hypertension vs cycling

[le-sheq]

Hi all,


Some time ago I was diagnosed with hypertension. I'm 23 y/o and in fairly
good condition, so I found my elevated BP worrisome. Medical testing
(abdominal USG, EKG, cardiac echo test) did not show any significant
abnormalities. I also underwent 24 hr pressure measurement.
Systolic/diastolic BP during the day varied between 188/112 and 133/91,
avgBP 155/92. I could observe no (or very small) correlation with HR. During
the night avgBP was 129/73.


I reckon that this elevated BP has a neurotic background. What's more my
parents suffer from hypertension, so it all seems "logical". However I'm
very much concerned about why it shoed up so early.


I practice many sport activities, mainly mountain and road cycling.
Occasionally I take part take part in local cycling competition
(cross-country races, 1-1,5h of maximal effort).


Can I safely compete? Are there any medications you'd suggest to lower blood
pressure without affecting physical performance and cardiac rhythm? Is there
any way to treat/cure such thing? Thanks in advance for any
help/suggestions/kind words J.


All the best,


Lechu

 

[Neil Brooks]

"le-sheq" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Some time ago I was diagnosed with hypertension. I'm 23 y/o and in fairly
>good condition, so I found my elevated BP worrisome. Medical testing
>(abdominal USG, EKG, cardiac echo test) did not show any significant
>abnormalities. I also underwent 24 hr pressure measurement.
>Systolic/diastolic BP during the day varied between 188/112 and 133/91,
>avgBP 155/92. I could observe no (or very small) correlation with HR. During
>the night avgBP was 129/73.
>
>I reckon that this elevated BP has a neurotic background. What's more my
>parents suffer from hypertension, so it all seems "logical". However I'm
>very much concerned about why it shoed up so early.
>
>I practice many sport activities, mainly mountain and road cycling.
>Occasionally I take part take part in local cycling competition
>(cross-country races, 1-1,5h of maximal effort).
>
>Can I safely compete? Are there any medications you'd suggest to lower blood
>pressure without affecting physical performance and cardiac rhythm? Is there
>any way to treat/cure such thing? Thanks in advance for any
>help/suggestions/kind words J.

My answer is totally sincere: discuss these issues with your
cardiologist or treating physician.

The answers you get ... on this forum ... to questions of this import
.... are worth only what you're paying for them.

This is your ticker, man. Do this thing right.

Best of luck!
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

 

[Javier]

Hi J,

Talk to your doctor and a cardiologist. Most likely they will want to
use Toporol XL which does lower BP but it also lowers your heart rate.
I would ask them about Altace which lowers your BP but does not drop
your heart rate. Also, see if you can have a stress test done, its
just better to be safe than sorry.

If this helps here's what happened to me. I'm a 36 year old male who is
in good shape but due to bad genetics I ended up with four stents in my
coronary arteries. I recovered in two weeks gave up my pervious gig as
a powerlifter, got my butt on a road bike and in five months I shaved
37 pounds of excess weight off my frame and so far things have worked
out super well.

To be honest it's the best thing that could have happened. If I didn't
pay attention to a very tiny and minor sting in my right pectoral I
would have had a heart attack in a matter of months.

Sorry if I rambled on...

Javier

 

[le-sheq]

> My answer is totally sincere: discuss these issues with your
> cardiologist or treating physician.

I'm in contact with cardiologist all the time. But mayby anyone here
had/have similar problem. Just looking for any kind od advice or
suggestions, not for a treatment.

