Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
High BP but Low pulse rate
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests
|
High BP but Low pulse rate
by Kjjbenson, Apr 28, 2006 12:00AM
My husband was recently at the doctors and was told that he has high blood pressure. She didn't tell him exactly the reading but said it was higher than 140/90. She also took his resting pulse and said that it was the lowest she had ever seen in her office and it was 49 bpm. She was surprised at his high BP and couldn't explain how his BP could be high yet his pulse be so low. Over the past few months he has experienced multiple nose bleeds, dialated or burst blood vessels in the whites of his eyes, and occasional bouts of light headedness when standing from a seated position. He is also chronically exhausted despite getting 8 hrs of sleep a night plus a daily 1 hr nap.
My husband is 29 and an elite athlete (rower) who trains 3-4 hours a day. He is 5'10", 160 lbs and in excellent shape. He eats very well and lives a fairly non-stressful life. There is no history of heart disease in his family. He takes Effexor-XR once a day but was told that high BP is not one of the possible side effects.
How is it that he can be so fit and have such a low pulse yet have high blood pressure? What could be causing his high BP? Is his high BP causing his fatigue and other symptoms?
I appreciate any insite you may have.
My husband is 29 and an elite athlete (rower) who trains 3-4 hours a day. He is 5'10", 160 lbs and in excellent shape. He eats very well and lives a fairly non-stressful life. There is no history of heart disease in his family. He takes Effexor-XR once a day but was told that high BP is not one of the possible side effects.
How is it that he can be so fit and have such a low pulse yet have high blood pressure? What could be causing his high BP? Is his high BP causing his fatigue and other symptoms?
I appreciate any insite you may have.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-M.D.-MJM, Apr 28, 2006 12:00AM
Hello,
These are tough situations to know for sure. First of all, if your husbands heart rate increases with exercise to an appropriate level (in his case, probably greater than 140-160) with strenuous exercise, his heart rate is fine. Athletes have slow heart rates because of increased vagal tone associated with fitness. This is a good thing.
Second, being fit does not by any means mean that you cannothave hypertension. The most common cause of hypertension is essential hypertension -- we have no idea what causes it and it should be controlled with diet and exercise first, then if that fails, then medications. Athletes usually can't do much more with diet and exercse and require medications. How think of this is a matter of perspective. The problemi isn't that he has hypertension, the problem is it isn't controlled. Know about it and treating it appropriately is the soluation. I wouldn't get too worked up about the diagnosis, I would just make sure it is controlled.
buy a blood pressure cuff, validate it by checking it in your doctors office while they check it at the same time and then keep track of it home.
I would see a hypertension speicalist. While 98% of people his age have essential hypertension, the other 2% can be over looked. See someone that deals with this problem often and make sure there isn't other reason. Depression can increase blood pressure and cause fatigue. That is one possibility. It depends on how high the pressure is though. I would see a specialist. High blood pressure in a young person is almost always asymptomatic unless it is VERY high. I doubt it is causing fatigue, but again, see a hypertension specialist to make sure. He is young and the cummulative damage to the arteries over the next 50 years if this isn't controlled could be significant.
I hope this helps. Good luck and thanks for posting.
These are tough situations to know for sure. First of all, if your husbands heart rate increases with exercise to an appropriate level (in his case, probably greater than 140-160) with strenuous exercise, his heart rate is fine. Athletes have slow heart rates because of increased vagal tone associated with fitness. This is a good thing.
Second, being fit does not by any means mean that you cannothave hypertension. The most common cause of hypertension is essential hypertension -- we have no idea what causes it and it should be controlled with diet and exercise first, then if that fails, then medications. Athletes usually can't do much more with diet and exercse and require medications. How think of this is a matter of perspective. The problemi isn't that he has hypertension, the problem is it isn't controlled. Know about it and treating it appropriately is the soluation. I wouldn't get too worked up about the diagnosis, I would just make sure it is controlled.
buy a blood pressure cuff, validate it by checking it in your doctors office while they check it at the same time and then keep track of it home.
I would see a hypertension speicalist. While 98% of people his age have essential hypertension, the other 2% can be over looked. See someone that deals with this problem often and make sure there isn't other reason. Depression can increase blood pressure and cause fatigue. That is one possibility. It depends on how high the pressure is though. I would see a specialist. High blood pressure in a young person is almost always asymptomatic unless it is VERY high. I doubt it is causing fatigue, but again, see a hypertension specialist to make sure. He is young and the cummulative damage to the arteries over the next 50 years if this isn't controlled could be significant.
I hope this helps. Good luck and thanks for posting.
I can not reconcile his training regime chronic exhaustion.
ChrisR.
Just a thought and only my opinion. I have also read and heard that people who are very athletic etc., can have these low heart rates.
I hope you get the answers you are looking for :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effexor Just one little link about effexor for your info.