There is also new evidence that Beta Blockers may
not be as effective as some of the old stand by drugs....See if it is the meds
or the cardiac condition itself that the Dr cautioned about....If it was just
the meds, ask if there is a different med for the same
condition....
Some MD's probably do some probably don't. I expect one of the
problems is heat - at least that is what Lynn said when we were discussing it.
And just like any drug it probably effects people differently. Most of our
durgs today are sledge hammers. They provide the chemical activity to treat a
specific ailment but their activity is not to isolated to just the
biochemistry associated with that particular ailment. That's what the next
geneartions of durgs will do.
At the Big South Fork one year we
were out hiking before the ride and I got into a buch of chiggers. My ankles
were covered. In order to sleep I took Bendryl at night. It was a 3 day ride
at the time and it was hot that year. The first two days was fine. The
third morning I got up and was trashed.
When I got back home I still
didn't feel well so I went to my MD and could find nothing wrong - excpet I
was still dehydrated even after a few days and drinking lots of water - and
concluded that the side effects of Bendryl had done me in. He said he had seen
heat induced problems with the use of Bendryl and I'd be smart not to use it
when it was hot and I was going to be active outside.
So if I were on
something like a beta blocker and wanted to ride I start first with a few LD's
and see how that went and maybe find an MD that is farmiliar with human
distance sports medicine and talk with him.
You may just be one of the
lucky one that a particular side effect doesn't impact. I can go roll in
posion ivy or posion oak and never have one reaction. If some people did that
they would die.
Cheers Truman
Heidi Smith wrote:
On Behalf Of Truman Prevatt
I have a friend who is pharmacologist at a medical school down here. Her
husband and son are both endurance riders and she crews. I asked her
why she didn't try riding ( she does hack around but doesn't do any
endurance) and she told me she was on beta blockers and the stresses of
endurance riding and the use of beta blockers did mix and it would be
risky for her to ride endurance.
So I think your friend's MD is probably right.
Truman
I'd be much more concerned about being on beta blockers and participating in
an anaerobic sort of sport that really gets your heart rate up--and where
you'd be more apt to pass out if you couldn't get your heart rate past a
certain point. I don't think most MD's have a clue what endurance riding
is--they think we are out here at maximal exertion for hours upon hours,
which for most of us, at least, simply isn't the case. Riding in general is
an exercise like walking or jogging that is good for the cardiovascular
system in general because it causes a sustained effort but does not tend to
have bursts of extreme exertion. Endurance riding is just more of it.
Thank heavens my own MD's haven't been silly enough to suggest such nonsense
to me--I've been on propanolol for at least 12-14 years, and my main problem
being that I'm too pudgy, my docs would really like to see me ride a lot
MORE than I'm currently doing! (And I hope to comply, now that we're
reasonably settled in our new place, and I've got a couple of other health
issues behind me.) I'm fortunate in that both my OB-GYN and my general
practitioner are riders--although neither one of them does endurance,
likewise neither one of them sees anything even remotely of concern about me
doing endurance on the meds that I'm on, including the beta blocker. And
both agree that if endurance will help me to regain some fitness, then it is
a positive thing for me to be doing. Endurance riding isn't anywhere NEAR
as taxing or stressful as some of the stuff I do in the hay fields here in
the summer, and it's darn sure more fun!
Heidi
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