I have recently been diagnosed with hypertension, and it looks like I will need to join others on medication to control it. It came a surprise since I do not smoke or drink, am not overweight, try to eat right, swim very regularly, and feel great. I guess this body is getting old and starting to break down!
I will assume some swimmers are using medication to control high blood pressure. Know of any issues with hypertension, medications, and swimming? What do I have to look forward to?
Parents
Former Member
Hey Ray,
I am new to this site (in fact this is only my second post...and I'm still waiting for a reply to my first one).....But I wanted to say that I am also on HB Medication. I was 65 pounds over the weight I am now at (this was about about 5 or 6months ago) when I first found out about it......I had swelling in my ankles and I thought I might be diabetic or something....The doctor determined that I had hypertension and placed me on "Benicar- HCT" I told him that I was going to start exercising a lot to lose weight ....so I guess he may have factored that in to my prescription??....Anyway, I hoped that after losing so much weight (together with the better diet and cardiovascular training) that my hypertension would go away......Unfortunately I found out a few weeks ago that this will not be the case. My doctor said that a significant percentage of adult males will most likely need to be on some kind of HBM by the time they are 50 (I am 40)......It appears to be mostly genetic. You can improve your HB slightly with diet and exercise even when the condition is mostly genetic ....But I will have to most likely be on the medication for the rest of my life. The good news is that so far I haven't noticed any bad side effects to my swimming (fairly intensly at that on a fairly regular basis). Maybe you should ask your docter about different medications that may be more suitable to intense exercise (such as Benicar - HCT for example)?? Good Luck with it though!......there are apparently MANY of us in the same boat.
newmastersswimmer
Hey Ray,
I am new to this site (in fact this is only my second post...and I'm still waiting for a reply to my first one).....But I wanted to say that I am also on HB Medication. I was 65 pounds over the weight I am now at (this was about about 5 or 6months ago) when I first found out about it......I had swelling in my ankles and I thought I might be diabetic or something....The doctor determined that I had hypertension and placed me on "Benicar- HCT" I told him that I was going to start exercising a lot to lose weight ....so I guess he may have factored that in to my prescription??....Anyway, I hoped that after losing so much weight (together with the better diet and cardiovascular training) that my hypertension would go away......Unfortunately I found out a few weeks ago that this will not be the case. My doctor said that a significant percentage of adult males will most likely need to be on some kind of HBM by the time they are 50 (I am 40)......It appears to be mostly genetic. You can improve your HB slightly with diet and exercise even when the condition is mostly genetic ....But I will have to most likely be on the medication for the rest of my life. The good news is that so far I haven't noticed any bad side effects to my swimming (fairly intensly at that on a fairly regular basis). Maybe you should ask your docter about different medications that may be more suitable to intense exercise (such as Benicar - HCT for example)?? Good Luck with it though!......there are apparently MANY of us in the same boat.
newmastersswimmer
