Seattle Forrest

We’re having a “summer fitness challenge” at work, which is a fancy thing to call a walking contest. The company hired people from a local gym to come give occasional talks about the importance of stretching, proper diet, hydration, etc.

During the diet talk, they tried to put the fear of god into us about hypertension, aka high blood pressure, “the silent killer.” Low BP runs in my family, and I bike a lot, so I’ve never given this a second though. I’m guessing and hoping that most people in here have low/healthy blood pressure, in large part from all the cycling we do.

Cyclist0108

Too high.

Abe_Froman

Pretty consistently about 120/80. Which I'm told is normal and nothing to worry about. I honestly don't know about blood pressure specifically...but we've had some cardiovascular issues in the family. Grandfather died after a year or so of battling the after effects of a pretty horrific stroke. It was sad...

OUGrad05

I'm almost always high at doctor's offices and normal at home. Due to the issues in dr offices I take it regularly at home. In the evening when I take it, the range is typically 115-125 over 63-73. In the morning when I take it, typically 100-110 over 55-60.

Abe_Froman

Wow is there that much of a swing in BP during the day? As I'm thinking about it...the only time I've ever actually checked is in the evening when I'm walking around the grocery store and pass one of those machines...

Seattle Forrest

I've heard you're supposed to measure at home because either the doctor might do it wrong, or you could be nervous there.

OBoile

I have naturally high blood pressure that exercise helps keep in the "normal" range. It, along with other heart issues run in my family. When I'm at the doctor's it's always a bit high because I'm nervous. They usually take it a 2nd time a couple minutes later and it ends up being much better.

OUGrad05

It's normally for BP to climb throughout the day.
I do get nervous in doctor's offices and they don't always do it correctly, you are spot on.

WhyFi

The last time that I had my pressure read, I was just edging in to the pre-hypertension range. Since I was at the doctor's office for a vasectomy, he didn't think too much of it.

OUGrad05

Haha, when I had my vasectomy it was the same way. I was 140/80 and my heart was at 120bpm. My resting heart rate is like 55bpm. Nurse was laughing her ass off at me.

canklecat

My BP and HR are wacky, all over the place. Probably due to a thyroid condition (biopsy next week to rule out cancer).

Usually my BP is within normal limits for my age. HR tends to run a bit higher than most endurance athletes, usually 70-80.

I've been sick for several days, not even using the indoor trainer. BP yesterday was 145/70, HR 90.

During HIIT sessions my BP will peak around 160/80, HR up to 175. During the cool down and afterward it'll drop as low as 80/50, then stabilize around 120/70 again within an hour. My heart rate can take hours to settle back down from 100 bpm or so.

But it's not unusual for even physically fit people to have BP and HR spikes before and during physically activity. When I was an amateur boxer in my teens and early 20s my BP would often be around 140/90 just before a bout. Once a medic asked me if I was okay. I said "Have you seen my opponent? He's 6 inches taller and 15 lbs heavier. Of course I'm tense." I won that bout. Before his first fight against Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight title, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) had a BP around 200/100 with HR 120 bpm. At the time Ali said he was just hyped up and excited. Later he admitted he was terrified of Liston and was psyching himself up. As it turned out Ali's style outclassed Liston and their two bouts were fairly easy wins. But the young Clay wouldn't have known that at the time, and his armor had revealed vulnerabilities against Henry Cooper and Doug Jones.

Anyway, not really useful info unless someone happens to have a similar condition. Doc took me off thyroid meds a couple of months ago to re-check my baseline while evaluating the the thyroid, which appears to be mostly non-functional now. I'll be relieved to see it surgically removed and out of my throat because it's constricting my trachea and esophagus.

