? about Blood pressure...

[joe friday]

went to see my doc. my BP was high, 151/101 Idid not tell her about my gear,she put me on Toporol,and thats a BP med.and thats also a beta blocker and that will not let my hart rate get to high..I have not taken one yet..My ? is, has any one out there taken BP meds while training and on gear.. I'm on test enath, 600mg per week, tren 50mg ed, eq 600mg per week..3 weeks into new cycle. this is about my 6th cycle over 8 years I'v took a lot of stuf over the years but never really had a problem.Thanks for

 

[bigtravis]

went to see my doc. my BP was high, 151/101 Idid not tell her about my gear,she put me on Toporol,and thats a BP med.and thats also a beta blocker and that will not let my hart rate get to high..I have not taken one yet..My ? is, has any one out there taken BP meds while training and on gear.. I'm on test enath, 600mg per week, tren 50mg ed, eq 600mg per week..3 weeks into new cycle. this is about my 6th cycle over 8 years I'v took a lot of stuf over the years but never really had a problem.Thanks for

Well if you're going to keep running gear you def need to monitor your sodium intake. Certain foods may suprise you.

 

[-SD-]

should have spilled the beans to the doc and told you were on roids. the doc still has to help you and let you know if there are any contraindications involved with the drug he gave you for high BP.

 

[burnthiscorpse]

I use metoprolol (beta blocker)sometimes. I used to take it twice a day. But I stopped drinking alchohol and eating garbage and drinking red bull type shit multiple times daily. Basically I take it now once a day if I need to.
I am NOT a doc but I believe they are basically the same thing. Yes I use it while on gear. Last cycle I was using 600mg test E with 200mg deca and I was getting resting BP's of 120's over 70's all cycle. Only when I threw in prop with the E and got up to around 1100mg wk did my BP get up to mid 140's over low 80's and I actually got a palpitation now and then. I immediatley dropped back to just E and was all good.
If you do not have a BP monitor go get a nice wrist one. Only getting BP checked at the docs office is not smart IMHO. #1 your not resting. also some people get anxious while at the doc's.
If you are using AAS then you NEED to have a BP monitor at home and monitor yourself frequently. Each time you take it check it 3 times in a row to get an average. Your BP can fluctuate drastically within seconds. Your BP will be up during being up and about and throughout your day. You want a resting BP after 30 min or so.
BTW 151/101 is NOT good. Thats way up there in no no land. If your taking AAS and that is your BP, NO amount of supps will bring it down to an optimal pressure and I would not recomend letting that type of pressure slide for the length of your cycle.
Again I'm no doc, but take the meds. Start with a half tab even.
You could also PM "statdoc" who IS an M.D. and he will likely tell you there is no conflict with the AAS and the beta blocker. ("likely"). But he will also probably tell you to ask your own doc.
I'm on Tren, Test E, and a tiny amount of deca right now and my BP was just 124/72 with a pulse of 74.
My pulse is usually around 54-58 resting. While on AAS it goes up to mid-high 70's. But BP stays good. All thanx to the beta blockers.
The only problem I could forsee maybe, is with the EQ. Once it really starts working it could jack your BP up because of the thickening of the blood. I wanted to try EQ before but the thought of making my blood super thick just freaks me out.
Good luck and dont Fuck around with your BP!!

 

[KeepinMyGains]

Lot's of guys take BP medication to help keep the elevated blood pressure down.

 

[guest username]

I'm not a big fan of metoprolol for young people, especially athletes. It'll eventually decrease your exercise tolerance (for cardio), could cause erectile dysfunction (please tell your doc if you develop this, don't just try to buy Viagra, Cialis, etc. online to treat it), and has been known to cause depression (metoprolol is one of few beta blockers that cross the blood-brain barrier).

You have stage II hypertension by definition, which diet, exercise, etc. is unlikely to control to optimum levels. The new optimum level is 120/70.

Failure to control your blood pressure with such a degree of hypertension while on gear will cause your heart to hypertrophy (grow), which might be good for skeletal muscles, but is extremely bad for the heart because it causes cardiomegaly. If working out with heavy weights while on gear causes your muscles to grow, think what it does for your heart while you are working it out against all that resistance (high blood pressure).

I'm not expert on JNC-7 guidelines for blood pressure management, but I do start people on anti-hypertensives in the ER when their BP is high enough. For a bodybuilder on gear, I would probably start with a diuretic (usually HCTZ) or an ARB (more expensive, but better tolerated). Calcium channel blockers can sometimes cause your lower extremities to swell, which most bodybuilders wouldn't go for.

 

[joe friday]

Thanks I will keep a watch on it...

