# Anyone riding while with persistent high blood pressure.



## roundisland (27 Nov 2015)

Hi routine doctors appointment 2 yrs ago discovered I had high blood pressure, blood test revealed low colestral diet and weight wasn't an issue. I've been taking Ramipril 10mg daily last 18 months. Blood pressure still hovering around between 170/80 and 145/90 still enjoying cycling anyone been advised not to with similar blood pressure readings. 

Thanks


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## midlife (27 Nov 2015)

Exercise reduces overall diastolic blood pressure, did the doc not suggest you exercise and lose weight etc as well as give you the ACE inhibitor?

Shaun


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## roundisland (27 Nov 2015)

I'm not overweight and I have been cycling 4 times a week for the last 6 years. I only know my prescription 10mg daily Ramipril.


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## deptfordmarmoset (27 Nov 2015)

Ask your GP about calcium channel antagonists, such as Felodipine. Apparently it reduces blood pressure by dilating the vessels. I have kidney disease which knocks my BP off the scale so have to take Felodipine and Ramipril along with a diuretic, snappily named bendroflumethiazide. At first my GP tried beta blockers but they made my life a complete misery so, after advice from a GP friend, I asked my doctor about CCAs. I've found them far less debiliating than beta blockers. Do you know the cause of the high BP?


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## roundisland (27 Nov 2015)

Thank you for the information,I have a doctors appointment next week. I will ask my doctor about what you have said. They don't seem to know the cause of my high HBP, I'm not overweight and exercise frequently. Bloods results showed low calestrol . What sort of side affects were you experiencing from your medication?


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## deptfordmarmoset (27 Nov 2015)

roundisland said:


> Thank you for the information,I have a doctors appointment next week. I will ask my doctor about what you have said. They don't seem to know the cause of my high HBP, I'm not overweight and exercise frequently. Bloods results showed low calestrol . What sort of side affects were you experiencing from your medication?


I got hit with a cocktail of drugs so it's hard to isolate the individual effects of each one. They started using beta blockers which knocked my BP back to reasonable levels. For a short while.... So they doubled the dose and that worked. For a short while. So they doubled the double. And that stopped me working. BP stayed fine though! (My work, as a gigging musician, needed adrenalin to get by, beta blockers stop that adrenalin process working normally and I ended up completely wrecked for 2 days - debilitated - after a single gig. Work fell apart.) At the time, my resting heart beat was lower than it had ever been. But my ability to do anything in an alert and energetic way was severely damaged. Since dropping the beta blockers and going onto Felodipine I have felt a lot better and far less exhausted than I did under BBs. Currently my BP is just a bit over what the medics think of ideal but I'm not ready to swap merely existing for living. 

The problem in my case is that I have a severely constrained artery to my right kidney. Kidney says give me more blood. Heart obliges but it still doesn't get to that kidney. Meanwhile it pumps away harder.... BP meters suffer from abnormal readings.... Because of a failed attempt to put a stent in the artery, I had the choice of a nephrectomy on the uncertain chance of my kidney, which had meanwhile become underdeveloped, regaining full function or - psychologically motivated - keeping the integrity of my body intact. (Over 6ft, under 12 stone.)


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## midlife (28 Nov 2015)

roundisland said:


> I'm not overweight and I have been cycling 4 times a week for the last 6 years. I only know my prescription 10mg daily Ramipril.



Control of hypertension with medication is tricky to advise on an Internet forum, what I wanted to suggest was that exercise reduces "blood pressure" and that your blood pressure would likely be higher if you didn't.

Shaun


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## roundisland (28 Nov 2015)

Thanks for the info, sounds like you had a tough time getting sorted, How high was your BP while they were trying to get the meds right? I am assuming your BP is normal now? When and how did they discover your high BP? I am guessing I could have an underlying issue causing high bp but they dont seem intrested in perusing anything, my doctor was quite dismissive , it was a kind of that will do attitude when it was around the 150/85 average. I eat healthy , exercise and I'm of normal weight to height. Do you take your cycling more easy these days due to your bp issues?
Thanks again for all the info.


