'Ello folks.
I had a question about the effect of testosterone when it comes to heart health. I've been reading online about it and it seems like it's pretty unclear about the direct correlation of the two.
I remember reading about being on T may raise blood pressure but what about pulse? I do currently have high blood pressure, and I'm actually on meds for this currently. Every time I check it..it seems fine. After starting T... (I started T one month ago) I've been feeling my pulse more heavily. I've been checking my resting rate, and it's always above 90 (typical resting rate is around 60-90). Sometimes it's 110+. and the other night I couldn't sleep because I felt like my heart was pounding my whole body. I was just laying in bed. No anxiety (which I also have/take meds for) or anything.
I plan on seeing my doctor soon about this and maybe getting and EKG but I'm just wondering if anyone else have experience this.
thanks ahead,
Caito
My blood pressure and cholesterol went up. Pulse is roughly the same. Have you tried forms of meditation or disassociation? Calming techniques could help if your pulse or bp is higher.
A breathing exercise like Qi Gong will lower blood pressure, and help you get in shape. I'm going to take a guess here, from your resting heart rate, and say that you probably don't exercise much, am I right? Even light exercises like Qi Gong or walking will help control all of those things.
Before T my resting heart rate was between 70-80 normally. I suppose I should have mentioned this as well.
I do exercise but have not been able to heavily because of a car accident a few months ago. So just light stuff right now.
I will look into calming techniques as well but I haven't been..not calm..you know?
Quote from: rightocaito on July 14, 2013, 09:43:04 PM
Before T my resting heart rate was between 70-80 normally. I suppose I should have mentioned this as well.
I do exercise but have not been able to heavily because of a car accident a few months ago. So just light stuff right now.
I will look into calming techniques as well but I haven't been..not calm..you know?
Ah, car accidents. Are you sure it's the T and not your body recovering that caused the upward? My stats got worse when I was recovering from a car accident myself. The random pounding of the heart, in that case, is probably adrenaline.
I'll suggest Qi Gong again, since I like it. There are many forms of it, and for some of them you just flop on a couch and focus on breathing. Well, not 'flop', exactly, but I'm sure you know what I mean. It introduces a new way of breathing than most people are accustom to, and it involves using your diaphragm more than your rib cage, which is a much more comfortable way to breath when you bind.
The car accident was in May and when I've checked my pulse around the end of may..it was in the 70-80 range. I started T in June and it's gone up since then. It really only makes sense that it's related to the T..but again. I'm not sure.
I'll try the Qi Gong and see if the breathing helps lower my pulse and blood pressure. (I don't have to worry about breathing while binding because I'm post op).
Thanks.
Quote from: rightocaito on July 14, 2013, 09:57:54 PM
The car accident was in May and when I've checked my pulse around the end of may..it was in the 70-80 range. I started T in June and it's gone up since then. It really only makes sense that it's related to the T..but again. I'm not sure.
I'll try the Qi Gong and see if the breathing helps lower my pulse and blood pressure. (I don't have to worry about breathing while binding because I'm post op).
Thanks.
Hmm. Well, best of luck. I wonder why T would do that...
My resting heart rate also went up and is now in the high 80's low 90's. My blood pressure is harder to control and I've become prone to dehydration. My doctor doesn't seem panicked by it but did suggest more regular exercise and weight loss. She also changed my meds to remove a diuretic and insist on drinking more water and juice.
When you say 'more prone to dehydration' are you taking into account that the vast majority of adults are chronically dehydrated and you could fall into that group? How do you know you've become more prone to it?
I ask because my diet and fluid intake is completely rubbish right now and I know without doubt that I'm chronically dehydrated, but I've never heard of T making you more prone to it.
Quote from: randomroads on July 15, 2013, 12:16:43 AM
When you say 'more prone to dehydration' are you taking into account that the vast majority of adults are chronically dehydrated and you could fall into that group? How do you know you've become more prone to it?
I ask because my diet and fluid intake is completely rubbish right now and I know without doubt that I'm chronically dehydrated, but I've never heard of T making you more prone to it.
T makes some people sweat more. Like, a lot more.
Before T, I had no issues of dehydration. After T, an increase in red blood cells and increased sweating as well as blood pressure meant I need a lot more water to keep things stable.
Quote from: LordKAT on July 15, 2013, 12:24:42 AM
Before T, I had no issues of dehydration. After T, an increase in red blood cells and increased sweating as well as blood pressure meant I need a lot more water to keep things stable.
? Am I the only one whose blood pressure didn't go up? I know I'm sweating more, though.
Hey man, just wanted to let you know I had the same issue when I started T. I've been to the doc with my heart and it turned out to be fine. My doc said if it won't go away within a month or two, he will prescribe some pill. It went away, but at the beginning I took some pills for high blood pressure from my mom's when it was really bad. (the doc advised to do if it's unbearable)
Prior to T I had hypertension (130 over 90) and a high (100+) resting BPM. My maximum would frequently crest into 220 BPM with moderate exercise (bad). All of the exercise equipment at the gym could not be wrong...
After T my BP is around the 116/122 over 70/80 margin. My resting rate is also typically 80-90 BPM (no idea about exercising BPM yet haven't been to a gym).
Full disclosure, I had metabolic and endocrine issues (chiefly concerning high insulin and cortisol levels) prior to T and which were the cause of my hypertension and its accompanying increase in basal or resting heart rate. For reasons I now understand better, the testosterone is curative of these problems I'd had since age 16 when they were diagnosed and younger when they were there but not diagnosed. So my experience is likely not typical.
