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Re: [RC] [Guest] Beta Blockers - Heidi Smith


On Behalf Of MarisR@xxxxxxx

I think the response to the question has alot to do with which beta
blocker,
the dosage, and your friend's sensitivity to it.  For most patients, at a
low to moderate dosage, beta blockers will cause only minimal impact on
exercise and heat tolerance.  At higher doses, and in some very sensitive
people, beta blockers can be very impairing.  If your friend really needs
a
beta blocker for other reasons (there are so many choices for blood
pressure
control, but beta blockers also help with multiple other problems, they
are
cheap and have been shown to prolong life in hypertensive people) perhaps
they can lower hte  beta blocker dose and add a second medication.

Maris Ramsay, (Family Physician)

Thanks for a voice of reason from an MD!  Pharmacology by and large is an
imprecise science, as all individuals are different, and will react
differently to various medications.  My dad has been on various beta
blockers and on some fairly high doses.  He did finally reach a point where
his doctor had to back off on one because he couldn't elevate his heart rate
sufficiently, but he has led a full and active life on them, as he's been on
various ones for years.  My mom can't take them at all--she had a bout with
high blood pressure this past winter, and even very small doses just caused
her to fade out.  (Her problems were caused by anxiety, and were able to be
addressed in another way and actually solved.)  I find it distressing that
an MD would simply rule endurance riding out altogether for a patient on a
beta blocker.  Seems like a more rational approach would be what Truman
suggested--start off slowly and see how it goes.  Do some LD's, and if you
feel good, do more.  For those of us with hypertension, sitting around in
fear of what might happen because of our beta blockers would likely just
make matters worse.  And I'd suspect that's true for other cardiovascular
conditions for which beta blockers might be prescribed.

Heidi


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[RC] [Guest] Beta Blockers, Ridecamp Guest