Post Exercise Hypotension

[MrKerryT]

Hi.

I've noticed that following exercise my blood pressure drops from being in the Grade 1 Hypertension level e.g. around 135/95, back down to normal e.g. 120/80. And it stays normal for several hours after. I've read this is called Post Exercise Hypotension (PEH).

I'm more than happy to do 15 minutes of HIIT training every morning if this is what I need to do. But am I just masking a problem that I actually need medication for?

I've only recently been diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic so I'm having a bit of an MOT.

My Blood sugar thankfully is fine on a low carb diet, so no meds required for that yet. And i'm on a Cholesterol lowering drug after the doc said my Cholesterol was life shorteningly high!! Charming!

Obviously it might be a while before I see the Diabetic team at my GP. So I thought I'd ask if anyone else uses this to manage blood pressure?

I have 2 stone of weight to lose and obviously level 9000 cholesterol! So I'm not sure if fixing those will have a dramatic effect on my BP. So if anyone has seen their BP drop after fixing those it'd be good to hear.

Thanks all

 

[Stephen Lewis]

Welcome MrKerryT. I also do some heavy weight lifting 3 or 4 times a week for about 30 minutes as well as a lot of fast walking. This together with a low carb diet has helped me to lose nearly 3 stone and 8 inches around my waist.. I always test my bp and heart rate just after exercising at the gym and I have found the if I don't control my breathing (rapid panting) then my bp goes higher (130+) and my heart rate is lower (about 70 bpm). If I use steady deep breathing then my bp may be as low as 105, usually about 115, and my heart rate will be higher around 100 bpm.
I also take a statin for cholesterol but the dose was halved about a year ago after almost a year on a low carb and therefore higher fat diet. It seems to me that my body has happily switched back to fats for energy instead of carbs and as a result my last cholesterol test had results for LDL, HDL and cholestrol about 20% below the bottom of the normal range. By using the fat instead of carbs, there are no excess fats of any type in my blood that with a 'normal', high carb diet result in artery hardening etc.
I am on the Low Carb Program available on this web site and have seen that I get much higher kcal for energy from fats than I did from carbs. My danger right now is that all gyms are closed so I am trying to keep fat and carb intake lower because walking is my only exercise.
I also take medication for bp and this may be necessary. I would suggest taking your bp every day for several days at different times and with different levels of exercise. If the results are regularly over 130 (considered high for diabetics) then you should see your doctor. One benefit of my bp medication, Ramipril, is that it reduces blood pressure by expanding the blood vessels. This improved my peripheral neuropathy by increasing the blood going to the capillaries in my feet and hands. This diabetic complication had got worse and worse over about several years. From my body it seemed that the high bp was because my body was forcing blood into the smaller vessels, So don't see the bp medication as a negative.
Finally keep on this forum. There is a lot of important information and help and there are many people with the experience that we can hopefully stop you having to go through.