 

[[email protected]]

Neil Brooks wrote:
> "le-sheq" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Some time ago I was diagnosed with hypertension. I'm 23 y/o and in fairly
> >good condition, so I found my elevated BP worrisome. Medical testing
> >(abdominal USG, EKG, cardiac echo test) did not show any significant
> >abnormalities. I also underwent 24 hr pressure measurement.
> >Systolic/diastolic BP during the day varied between 188/112 and 133/91,
> >avgBP 155/92. I could observe no (or very small) correlation with HR. During
> >the night avgBP was 129/73.
> >
> >I reckon that this elevated BP has a neurotic background. What's more my
> >parents suffer from hypertension, so it all seems "logical". However I'm
> >very much concerned about why it shoed up so early.
> >
> >I practice many sport activities, mainly mountain and road cycling.
> >Occasionally I take part take part in local cycling competition
> >(cross-country races, 1-1,5h of maximal effort).
> >
> >Can I safely compete? Are there any medications you'd suggest to lower blood
> >pressure without affecting physical performance and cardiac rhythm? Is there
> >any way to treat/cure such thing? Thanks in advance for any
> >help/suggestions/kind words J.
>
> My answer is totally sincere: discuss these issues with your
> cardiologist or treating physician.
>
> The answers you get ... on this forum ... to questions of this import
> ... are worth only what you're paying for them.
>
> This is your ticker, man. Do this thing right.
>
> Best of luck!

This is, as Neal says, an important issue you should get professional
help to figure out your options. My advice is worth what you paid for
it. I am not a doctor, just a person who is older than you thinking
about what I would do in a similar situation.

I'll bet many doctors will have differing opinions. Make sure you find
a doctor who is interested in your case, and pays attention to your
athletic inclinations. You are not a sedentary senior citizen, and need
someone who appreciates that. That isn't to say, shop around until you
find a doctor who tells you what you want to hear, but don't just take
one doctor's advice as gospel.

That said, I am sure there are plenty of very active cyclists who have
undiagnosed hypertension, and what they don't know probably doesn't
hurt them (at least from a cycling perspective). On the one hand you
have the actual problems from a medical condition, and then there are
all the psychological issues that go along with worrying about a
condition. Worrying and the dissatisfaction with your life as a result
may be worse than the actual medical risks.

If you are concerned, pehaps your doctor can arrange a 24h EKG where
you ride one of your hard training rides to see if you get any super
high spikes.

At your young age it is important to get things sorted out and to
prioritize your life. If you really enjoy bike racing, you should do
it. There are all sorts of risks involved in competing, and your
medical condition is just one of them. Make sure you understand the
risks, and make your own choice. But remeber you only live once, and
you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so choose wisely.

Good luck!

Joseph

 

[Bill Sornson]

Javier wrote:

> ...If I didn't
> pay attention to a very tiny and minor sting in my right pectoral I
> would have had a heart attack in a matter of months.

Oh, great.

Bill "many mysterious pains (and not just D'oh Boy, either!)" S.

 

[Javier]

Tell me about it. All I felt was a tiny little sting, sort of like a
bug bite. The only thing that made me suspicious was the fact that it
would not go away unless I stopped jogging. I decided to go to the
emergency room and they kept me over night. One angiogram later and
they found four blockages, 95%, 90% 45% 40%. What saved me was the fact
that they also found that I have a ton of veins and capillaries around
my heart that are not supposed to be there. They called it collateral,
I call it pure luck.

Now that I'm on my bike 6 days per week my resting heart rate is down
to 40 BPM and my BP went from mild hypertension to 90/50, and I'm down
about 36 lbs. Hopefully by April I'll be another 35LBS lighter.

 

[le-sheq]

User <[email protected]> wrote:

> This is, as Neal says, an important issue you should get professional
> help to figure out your options. My advice is worth what you paid for
> it. I am not a doctor, just a person who is older than you thinking
> about what I would do in a similar situation.

Thanks. I've already consulted several doctors, including 3 cardiologist
(one of them is a cycling freak. The first symptoms I had was a strange
feeling of not being able to take full breath (as if I was not able to
inhale as much air as I'd like to). It occured time and again and it seemed
to have no corellation with the level phisical effort. What's notworthy is,
that virtually it was not a discomfort for me (just iritating, but not
much). It never appeared during any strenuous exercise/training. I had my
lungs and heart tested and the echocardiogram showed a mitral valve prolapse
with a minute regurgitation (plus a measurable hypertrophy of
intraventrocular septum). I was told however, that it's common and not
considered to be a pathology. So, eventually I (and the doc's) put the
symptoms down to me being nervous and excitable.

