Beta Blockers

For approximately 15 years I have had high blood pressure. Initially, the Doc was happy, after testing for 24hrs, that the issue seemed to be when I walked into the surgery so no medication required. After being diagnosed T1 diabetic 7 years ago I was eventually put onto 5mg Lisinopril and this eventually was increased to 10mg.

My diastolic level has always been good and better than ever over the last couple of years. Systolic has always been the problem and for the last four years has been consistently high, 150-160.

I have an appointment on Monday to discuss with my GP and feel there could be an attempt to try me on something else as it’s the one diabetic target I just don’t ever get close to! So, I am thinking Beta Blockers but have some concerns over the little I know about them.

1. Can they contribute to hypoglycaemia?
2. They lower heart rate, my heart rate is normally pretty low to begin with so this worries me.
3. Do they impact on exercising (part of 2 really)?

Any experience shared would be appreciated.

My preference would be to have a 24hr BP monitor to wear for a few days and get a good picture of what is going on, but on a daily basis and not just every time I go for an appointment! If that shows consistently high then I will be up for trying something new.

@catherinecherub & @zand - thanks for the info.

I'm already on Lisinopril which is an ACE inhibitor isn't it? This is why I was thinking they may go down the beta blocker route. My pulse generally measures in the 40-60 range and this is never a proper resting pulse rate as I've always just had to travel to get to the surgery/hospital. I was told by the doctor that BP and pulse rate are completely independent of each other as I found it curious why one was high and one was low!

Whatever the Docs advice, I would be happier with more data first to understand the extent of the problem.

Spiker said:

I use a beta blocker, propranolol, from time to time for anxiety. I can tell you it really plays havoc with hypoglycemia warning signs. The adrenalin based warning signs completely disappear. You are left only with the last-ditch neurological warning signs. And I don't know about you but I have not trained myself to spot those. So a few times I have found myself in some very weird states, protracted near-hypos that went on for ages (OK I have no explanation of that). But propranolol really interferes with hypo warnings and so makes hypos more likely, even if it doesn't directly cause them as such. Other beta blockers might not have this side effect, but I doubt it, since by design these drugs are used to block these adrenalin (etc) pathways.

Click to expand...

Thanks @Spiker - I was aware that they block adrenaline and whilst removing the "fight or flight" instinct may help with anxieties etc I also know that when doing an intensive running session, the same response sends blood sugar levels high. Sounds like a good way of keeping them down but if I injected insulin during a session as I normally do........? Hypo seems a real possibility.