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Riding with Tachardia treated with Beta blocker

Old 06-04-13, 09:23 PM
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Riding with Tachardia treated with Beta blocker

I didn't want to hijack Retro Grouches thread so here goes. Sunday around noon my heart rate shot up to nearly 170 BPM I wasn't doing anything physical just fussing around in the garage on part of a resto project on my house. I have general anxiety disorder treated with Clonazapam and it manages it quite well. This was not anxiety. I had not eaten breakfast just a cup of de-cafe coffee. Anyway after a ride to the E.R and a shot to bring down the heart rate I was admitted to the hospital. Multiple blood draws over a 30 hour period shows no enzyme for heart attack. I had an ultrasound on my heart and it was normal. Doc seems to think I had an extra firing in the upper right chamber of the heart and that made it think I was running a marathon or more like a sprint up hill. He put me on Atentol (sp) to slow the heart down a bit and it seems to be doing fine. I asked him about doing a treadmill and he didn't seem to think I had the symptoms that would warrant that. Blood flow was good in the heart and all the valves were working as they should. A CT scan of my lungs shows no blood clots either. They let me come home last evening and I feel perfectly normal today. No pressure nothing. Took a nice long walk and no problems. Not out of breath or anything. I guess what I"m wondering is if any of you take the beta blocker and still ride a lot. I'm a commuter 14 miles rt. so I hate to give that up. I have a follow up with my doctor thursday so I'll see what he thinks. Oh yeah one of the odd parts is my bad cholesterol is 83, my good is a bit low so doc wants to see me change my diet a bit. Doc at the hospital tellls me this may never happen again (I hope)
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Old 06-04-13, 09:55 PM
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Post a couple of heart attacks, beta blockers are a part of my life, including my riding life. At my last cardiology appt. I had to lay on the table awhile for the tech to get the EGK to work correctly. My heart rate was 38 and so they changed the dosage of the beta blocker (carveidol). As far as riding goes, it does affect how I can climb since it does lower my heart rate. And, I do get very tired about the time the drug peaks for me and it does seem to lower my overall metabolic functioning. However, I have adapted to it and I can ride with the effects and it is ok for me. I know other folks taking beta blockers who experience more severe effects and those who say they experience no effects whatsoever. Probably depends on which one and the dose as well as whatever other drugs you may take.

At 68 I am not the strongest rider, but today I rode 49 miles and averaged 17.8 mph. The beta blockers are there, but over time and adjusting dose, I am ok with them now.
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Old 06-04-13, 11:12 PM
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I've been taking Atenolol for over 10 years. It does restrict maximum heart rate and therefore is noticeable, especially when climbing. But it hasn't changed the amount of cycling I do (about 10 kmiles/yr). I'm not racing and I still get to the tops of the mountains - just not quite as quickly.
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Old 06-05-13, 05:47 AM
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<<Sunday around noon my heart rate shot up to nearly 170 BPM I wasn't doing anything physical just fussing around in the garage on part of a resto project on my house.>>

Was it tachycardia or atrial fibrillation (afib)? The first time I had afib many years ago, my HR went to 210+, but was irregular. I went to the ER as I didn't know what was happening. After about 24 hours I was back to normal. Since then, about 17 years ago, I've been treated with medication and finally a cardiac ablation, which has almost cured it. I still get bouts, but they only last up to 36 hours and my HR only goes to about 90 (resting is around 42). When I'm riding hard, my HR will sometimes jump from a steady 140 to over 200. If I slow down, it soon goes back to normal and, most importantly, according to my cardiologist, I don't feel faint or have any pain. He won't use beta-blockers on me a)because I'm asthmatic and b)because I alread have a low resting HR (bradycardia) which might be lowered to a dangerous level.
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Old 06-05-13, 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Artmo
<<Sunday around noon my heart rate shot up to nearly 170 BPM I wasn't doing anything physical just fussing around in the garage on part of a resto project on my house.>>

Was it tachycardia or atrial fibrillation (afib)? The first time I had afib many years ago, my HR went to 210+, but was irregular. I went to the ER as I didn't know what was happening. After about 24 hours I was back to normal. Since then, about 17 years ago, I've been treated with medication and finally a cardiac ablation, which has almost cured it. I still get bouts, but they only last up to 36 hours and my HR only goes to about 90 (resting is around 42). When I'm riding hard, my HR will sometimes jump from a steady 140 to over 200. If I slow down, it soon goes back to normal and, most importantly, according to my cardiologist, I don't feel faint or have any pain. He won't use beta-blockers on me a)because I'm asthmatic and b)because I alread have a low resting HR (bradycardia) which might be lowered to a dangerous level.
It was tachycardia not afib. No real pain just felt like I was running full out up a hill.
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Old 06-05-13, 11:15 AM
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No problems with tachycardia lately for me, I had some episodes following surgeries, they were traced to the BP meds and a change did the trick. My mom has Tachy, started in the early 90's and I took her to the ER several times before the cardiologist got her figured out and now the meds have kept her attack free for many years. She said it made her light headed but had no pain per say.

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Old 06-05-13, 12:17 PM
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I'm on 25 mg of Atenolol daily for a heart attack in 2000. Right after the heart attack, I was on 100 mg. There were times I couldn't get my heart rate above 100 bpm. Fortunately my cardiologist has reduced the amount over the years. I also wear a heart rate monitor set to beep at 160 bpm. Of course my problem is different than yours.

The 25 mg of Atenolol still negatively affects my heart rate while riding. I've been known to cheat, like taking half a dose, when doing something like a century ride. I also do not take it if riding in very hot weather. Blood flow helps cool the body and reducing the bpm's doesn't help with heat. Again I wear a heart rate monitor and slow down when it gets near 160 bpm.
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Old 06-06-13, 10:34 AM
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I'm not in your age group and my situation is not strictly comparable. I'm on Norpace and Nadolol. They limit my heart rate and my pace is slow. I can't burn a lot of calories. But it doesn't prevent riding. Just gear down.
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