bummed about medicine that lowers my heart rate

msmileyface

Hi everyone,

I am feeling super discouraged today. I started medicine this week that is commonly given to lower blood pressure. My blood pressure is perfect, but my doc wants me to try it to prevent migraines. Now I have had migraines, untreated, for years, and have been suffering. You would think I would be thrilled. But all I can think about is- lower heart rate, less calories burned. But, I figured I should go on it and try it out. Well I went out walking/hiking today with my husband, planning to do 4.5 miles and I figured I would have a nice burn. Instead, this is what happened:

1. I wore my HRM and noticed that the watch had lowered its expectations for me (indicating 112 would be the rate where I would leave "fat burn" and go into "fitness" mode - normally this is around 125 or more). In case you are wondering, it's a Polar FT40 and it somehow "knows" where I am at on a particular day, since I did a resting fitness test.

2. We had to cut the hike short, to about 2.8 miles, because I felt unreasonably tired out. I "felt" like my HR must have been around 120 or higher at many points, but it was at like 100-110. It just didn't seem right.

3. Our total trip was 1 hour and I only burned 132 calories.

All in all, I am discouraged. I feel like I am stuck on this medicine for a bit because I need to give it a fair try, but I have worked so hard at losing 19 lbs and I am trying to hit the 30 lb mark in the next 10 weeks or so and I feel like I want to cry because I am afraid that now my workouts won't be as effective with a lowered HR. If I can't earn as many extra calories to eat treats, then so be it- but I want my workouts to be effective. I am hugely motivated by seeing the calorie burn at the end, and right now I just feel deflated.

Sorry for the super long post. I needed to vent. Of course I don't want migraines.. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has this concern with any of your medicines?

jessrademacher

It's pretty typical for that medication to cause fatigue and general ickyness during the first couple weeks of use, but it does go away! So keep up the good work and when you feel discouraged keep in mind that this is just a temporary speed bump

Showcats

I am in the same situation. I was put on blood pressure meds about 5 years ago for migraines and it lowers my resting heart rate. I had a Polar HRM at that time and was very discouraged. I contacted Polar and they told me that a HRM is intended for people with "normal health" and would not be accurate when taking medications that lower your heart rate. I still don't know an accurate way to calculate calories burned.

msmileyface

Oh, bummer.. So now I don't even know if the HRM is accurate! Ugh. I wonder if I should continue on with the meds or not. After all, it's only temporary anyway because I'd like to have kids soon and I have to go off it for that.

jessrademache- thank you for the encouragement, I was hoping that might be the case!

msmileyface

by the way, it is a beta-blocker, if that helps give more info.

kalynn06

by the way, it is a beta-blocker, if that helps give more info.

A lot of people feel crappy when starting beta blockers. Definitely have your HR and BP rechecked if you are still feeling tired. My dad had to have his dose more than halved, because he had such a strong response to when he started that he could barely function.

I found this answer from a doc at the Mayo Clinic about the effects of beta blockers on calorie burn helpful : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/beta-blockers/AN01224

Beta blockers: How do they affect exercise?
My doctor recently prescribed a beta blocker to lower my blood pressure. Now, when I exercise, I have trouble getting my heart rate higher than 135. Is this normal?
Answer
from Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.

Beta blockers slow your heart rate, which can prevent the increase in heart rate that typically occurs with exercise. This means that it might not be possible for you to reach your target heart rate — the number of heartbeats per minute you should have to ensure you're exercising at the proper intensity level. No matter how hard you exercise when taking a beta blocker, you may never reach your target heart rate. However, being unable to reach your previous target heart rate doesn't mean you're not getting cardiovascular benefits from exercise.

There's no precise way to predict the effect of beta blockers on your heart rate. An exercise stress test, which checks blood flow through your heart while you exercise, can measure how hard your heart pumps while you're taking beta blockers. Your doctor can use this information to adjust the target heart rate you should work to.

You can also try lowering your target heart rate by the amount that your resting heart rate has been lowered by the beta blocker. For example, if your resting heart rate has decreased from 70 to 50, then try working at a target heart rate 20 beats per minute lower than what you used to do. This way of calculating your adjusted target heart rate isn't precise, and sometimes the peak exercise heart rate is affected much more than is the resting heart rate. An exercise stress test is the best way to establish a new target heart rate on beta blockers.

If you haven't had an exercise stress test, you can use a perceived exertion scale, such as the Borg scale, which relies on your own judgment of how hard you're working based on effort, breathlessness and fatigue. Ask your doctor for help finding and using an exertion scale. For most workouts, your best bet is to aim for moderate intensity.