Q: When I exercise I find that although I feel I am exerting enough and sweating and breathing hard, my heart rate doesn’t go above 100. I take labetalol and hcl every day. Do these BP meds keep the heart rate down? Am I getting any cardio benefit from the exercise if my heart rate isn’t climbing higher?
A: Your blood pressure medicine is the type that can keep your heart from beating fast with exercise. You still benefit from exercise even though you are unable to reach your target heart rate. Listen to your body. You are sweating and breathing hard so your body is working. Trying to do more could be dangerous.
Further Reading:
Exercise Tips for Those With High Blood Pressure
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When I get up in the morning I’m so weak I can hardly get out of bed. I take my BP and its around 103/55 Pul 50, I take 40mg Diovan everynite. If I miss this Diovan
Then I fell great when I get up and my BP is around 125/76 Pul 65 Is this Nomal ????????
I got around this by, with permission from my doctor, taking the medication that reduces heartrate AFTER my cardio workouts (early morning).
Beta blockers slow your heart rate and make aerobic exercise difficult, if not impossible. As you are observing, you have to work much harder to get your heart rate up to effective aerobic levels. This, respectfully to the “good doctor”, cannot be a good thing. Beta blockers also deplete CoQ10 which also is not a good thing for your heart. Beta blockes are harmful to the human body, and importantly to heart health, so much so that in Britain, beta blockers have been removed from first-tier hypertension treatment. When I was on a beta blocker I hated the effect it had on me when I tried to exercise. It is discouraging to the point where most folks stop exercising, which again, cannot be a good thing. I went from beta blockers, to an ACE inhibotor and diuretic, which was a better combination overall, and then ultimately through a lot of trial and error and effort, back to no meds with normal blood pressure. That, if it can be achieved, is far superior to any toxic drug regimen. The doctor’s statement that “trying to do more could be dangerous” is as accurate as saying that “trying to do more could be highly beneficial.” Those things depend upon your cardiovascular health. Many high performance athletes have hypertension, so it is a function of the person’s ability to exercise. I strongly preferred getting to aerobic levels, even on beta blockers, because I wanted the exercise to positively impact my hypertension, and my otherwise healthy cardiovascular system tolerated it well. I believed that more exercise, not less, was healthy as long as my body was capable. I hope this helps, and all the best!!
I agree….meds like Beta Blockers don’t allow you to reach a target heart rate. They also can cause gout…increased sugars in the body….but the Pharm and med community would have you believe otherwise.
Agreed on all counts. Beta blockers are bad news. So happy I got off them. Better to change your lifestyle rather than pop a pill. Its more work but you’ll be happier and you’ll feel better. Trust me-you can do it!
I,m working on it Brian. Doctors had me over medicated because of “white coat hypertention” The fools had me on five medicines. I came off two and one half. But I think the medicine is going to kill me before I can get off it all.hbp drugs caused depression and insomia and now i have to take more drugs for that. i just keep getting worse The doctors are killing me!
I tried to switch from a beta blocker to a ACE . I was able to switch the morning doze with no trouble. When I switch the evening doze my blood pressure went to high and I had to stay on the Beta. I was able to quit the morning ACE.
I have heard of beta blockers being prescribed to patients who are recovering from heart surgery but not otherwise. It is interesting when your web page highlights contradictions in opinions of various professionals. It would be useful if they had the time to respond so as to enlighten the “layman”
just yesterday I started on a small diose of a beta blocker — I am also on Procardia but apparently that wasn’t enough. I had the same concerns as are addressed in this e-mail thread. I do a lot of exercise — two zumba dance classes a week plus two exercise classes; even without the beta blocker my heart rate doesn’t go real high on the treadmill no matter how much I sweat. So now I am worried about how to know when I’ve hit my target. Very complicating & worrisome because I hate to limit my activity. Note to Carestia & Pearson: thanks for sharing your insights. I think Dr. Rowena of necessity has to be cautious how she phrases her online responses so as not to unduly influence someone in a harmful direction.
Actually; ANY exercise is good for the heart, and according to my cardiologist, there are studies out there showing that people on HR-lowering drugs get the same benefits on their heart as others, even if their HR isn’t in the traditional ‘heart rate zones’.