Interesting BP/Bicycling Phenomenon
 

I have hypertension, which I treat with Diovan and HCL.

After a decent bicycle ride (1-2 hrs), I notice a SHARP drop in my blood pressure which lasts for about 12 hours or more.

My BP after biking yesterday was 107/64, much lower than the meds get it.

This happens quite regularly.

Any thoughts?

Potentially stupid question coming up - but here goes. Does the same thing happen with all forms of exercise? Or is it just riding?

Well, I don't do generally any other exercise consistently for 2 hours, except perhaps hiking, and I have never taken my BP after hiking. It certainly does not after weight lifting, which is pretty anaerobic.

So, I guess I really don't know!

What frustrates me about this particular sub-forum is that many of the questions should ideally be answered with detailed, referenced responses, but obviously there's not many people out there prepared to do that, including me. :D

Anyway, here's my very short, unreferenced, under qualified response: I'd say that after the ride you would be a bit dehydrated, which drops your blood volume, which intern drops your blood pressure.

I think it is more fun to share our general ignorance. :D


Okay, a new method for treating HBP!

Drink less.

But, my MD say to drink a LOT for my kidney stones.

Can't really get ahead of this game. Too many things wrong in this old body!

But, I generally really hydrate a lot after a ride??

You see, now, the only way I can follow up is to dust off my physiology text books that I never read in the first place. :rolleyes: :D

Is BP really related to blood volume and hydration? And how directly related to (de)hydration level is blood volume? I mean, you could easily sweat off 8 lbs (about a gallon!) or more in a couple hours on a good ole hot, humid east coast day.

Like i said, that's the best I could do in 10 seconds without dusting off my physiology books or hunting through 'emedicine.com'.

Like I also said, questions in this sub-forum are often big questions that should be answered with due consideration. It's not like asking: "should I buy this Trek," or what ever....

I have hypertension alos, 165/100 4 weeks ago :(
I am also taking Diovan HCL. I get the same results after a 1.5 hr ride. I asked my doctor last week about this. His responce is that the blood vessels swell to flow more blood and cool off the body. (My doctor rides mountian bikes) Mine after Monday's ride was 110/71. The next morning 117/77, I am now running 120's over 70's with the Diovan. With more weight drop I can get off the pills.
FYI, coffee also spikes the BP I have seen this happen if I forget to take my BP till after I drink my morning coffee. There was an article on Lifeclinic that I read on this from Duke Coffee & BP

Thanks!!

I drink or eat absolutely NO caffeine in any form, even leave decaf alone.

Denver,

My BP also dropped significantly when I started riding on a regular basis. It is always either average or lower now days. I have been borderline high in the past, due to obesity, I think. A couple of times I could not donate blood because of my bp being high. Any, many conrats getting yours down.

Hmmmmm...I think I see something that could happen here. Riding bike = lower bp = medical necessity to have a bike = doctor writing Px for a new (fill in the blank) to ride = insurance company to pay for it. Right? One can hope. :)

Uh, would a MD know the word "Seven?"

Fat Hack said: [I'd say that after the ride you would be a bit dehydrated, which drops your blood volume, which intern drops your blood pressure.[/QUOTE]


Great discussion! You're thinking of in exactly opposite terms of my "unreferenced", neophyte thinking.
I was thinking it was a viscosity thing. More water in the system, the thinner the blood, thus making it easier for the heart to pump, thus lowering pressure.
I dunno, I've had no medical training beyond CPR. Just my theory. It would be nice to have a real health pro join this discussion, but honestly, if I were a Dr, I doubt I'd be advising anything on a public forum in todays litigious world.
Still it would be nice for me to hear that it's OK for me to be blasting my heart, doing wind sprints, hill climbs etc., trying to increase my anaerobic threshold; with 148/80 BP average.

Denver: Your welcome. I go back in 5 weeks and I will try to get a referance on more info. I do drink 16 oz of cappuccino every morning, I have my own machine. I am wating to go back to the doctor before I to switch to decaf. Worried about my BP getting to low. Doc told me not lower than 110/70 for me as I was a high normal 130/80 when we tracked data in 01.

Terminator, let me now if this works, I would love an Rx for a new bike. :D

denver: your original post stated that you take diovan (an angiotensin II converting enzyme inhibitor) AND HCL (do you mean hydrochlorothiazide?) or did you just mean Diovan HCl, as in the hydrochloride salt of Diovan.

usually the drop in blood pressure is short lived. after all, your BP reading is just a snapshot of what your pressure is at that precise moment. Having High BP is more than a high BP reading. It is a persistently high BP reading.

in periods of intense exercise, your body prioritizes which organ systems gets the most blood flow. the three organs (no jokes here) that need blood and oxygen the most is the kidneys, the skin and the brain. this explains some gastric distress under high intensities because there is only so much blood perfusion to go around.

since diovan works in the latter part of the kidneys, and exercise hikes up the blood perfusion in the kidneys, you get more filtering and more water in the kidneys (more peeing to use a medical term) >>having to go to the bathroom more gets rid of more fluid, hence lowering your BP. when you rehydrate yourBP can go back up.

