People on Beta Blockers, ?? About HRate & Exercise

Calif_Girl67

Hi there,

I just had a Stent put into my main Heart Artery on Oct 25th 2012 and I am now taking Beta Blocker Blood Pressure medicine called Bystolic 5mg and wondered how will this effect when I exercise as far as my heart rate? I use to have a HRM and it broke so I have to use what is already in the MFP system when logging minutes for those exercises. I wondered how taking a Beta Blocker will effect my exercise if anyone knows ??

I can't start walking or doing any light exercises until this Thursday so i have not started back to any exercise because of having this Stent put in until the Dr allowed it.

Thanks

Brandon74

What did your doctor say?

MrDelts

I was on Bystolic 5mg for a couple of months. Bystolic works by slowing the HR. This will cause you to have lower energy and not be able to workout as hard. Because you will not be able to elevate your heart rate as much as you'd like, it may also slow the fat burning process. Regardless, do your best to get your workouts in.

Calif_Girl67

What did your doctor say?

What did my Dr say about what ?

I don't go back to the Dr until the 16th of Nov

Calif_Girl67

Bump

Keiko385

Wait till you see your Doctor, they may want to give you a stress test before you start back with any exercises after having the stent placed.

I take metoprolol after having a heart attack and stents placed. My HR is considerably lower and I have to watch very carefully when I am exercising not to go over my met levels that were given to me.

snowsquall

Hi, i was on bisoprolol 5 - 10 mg a while back to control Atrial fib, but found i couldn't workout properly and got nausea and could feel my body wanted to go but heart rate wouldnt, i looked at the pro's and con's and stopped taking it and dropped 65lb in 5 months, the Dr. was impressed and agreed with me. But every case is different so id talk to r Dr. and see what he says.

nxd10

Check with your doctor, but it is hard. My husband is on beta blockers and another drug that keeps his heart from beating too fast (he has bad arhythmia as well has high blood pressure).

He does tai chi for hours a day, as he is an instructor. The hardest thing is that your heart can't get going fast enough. If you work out too hard too fast, you get REALLY sore because you build up lactic acid. You don't notice it immediately, but you will definitely feel it later.

He works out very hard (comes home soaked with sweat and has rock hard legs and arms). However, cardio is very tough for him. He wears a cardio monitor working out and make sure he doesn't get his heart above a certain level (120?) because otherwise he will be in a world of hurt the next day. It is hard to lose weight except by serious calorie restriction and his metabolism slowed significantly since on medication.

However, as I say, he works out every day and works out hard. But he's had to adjust.

leesehm

As far as I know, it will lower your heart rate for exercise so your HRM won't work. If your HR is normally 150bpm with exercise then with the beta blocker it will stay below 100.

You'll have to use another method of estimating your calories.

Source: I'm a physiotherapist and did a pharmacology paper where we took a beta blocker and did exercise. This was with metroprolol, but I'd assume if it's a beta blocker it works in the same way.

VelociMama

I was on a beta blocker for over a year for a congenital heart issue. The biggest thing you can do it make sure you have a good warm up and cool down. I was able to exercise normally though my HR would be 20-40 bpm slower than others, but I just had to make sure I eased up to that level not jump right into the exercise. If I didn't warm up or cool down properly, I was prone to passing out.

OP: Please put in a phone call to your doctor and ask what restrictions on cardio exercise he/she recommends. Go from there. Just ease into whatever program you're doing.

VelociMama

As far as I know, it will lower your heart rate for exercise so your HRM won't work. If your HR is normally 150bpm with exercise then with the beta blocker it will stay below 100.

You'll have to use another method of estimating your calories.

Source: I'm a physiotherapist and did a pharmacology paper where we took a beta blocker and did exercise. This was with metroprolol, but I'd assume if it's a beta blocker it works in the same way.

I was on metoprolol for over a year, and my max HR varied depending on dosage. With a low dose, OP should still be able to reach a decent exercise HR. Mine would go up to about 140 or so on my minimum dose, but would only go to 110 at my max dose.

I agree about it screwing with the HRM and calorie burn though. I never could get a HRM to work quite right for me.

Calif_Girl67

I can start back to exercising on Thursday and plan on starting with just walking, Now since I have a Stent and on a Beta Blocker, will it hurt me if my heart rate goes above a certain point ? So with all this how do i go about getting a correct number for calories burned now? Heart rate monitors won't still record calories burned even though it tracks my heart rate ? I'll have to download a Hear Rate app for my Adroid and see what my heart is now.

skuehn48

I am on atenolol for irregular heartbeat. It is also a beta blocker and will keep heartrate down when exercising. I have had best luck with swimming and water exercise because exercising in the water tends to keep heartrate a little lower anyway. When I talked with an exercise physiologist he told me the swimming was good and that a HRM would probably not give accurate calorie burn. Try to get exercise guidelines from your doctor and/or a physical therapist.