> If you are concerned, pehaps your doctor can arrange a 24h EKG where
> you ride one of your hard training rides to see if you get any super
> high spikes.

Well, I've already done 24hrs EKG (holter) and 24hrs ABP measuremen. EKG
showed 1 instance of ventricular ectopy and 6 instances of supraventricular
ectopy (I'm not an expert, but my cardiologist said, that i't nothing to
worry about). As for the ABP, the results were described earlier.

> At your young age it is important to get things sorted out and to
> prioritize your life. If you really enjoy bike racing, you should do
> it. There are all sorts of risks involved in competing, and your
> medical condition is just one of them. Make sure you understand the
> risks, and make your own choice. But remeber you only live once, and
> you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so choose wisely.
> Good luck!

Thanks. I'll do my best. At the moment I'm looking for a kind of a personal
trainer to help me to avoid getting overtrained and train more efficiently
(have serious problem with both).

I trully appreciate your suggestions and advice.

All the best,

Lechu

 

[Jim]

My experience has been cycling daily reduces my blood pressure 20 points
upper & lower.
Jim
"le-sheq" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> Some time ago I was diagnosed with hypertension. I'm 23 y/o and in fairly
> good condition, so I found my elevated BP worrisome. Medical testing
> (abdominal USG, EKG, cardiac echo test) did not show any significant
> abnormalities. I also underwent 24 hr pressure measurement.
> Systolic/diastolic BP during the day varied between 188/112 and 133/91,
> avgBP 155/92. I could observe no (or very small) correlation with HR.
During
> the night avgBP was 129/73.
>
>
> I reckon that this elevated BP has a neurotic background. What's more my
> parents suffer from hypertension, so it all seems "logical". However I'm
> very much concerned about why it shoed up so early.
>
>
> I practice many sport activities, mainly mountain and road cycling.
> Occasionally I take part take part in local cycling competition
> (cross-country races, 1-1,5h of maximal effort).
>
>
> Can I safely compete? Are there any medications you'd suggest to lower
blood
> pressure without affecting physical performance and cardiac rhythm? Is
there
> any way to treat/cure such thing? Thanks in advance for any
> help/suggestions/kind words J.
>
>
> All the best,
>
>
> Lechu
>
>
>

 

[Derk]

>Thanks. I'll do my best. At the moment I'm looking for a kind of a
> personal trainer to help me to avoid getting overtrained and train more
> efficiently (have serious problem with both).

I also tend to overtrain. The following site is very good.It's an on-line
cycling coach. If I'm not mistaken, they also train the Rabobank pro
riders. They have trained many pro riders and have special programs.

www.webtrainer.nl

Gretings, Derk

 

[le-sheq]

These are the results of a threadmill test (threadmill accelerated and
changed slope every 3 minutes):

HR 96 ---- BP 150/105
HR 113 ---- BP 200/120
HR 163 ---- BP 210/110
HR 158 ---- BP 240/110
HR 186 ---- BP 230/110
HR 192 ---- BP 260/100

recovery:

1:00 - HR 153 --- BP 230/120
3:00 - HR 118 --- BP 180/110
5:00 - HR 111 --- BP 160/115

Last summer I had the same test done and the maximal BP I reached (at HR 170
BPM) was 170/90. I'm really worried what's going on with me. TIA for any
help.

Lechu

 

[Javier]

Lechu,

I would seriously speak with a doctor. My BP was borderline and due to
not getting checkups and blood work I ended up with four stents.
Please go get checked out, the longer you let this go the worse the
outcome.

Javier

 

[le-sheq]

User "Javier" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I would seriously speak with a doctor. My BP was borderline and due to
> not getting checkups and blood work I ended up with four stents.
> Please go get checked out, the longer you let this go the worse the
> outcome.

I showed the results to my cardiologist. He suggested starting a mild ACE
inhibitor therapy. Also I had diazepamum prescribed (for "soothing" my
nerves). I also plan to alter my diet even more (NO NaCl, NO cholesterol,
less saturated fats, loads of veg and fruits) and eat more regularly. Hope
it'll be fine, cause I can't wait for the 2006 cycling season .

All the best,

Lechu