I take two medications - Diovan (160 mg/day) and hydrchlorothiazide (12.5 mg/day)

Actually, with the diuretic, I go to the bathroom a lot, exercise or no!

Interestingly, I completely forgot to take any medications yesterday, and this Am, my BP was great. I don't recommend that, or do I ever do it purposely, but it was interesting.

When I was 10 pounds lighter last August, I even had periods of slight dizziness from too low of BP - down at times to 100/60 or thereabouts. Must be a message there somewhere!

I chart my BP daily.

My BP drop from exercising lasts much past rehydration. At least 12 hours - up to 24.

I am one of those individuals who has a reaction to Motrin - boosts the BP up to 150/100 or more.

When I was taking the extremely powerful Tegretol (for Trigeminal Neuralgia) 2 years ago, I had uncontrollable hypertension. Tripled my medications, to no avail. Doc couldn't get it controlled. Also managed to get a whole bunch of kidney stones during that time!

Right now, 124/62

Thanks for your thoughts.

My BP had creeped up into the 145/95 range last year. In March I cut out all coffee and soft drinks and now my BP is runing 120/60. I take no meds at all and have noticed a drop in BP after longer rides also. I think it is because the blood vessels are dialted during exercise, sorta like having the same volume of water go through a garden hose verses a 2 inch pipe. The presure will be lower on the larger pipe. Just my 2C.

My wife has HBP, and we own a home monitor. So I check mine regularly (I was borderline not too long ago). In my own personal case, I find the post exercise drop in BP to be mostly related to sodium loss through sweat. If I replace sodium during the run (or bike), the drop is less. If I injest no sodium, then it drops by over 10 or 15 pts.

Proper amounts of sodium and other electrolytes to take in during exercise is a HUGE topic of conversation in some ultrarunning forums I participate in. It seems there are many different opinions about what should be done about it. Popular concensus in the ultrarunning community is, however, that not injesting enough sodium during extended periods of exercise (5 hours and more) can lead to hypernatremia -- and that can lead to lots of bad things.

But I digress... Happy biking everybody.

So, after 12 hours is it all the way back up to the danger zone? It'd be cool if you could substitute cycling for meds. Or at least a reduced dosage. But doing 2 1-2 hour workouts a day might be hard to keep up with.

No. It was 124/62 this am without taking meds yesterday.

Does anyone know what effect blood pressure meds have on athletic performance? Specifically, I find I have a substantially more difficult time performing a high effort activity such as hiking in the mountains or climbing lots of stairs or even riding lots of hills as compared to something that is as or more aerobic such as normal cycling or playing tennis singles. Said differently, I find myself breathing harder much more quickly on high effort activities than I recall before the BP medicine (ACE inhibitor). It could just be relative shape/getting older, but I wondered whether anyone information regarding whether the BP medicine causes your body to react differently to high effort activities.

Lone ranger: I was on different meds in 01 that caused lower BP and kept my HR low while I was working out. The Doctor took me off this and placed me on a calcium channel blocker that worked better, still not as good as no meds. You can find info meds here mednet
Article on ACE inhibitors ACE inhibitors

DnvrFox: They make a combo pill in your dosage 160/12.5 mg. I take the 80/12.5 mg versiion. Like you I chart my BP daily. For those that are intrested Lifeclinic has the info and is free. Been using this site off and on since 01. LifeClinic

uciflylow: I am going to measure my BP over the next 3 days on my coffee and then 3 off to chart the numbers. I have my cuff with me today, already know the upper # jumps on caffine as I see this on Sunday's when we go out to breakfast and I forget to measuer till after 3 cups of coffee. I want off the pills so I am willing to make the effort. I drink 16 oz in the morning and water the rest of the day. Bp has already gone up 10/4 in last 2 hrs.

Makoa: salt depends on the person. I need less salt as I already have a BP & weight problem. My doctor and the health sites say less salt. This applies as I am overweight and not fit. A fit person with low % of body fat is a totaly different story.

have a great day!

I prefer keeping the pills separate. I can then control my meds completely. I like to take 1/2 of the Diovan in the am and 1/2 in the pm, but all of the HCT in the am so I can sleep at night.

I have my own excel spreadsheet to chart my BP.

:D I understand that! My doctor told me to take mine in the am so that is what I am doing now. I did take 10 different BP reading with the coffee, every hour. I am thinking of trying decaf today to see what happens. I know with my morning ride the level will go down though.

I'm no expert... that's a pretty phenomenal BP isn't it? Especially the diastolic.