Keiko385

I can start back to exercising on Thursday and plan on starting with just walking, Now since I have a Stent and on a Beta Blocker, will it hurt me if my heart rate goes above a certain point ? So with all this how do i go about getting a correct number for calories burned now? Heart rate monitors won't still record calories burned even though it tracks my heart rate ? I'll have to download a Hear Rate app for my Adroid and see what my heart is now.

Your 1st question is best left to your DR., when I first started exercising after my heart attack & stent I was not allowed to get my HR up over 113, but being on the beta blockers I was pushing to get up over 100, it has taken me 6 months to get up to 120's occasionally it will go as high as 150 but only briefly as I am suppose to stop before I reach 130 and wait till it goes back down, it not a good feeling when it gets that high. I wear my HRM when ever I am doing any type of exercise, the calories it records is what I go by as this is now my normal heart rate. This morning on the treadmill going at a 3.5 speed for 38 minutes, with incline intervals of 3.0 - 5.0 my HR averaged 123, with max of 132 (less than a minute) the HRM recorded 244 calories burned. Is it right I have no idea.

a little more info
http://www.livestrong.com/article/382526-beta-blockers-exercise-heart-rate/?utm_source=undefined_R1

Calif_Girl67

I can start back to exercising on Thursday and plan on starting with just walking, Now since I have a Stent and on a Beta Blocker, will it hurt me if my heart rate goes above a certain point ? So with all this how do i go about getting a correct number for calories burned now? Heart rate monitors won't still record calories burned even though it tracks my heart rate ? I'll have to download a Hear Rate app for my Adroid and see what my heart is now.

Your 1st question is best left to your DR., when I first started exercising after my heart attack & stent I was not allowed to get my HR up over 113, but being on the beta blockers I was pushing to get up over 100, it has taken me 6 months to get up to 120's occasionally it will go as high as 150 but only briefly as I am suppose to stop before I reach 130 and wait till it goes back down, it not a good feeling when it gets that high. I wear my HRM when ever I am doing any type of exercise, the calories it records is what I go by as this is now my normal heart rate. This morning on the treadmill going at a 3.5 speed for 38 minutes, with incline intervals of 3.0 - 5.0 my HR averaged 123, with max of 132 (less than a minute) the HRM recorded 244 calories burned. Is it right I have no idea.

a little more info
http://www.livestrong.com/article/382526-beta-blockers-exercise-heart-rate/?utm_source=undefined_R1

Thanks for the link, i will have alot of questions for my Dr on the 16th. I appreciate all the info.

Calif_Girl67

Bump

Smokey19

I know that it's not quite the same, but I had to have 5 coronary arteries bypassed due to their being totally clogged. But, anyway, I had to go through cardiac rehab and there were people in the group who had stents put in place. They put ekg leads on you and monitor your heart rate while exercising. It was comforting knowing that I was being closely watched when starting out. Now I am able to go to the gym without worries. Your heart rate will not go up very much while on those meds. My meds also keep my b/p really low. Take care.

Calif_Girl67

I think even though being on Beta Blockers it still should not cause an issue exercising, at least thats what my pharmacist told me. Even thought the heart rate is lower it should only effect the amount of calories burned right ?

hughtwalker

1. The UK equivalent is "Nebivolol" - the precautions and side effects are the same as for Propranolol Hydrochloride.

2. HRMs are cheap - you do not need a "FitBit" nor "Polar FT40" - but even if you had one, would you know what heart rate to keep it below before you see the doctor?

3. Did you have any sessions with physiotherapists post-op? If so (and even if not) may you have access to Physio advice?

4. If you are seeing the doctor in 10 days, who says you can start to exercise in 2 days time? - and did they define exercise"?

5. Tell your dentist that you are now on beta-blockers (unless you are totally edentulous and so won't need a local analgesic)

6. Don't do anything without (qualified) medical advice

Calif_Girl67

1. The UK equivalent is "Nebivolol" - the precautions and side effects are the same as for Propranolol Hydrochloride.

2. HRMs are cheap - you do not need a "FitBit" nor "Polar FT40" - but even if you had one, would you know what heart rate to keep it below before you see the doctor?

3. Did you have any sessions with physiotherapists post-op? If so (and even if not) may you have access to Physio advice?

4. If you are seeing the doctor in 10 days, who says you can start to exercise in 2 days time? - and did they define exercise"?

5. Tell your dentist that you are now on beta-blockers (unless you are totally edentulous and so won't need a local analgesic)

6. Don't do anything without (qualified) medical advice

Yes, I was told i could resume normal activity starting this Thursday so I planned on walking or doing some sort of cardio walking with dvd's until I see the Dr on the 16th. I also plan on asking about Cardio rehab. I am limited as to what I can do because i also have herniated disc in my neck and ruptured in my spine and surgery is far off now due to being on Plavix. so I have to do only what will not hurt my neck and back etc.

I have not gone to the Dentist as of yet but do have some Dental work I need to have done b4 the end of the year so not sure how that will work while being on Plavix. I hate being on ths medicine, screws up everything.

I use to have a HRM but it broke so was debating about buying another one.

I am not going to do anything that I shouldn't do.