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## roundisland (28 Nov 2015)

midlife said:


> Control of hypertension with medication is tricky to advise on an Internet forum, what I wanted to suggest was that exercise reduces "blood pressure" and that your blood pressure would likely be higher if you didn't.
> 
> Shaun


Thanks I understand what you mean ,but I'm still not happy with it hovering around the 170/80 and 150/80 I would like it lower. I appreciate people here cant advise on any particular medication, I was just wondering if anyone is cycling while having high blood pressure.


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## Shadow (15 Dec 2015)

Don't come into this sub-forum often which is why I've only just stumbled on this. Hope the following might give you some peace of mind although remember we are all different and our bodies work in different ways. This is my short story. Until early this year, I had raging hypertension for at least 5 years e.g. with some readings around 180/80 and some much higher. Until this year, I chose to ignore it and carried on riding. Since, february I have been taking medication and it seems to have stabilised in the 'high-normal' region. The medics seem happy with this. I never felt my high BP was a contributory factor so always carried on riding. In my instance, it seems that high BP is, sadly, in my genetic make up, there is nothing I can do about it. 
If you want any further details, carry on asking.
And as an aside, if you are prescribed meds and you visit europe at all, buy them from any pharmacy. Amlodipine (which must be similar to @deptfordmarmoset's Felodipine) costs only €2.50 in spain and €4.90 in france, less than half of the £8.20 in the uk!!


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## screenman (15 Dec 2015)

My wife kicked caffeine recently and saw a marked drop in bp, she is fit and not overweight, she has though been on drugs for 10 years.


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## david k (17 Dec 2015)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> Ask your GP about calcium channel antagonists, such as Felodipine. Apparently it reduces blood pressure by dilating the vessels. I have kidney disease which knocks my BP off the scale so have to take Felodipine and Ramipril along with a diuretic, snappily named bendroflumethiazide. At first my GP tried beta blockers but they made my life a complete misery so, after advice from a GP friend, I asked my doctor about CCAs. I've found them far less debiliating than beta blockers. Do you know the cause of the high BP?


Why did beta blockers make your life a misery?


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## burndust (17 Dec 2015)

interesting, i had mine taken about 4 months ago, the Dr's eyes nearly popped out of his head 205/117, i'm on perindopril and Amodpine seems to be working normally about 160ish/85ish


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## burndust (17 Dec 2015)

Shadow said:


> Don't come into this sub-forum often which is why I've only just stumbled on this. Hope the following might give you some peace of mind although remember we are all different and our bodies work in different ways. This is my short story. Until early this year, I had raging hypertension for at least 5 years e.g. with some readings around 180/80 and some much higher. Until this year, I chose to ignore it and carried on riding. Since, february I have been taking medication and it seems to have stabilised in the 'high-normal' region. The medics seem happy with this. I never felt my high BP was a contributory factor so always carried on riding. In my instance, it seems that high BP is, sadly, in my genetic make up, there is nothing I can do about it.
> If you want any further details, carry on asking.
> And as an aside, if you are prescribed meds and you visit europe at all, buy them from any pharmacy. Amlodipine (which must be similar to @deptfordmarmoset's Felodipine) costs only €2.50 in spain and €4.90 in france, less than half of the £8.20 in the uk!!


 luckily in scotland we dont pay for our prescriptions


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## burndust (17 Dec 2015)

roundisland said:


> Thanks I understand what you mean ,but I'm still not happy with it hovering around the 170/80 and 150/80 I would like it lower. I appreciate people here cant advise on any particular medication, I was just wondering if anyone is cycling while having high blood pressure.


 i am, like others have said excercise helps


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## deptfordmarmoset (17 Dec 2015)

david k said:


> Why did beta blockers make your life a misery?