Racing Dan

This is true for some ppl. Its called white coat syndrome.

memebag

I had high blood pressure 6 years ago. It had been slowly creeping up for decades, along with my weight. The doctor put me on a diuretic to control it. I also had high cholesterol, so he put me on a statin. The statin made my muscles ache, so then he told me to take CoQ10. That fixed the muscle aches but it also made me a little less fatigued. I used my new lack of fatigue to start riding a bike. Two years later my blood pressure and cholesterol were good and I got to quit taking those pills.

rumrunn6

mine is good but I keep an eye on it by using an automatic battery operated tester I got at a drug store. it's very interesting to test it throughout the day & in different settings like at my office desk& at home

bobwysiwyg

They call it "white coat affect." It affects me as well.

Racing Dan

I have one as well. These days such devices are inexpensive. I was thinking about getting a blood glucose meter as well. Should be interesting to see how/if blood glucose levels correlate to how I feel on the bike. Im betting you can measure when you are about to bonk.

cthenn

Just had mine checked, they said it was "excellent". I don't know jack about those blood pressure numbers, but I did see that my resting heart rate was 45, so I'm pretty pleased with that.

FBOATSB

If you've always tested OK, but haven't been officially tested in the last 10 months, and all of a sudden the nurse is screaming "high bp! high bp!", take with a grain of salt.(get it?). They lowered the threshold last Nov.
I've been testing our own BPs at home for years and it's always been rock steady. Doesn't matter how either. We use both a digital unit and a manual sphygmomanometer.


https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardio...eline-aha-2017

rumrunn6

one more thing to strap to my handlebars

jimincalif

Too high, on two different meds for it.

Cycling and weight loss have improved all my other numbers, but BP is not responding to it.

Racing Dan

Right :-)

Wasnt planning on bringing it. Rather some casual testing on how much carbohydrate to consume to prevent low blood sugar on longer rides.

rob214

I have always been an athlete and 3 years ago I had a stroke, I'm now on meds and my BP is 130 / 77 most days. problem is most young folks only go to the doctors visit when we're sick so I had no real baseline to fall on then boom high blood pressure and stroke at 53 years old. I have a naturally low HR, resting is low 40's max is 145. BP can be all over the place but my lower number is always under 80. some days my BP is in the perfect range of 120 / whatever but those days are rare even with the meds. my primary doc just wants me to be under 140/90 before getting alarmed. but my care team is trying to keep me improving with diet and meds with as much exercise as possible. normally I ride 500 miles per month but this summer has been hard for me to do.

rob

Seattle Forrest

You have to draw blood for that, right?

deacon mark

I am 57 and have had high BP since I was 14 years old. Back then they caught it in a routine physical it was running crazy like 160/60 or 150/80. They did all kinds of test. Over the years I have tried all types of medication and have been a long distance marathoner and cyclist for 40 years. At times in my early 30's it would be normal and I got away with little medication but it would come back.. I have monitored it at home for 40 years my with my own machine. I get white coat fear when I go to the doctors is goes right up the minute they take it I can feel my heart beating harder and faster.

I don't know what my 40 years of running an cycling have done but finally about a year ago they had to do a stress test to check out a change on the EKG. The cardiologist they sent me did not get the same reading which was a partial right branch bundle blockage. My normal resting pulse is between 39-42 early in the morning and for me over 60 is high. I do not take beta blockers they slow your heart down those were a no-no.

So I get to the stress test completely nervous and panic really. I thought this was it.........….even though I run or cycling everyday almost and have for as I say 40 years. My BP before the test was 180/90 and they were not even going to let me do the test. Well the doctor came in and he knew me and my history and said go to 250/120 and stop if it gets that high. Well I was on for, I do not now how long, but basically 12-14 minutes and my BP went to 248/90 and they got my heart rate to 148. They stopped in then and said they got what they needed in the test which was to get my HR to 148 or %90 of max. The nurse noted I was only mildly working not in any distress when they stopped the test. They said it was ok nothing showed that they could see.

I guess I it was ok because I still running and riding but the minute I stop taking meds my BP will start to go up. Get the stuff check out for sure.

Racing Dan

Yes, but it really isn't a big deal.