That stated, it is predominantly an imbalance of cholesterol (LDL versus HDL) that precedes most cardiovascular events (heart attacks, strokes, other clots). Unfortunately, testosterone raises LDL (bad) and lowers HDL (good). If you are truly concerned about that there is a preventative measure to take against it. Proper, balanced diet and exercise.
Also important to note is that dietary cholesterol does not affect your cholesterol (so don't avoid eggs or their yokes, one of the best sources of protein and other essential nutrients). What does affect your cholesterol levels are actually your dietary fat (particularly, bad or saturated fats. Unsaturated fats, or essential fatty acids, are healthy). If you cut your saturated fat intake while also exercising to get rid of your own fatty tissues (your own body fat is also a source of your actual cholesterol), your LDL will lower and your HDL will rise correspondingly.
Another factor is triglycerides. Measures to balance cholesterol will also manage these.
In your specific case... how much sodium are you getting? I found that the more sodium I get, the higher my pulse and rate rose... especially after T. You might want to try eliminating it as much as you can and see how that goes in the meantime. Substitute it for lemon or lime or even pepper (don't use table salt at all). Things like that. I don't even miss it anymore.
Quote from: Magnus on July 15, 2013, 03:21:10 AM
In your specific case... how much sodium are you getting? I found that the more sodium I get, the higher my pulse and rate rose... especially after T. You might want to try eliminating it as much as you can and see how that goes in the meantime. Substitute it for lemon or lime or even pepper (don't use table salt at all). Things like that. I don't even miss it anymore.
^-- very true. If you start craving salt, drink water. Salt makes you retain fluid, so craving it can be a sign of dehydration.
I avoid salt like the plague. When I did start craving salt, a blood test found I was losing potassium. A change in meds and some bananas took care of that.
Thank you all for your answers. I really appreciate it. I did cut my salt for other health reasons already, and I also cut my caffeine (I know no one mentioned it but that is also something that should be considered as well.)
It's probably my diet though I'm sure. I've been tracking my blood pressure/pulse and have been saving it to show the doctor. I think I will also document my food/exercise and see what is causing it. As well as focus on my breathing and anxiety.
Thanks again
Men's Health 1,001 Muscle Foods Fall 2011, pg 15:
Do I have to reduce my salt intake?
Not if your blood pressure is normal. In the 1940's, a Duke University researcher named Walter Kempner, M.D., became famous for using salt restriction to treat people with high blood pressure. Later, studies confirmed that reducing salt could help reduce hypertension. Large-scale scientific reviews, however, have determined that people with normal blood pressure have no reason to restrict their salt intake
[I personally disagree with that last statement, salt in excesses—and we're getting it in more excess than all human history combined during this period of time through processed, packaged and canned garbage—is linked to kidney problems and not just because of the fact that it raises blood pressure either. It is very abrasive stuff, your kidneys are only able to serve their purpose because of small cord-like mesh filtering your blood of it and other things they have to get rid of on a daily basis. It then becomes not very difficult to better understand the kidney failure epidemic in 'developed nations' without further explanation being necessary here. Salt isn't supposed to be consumed in massive quantities, but it is contained in almost everything today and at amounts that are simply outrageous e.g. an average American gets 3,400 mg salt/sodium or more per day and which is definitely far beyond a healthy amount of <2,000 mg].
(A quick clarification: Salt is a seasoning made of sodium chloride sodium is an element that can still exist in foods marked "no salt.") So if you already have high blood pressure, you may be "salt sensitive," and reducing the amount of salt you eat could be helpful. That said, people with high blood pressure who don't want to lower their salt intake can consume more potassium-containing foods. (For example, deep orange and green fruits like apricot, kiwi, and cantaloupe, as well as bananas and coconut water, are among top sources.) Why? Because the balance of salt and potassium in your body is what matters. In fact, Dutch researchers determined that a low potassium intake has the same impact on your blood pressure as high salt consumption does. And, as it turns out, the average guy consumes only 3,100 mg of potassium a day—1,600 mg less than recommended.
So what you can do is get some whey protein (I personally stick to Body Fortress, around $16 at Wal Mart) and a bunch of bananas and make yourself a nice protein smoothie. They're great and the banana is almost unnoticeable (I never really liked them by themselves and that's common, hence the recommendation of this method lol).
My case is likely very rare but T actually helped my heart condition. I had an immense amount of palpitaions and PVCs, bad enough that I was put on a few different beta blockers. For the first 6 weeks they were only noticible when it was shark week. After about a month and a half of T shark week stopped and the palpitations became less and less frequent, and I used my meds less. Now that I'm on my third month I just had some tests run and was taken off of the meds completely. The T actually regulated my heart rate much better than the other medications.
Quote from: Lex on July 26, 2013, 04:27:54 PM
My case is likely very rare but T actually helped my heart condition. I had an immense amount of palpitaions and PVCs, bad enough that I was put on a few different beta blockers. For the first 6 weeks they were only noticible when it was shark week. After about a month and a half of T shark week stopped and the palpitations became less and less frequent, and I used my meds less. Now that I'm on my third month I just had some tests run and was taken off of the meds completely. The T actually regulated my heart rate much better than the other medications.
Palpitations can be a direct symptom of hormonal imbalance. Hormones are doing wacky things during shark week, which probably led to the increase. Normalizing hormones more can cause a decrease.