They were fine with a small dose - BP low, feeling ok - but after a month or so the BP was up again. Doubled the dose and the BP came down again but left me feeling permanently exhausted. Then the BP went up again. So the dose went up again: Low BP again but I was a walking zombie. Beta-blockers work on suppressing adrenaline. My work was as a gigging double bass player and I needed adrenaline to work. I ended up being able to squeeze enough adrenaline together to get through, say, a Friday night gig but there was absolutely nothing left for the next couple of days. I couldn't work enough to survive so ended up on benefits.

So, from feeling fine and energetic with a BP systolic level reaching numbers well over 250, and a chance of dropping dead at any time, I ended up with the doctors happy but unable to work. My ''cure'' took me from living to merely existing and facing the regular DWP humiliations for the benefits to survive off.

A GP friend suggested calcium channel antagonists and they worked on the BP just as effectively with vastly lower levels of debilitation. I was still not fit enough to ride distances over about 80 miles though and I didn't have the heart to resume gigging: I was off everyones' contact list or had been replaced and bass playing had become associated with such misery that I never got going again. I still find it difficult to even listen to music. 

In my case, doctors discovered that I had chronic kidney disease that was inoperable other than by having a nephrectomy. My experience of failed medical procedures made me unwilling to let them dice up my kidney in situ and take it out.


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## david k (17 Dec 2015)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> They were fine with a small dose - BP low, feeling ok - but after a month or so the BP was up again. Doubled the dose and the BP came down again but left me feeling permanently exhausted. Then the BP went up again. So the dose went up again: Low BP again but I was a walking zombie. Beta-blockers work on suppressing adrenaline. My work was as a gigging double bass player and I needed adrenaline to work. I ended up being able to squeeze enough adrenaline together to get through, say, a Friday night gig but there was absolutely nothing left for the next couple of days. I couldn't work enough to survive so ended up on benefits.
> 
> So, from feeling fine and energetic with a BP systolic level reaching numbers well over 250, and a chance of dropping dead at any time, I ended up with the doctors happy but unable to work. My ''cure'' took me from living to merely existing and facing the regular DWP humiliations for the benefits to survive off.
> 
> ...



I took them for high blood pressure and irregular heart rythem which made me feel great at first but it didn't take long for me to feel like a zombie, in fact I was made up when they swapped them. However after the replacements not working I'm back on them! If I feel like a zombie I'll start taking them every other day. My heart hasn't been out since so pretty happy, probably have an opp soon so shouldn't be on them for long


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## deptfordmarmoset (17 Dec 2015)

david k said:


> I took them for high blood pressure and irregular heart rythem which made me feel great at first but it didn't take long for me to feel like a zombie, in fact I was made up when they swapped them. However after the replacements not working I'm back on them! If I feel like a zombie I'll start taking them every other day. My heart hasn't been out since so pretty happy, probably have an opp soon so shouldn't be on them for long


If you don't have one already, I'd buy a heart rate monitor and keep and eye on your BP. One of the German discounters, LiDL and ALDI, occasionally stock them. They're cheap but they work.

As a matter of interest, do you know what the replacement med was?


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## david k (17 Dec 2015)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> If you don't have one already, I'd buy a heart rate monitor and keep and eye on your BP. One of the German discounters, LiDL and ALDI, occasionally stock them. They're cheap but they work.
> 
> As a matter of interest, do you know what the replacement med was?


Flecinicide for the irregular heart rythem but now back on Bisporol
I'm on 2.5 of rampril for the high blood pressure.
I take levothyroxine for an under active thyroid, been checked and meds are fine
Was also on aspirin but this has been replaced by apaxiban.


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## deptfordmarmoset (17 Dec 2015)

david k said:


> Flecinicide for the irregular heart rythem but now back on Bisporol
> I'm on 2.5 of rampril for the high blood pressure.
> I take levothyroxine for an under active thyroid, been checked and meds are fine
> Was also on aspirin but this has been replaced by apaxiban.


Oh, I see. I take Ramipril as well but 10mg. I really have crazily high blood pressure! Ramipril is known as an ACE inhibitor, the med I was talking about was one of the calcium channel antagonists, Felodipine. It reduces BP by dilating blood vessels.


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