 

[Thewalrus]

Betablockers are lousy blood pressure meds. Not sure why a physician would give you that for blood pressure.
My favorite is lisinopril with hctz. Its an ace inhibitor and the hydrochlorothiazide is a mild diuretic. The reason why I like that combo is that its cheap, cheaper than an ARB, which works in very similar way.
THe only drawback is that ACE inhibitors are metabolized in the lungs and can cause a cough. Thats generally the only reason why people dont continue with it. Then you can switch to an ARB. There are loads of blood pressure meds.
I would include the HCTZ in the combo for 2 reasons. First, if you are taking gear, you are probably retaining some water. More volume in a closed vascular system increases the pressure throughout it. By draining some fluid out of the system, the pressure in the system goes down. Deflates it if you will.
Secondly, with all bp medications in primary hypertension which 99% of BP is. The kidneys are like a thermostat and are naturally set too high. THings that can make it worse are excess salt or things like steroids that increase fluid volume in the system. So what happens you take an angiotension converting enzyme inhibitor and that relaxes the arterial system, more volume available in the system, hence the bp goes down as there is more room to accomadate the volume. Angiotensin is responsible for constricting the arterial system. So you block that and your bp goes down .. Problem is, the kidneys are smart. THey go AHA! I know this trick. And they start compensating by holding onto salt and fluid to kick up the fluid in the system. The kidneys are like a thermostat.
So that is why the addition of HCTZ, a mild diuretic will thwart the kidney's attempt at raising the bp back up.

ARBs work very similary but used secondly after an ACE inhibitor is not tolerated usually b/c of the cough. They are more expensive but works in relatively the same way by blocking the angiotension II receptors.

The reason why you want to control your blood pressure is that both the heart and the arteries are muscular. They will adapt to the high pressure in the system by thickening (hypertrophy). Your left ventricle of your heart can quickly look like a meatball which can lead to bad things happening. It can also down the road lead to heart failure from the left ventricular hypertrophy as well as making the heart muscle stiff (diastolic dysfunction), that is a bad thing. Having high blood pressure triples your risk of heart attack and stroke. So it is very important to keep your bp as low as possible especially if taking an anabolic agent.
Blood pressure exerts a sheer mechanical force against the inner lining of arteries. This can cause damage to them as well as make them thicken as well, in laymen's terms, make them brittle and vulnerable to bad things happening.

So my advice, throw your betablocker away and ask your physician for a real blood pressure medication such as lisinopril/hctz combo. I really dont understand why he/she gave you that betablocker for blood pressure unless you complained of premature beats bothering you. All it does is block adrenaline but it also makes people feel puny and lack of energy. Disrupts sleep, prevents the heart rate from climbing with exercise. And they gave you an old form of betablocker, there are new selective betablockers such as bystolic that eliminates most of the side effects that atenolol or metoprolol causes. They are still crummy bp meds Start with an ACE inhibitor, add a mild diuretic, if you cant tolerate that, go on an ARB for a little bit more $$

 

[burnthiscorpse]

I may be incorrect here, but cant ACE blockers cause high CK levels?

As far as myself and beta blockers go, They were perscribed long ago when my BP was around 140/78 or so. Just to take it down a tiny bit. I have never had any sides associated with alot of beta's. Even with cardio, i have no problem jacking my heart rate way up if I need to without extra effort.

 

[Thewalrus]

ace inhibitors should lower ck levels if anything, regardless, they do block angiotensin which constrict the arterial system allowing more volume for fluid thereby lowering overall systemic pressure.
Betablockers block adrenaline, that is the "beta" that it blocks. Adrenaline turns the key to many systems in the body, they are located in the intestines, heart, lungs, brain etc... Many primary care doctors put people on betablockers, it has minimal benefit on blood pressure compared to others such as ACE inhibitors or ARBs. Statdoc is correct in starting with a simple diuretic.
I would reserve betablockers for rhythm control or following a heart attack, not blood pressures. The side effects in most people outweigh the minimal benefit of blood pressure control. As with all medications, some do not get side effects, but often people do have side effects from being over betablocked and it is often insidious, they think they are just getting old. But they slowly go downhill with lack of exercise and malaise. Often this resolves itself after betablockers are removed. It is something that should be considered on any patient who complains of fatigue and who also is on betablockers.
Again, you may not fall into that category with side effects, but given that there are better blood pressure medications out there with fewer side effects, there is not much reason to prescribe such a weak bp agent.
A physician should be able to tailor fit a bp therapy as there are a vast array of medications to achieve ideal blood pressure control. It is up to the patient to be aggressive in controlling it and also working with their physician to get it under control.
Betablockers may not interfere with your cardio, but that may be the dosage you are taking. I guarantee if you are over betablocked with a high dose, you wont get your heart rate, that is why its prescribed for MI patients to prevent blood pressure surges from tearing open friable layer of arterial plaques causing rupture. That is the desired effect to help prevent heart attack. You are just not at a very high dose if you can get your heart rate up with cardio. Sometimes a tiny bit of betablocker can actually improve cardiac performance by allowing more cardiac reserve for people whose heart rate zooms up to maximum in a minute or two.
Point being, it has its place, but its not an effective bp med compared to several others out there