by electromyography), this is not likely at all to be noticed by an athlete in terms of change in skeletal muscle performance.
-
Instead, what is important–with many agents including the beta-blockers–is the total circuit: reducing cardiovascular resistance and improving cardiac output, which will be experienced as an improvement in in athletic performance, even if there is a “ceiling” on heart rate responsiveness. (This does not apply in a lot of situations of ill health, but I don’t suppose Diana Bolann has any of those.)
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Does an ACE promote vasodilation and diuresis, or simply prevent the vasoconstriction and sodium/water retention caused by the malfunctioning RAA system.
Not trying to be picky, just discussing with a fellow health professional 
Also, if the hypertension were not caused by idiopathic renal malfunction, would the ACE inhibitor still be as effective? I’m guessing yes, since TB wasn’t checked for renal artery stenosis…
Cheers
Bushy[/quote]
Ha ha! it is promotion. An ACE will work to lower BP in anyone, although keep in mind chronic hypertension is commonly the cause of arteriosclerosis, which does usually effect the health of the kidneys as well, so there is usually a possibility of a renal component in all cardiac cases.