High Blood Pressure - "the Silent Killer" - a true story

**lovex** · 12-30-2008, 03:14 PM

One more nice article I founded...Want 2share with u people..

High Blood Pressure - "the Silent Killer" - a true story

I thought that I would share this with you all so hopefully you can avoid what has happened to me.

High blood pressure is often called the “silent killer” because often it displays no symptoms and can lead to stroke and heart disease.

First, a little background info on myself. I am 44, 5’10”, 225 lbs. Approx. 12 –14 % bf.
Have being training for 12 yrs, last 4 very serious. Have done 2 cycles, last on consisting was;

Wk 1 – 3, 100 mg Testolents EOD
Wk 1-9, 300 mg Organon Deca
Wk 1-10, 558 mg Testoviron Depot
Wk 7 -12, 50 mg Zambon winny every 36 hours
1 mg armidex EOD

About half way through this cycle, I started getting short of breath & noticed a slight tightening in my chest. No big deal I thought, maybe just bordering on over training.

Two weeks after above cycle ended, shortness of breath was pretty well gone, but the tightening sensation in my chest was a little more pronounced, so I made a visit to the Medi Centre to get things checked. My bp was 170/100. He sent me for chest x-rays and an ECG that day, as well as starting me on bp meds. The results took about a week to come back, x-ray was ok. ECG was abnormal. Bp now was 160/110. An appointment was scheduled with a Internal Med Specialist to get a stress test done as well as he started me on a beta-blocker.

To make a long story short, I had a nuclear stress test done that showed that my left ventricle was enlarged. The specialist figures that the high bp , combined with heavy lifting (increases bp too) caused this. Steroids never entered into the conversation at all. Basically in laymen’s terms this means at present my heart is only working at 66% efficiency.

He also told me that if we keep my bp under control, start some cardio and ease up on the weights, that my heart should return to normal. But the more that this enlargement happens, the weaker the heart muscle becomes, eventually leading to congestive heart failure.

I guess the moral of this story is, it is very, very important to monitor your blood pressure, whether on cycle or not. They don’t call it the “silent killer” for nothing.
I would highly recommend that everyone invest in a bp machine and religiously monitor their bp. I just got a top of the line model and it only cost $110 Cdn, a very small price to pay as compared to one’s life.

BTW, I have never had high bp before and I don’t blame steroids, this could have happened without ever touching AAS, which makes checking your bp whether on cycle or not very important.
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**T_Own** · 12-30-2008, 03:26 PM

good placement of the "i found this"

i'm only 18 so i'm not worried about my BP but whenever i'm at the pharmacy for something i always try out their bp tester. its pretty cool but mines always fine, and my hr is always low, like under 60 bpm

**lovex** · 12-30-2008, 03:50 PM

Bump

**MuscleScience** · 12-30-2008, 04:10 PM

I think the moral of the story should be more in the fact to not skip on cardio. I have ran stress test on a ton of people and every one that has heart problems has a relatively low aerobic capacity. It goes hand in hand, yet everyone thinks they will lose muscle if they do cardio. It just doesnt happen like that. Cardio keeps the heart healthy.

The doctor is only giving you half the story, heavy weight lifting can cause LVH. But the more likely pathological factor is increased peripheral vascular resistance. Cardio will help reduce this tremendously, the heart is only under load from weight lifting for a very brief period of time. The heart is under load from increased vascular resistance 100% of the time.

Good luck to you and hope all turns out well.

And everyone else reading this, do your cardio!!!!!!!

**DS21** · 12-30-2008, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by MuscleScience

I think the moral of the story should be more in the fact to not skip on cardio. I have ran stress test on a ton of people and every one that has heart problems has a relatively low aerobic capacity. It goes hand in hand, yet everyone thinks they will lose muscle if they do cardio. It just doesnt happen like that. Cardio keeps the heart healthy.

The doctor is only giving you half the story, heavy weight lifting can cause LVH. But the more likely pathological factor is increased peripheral vascular resistance. Cardio will help reduce this tremendously, the heart is only under load from weight lifting for a very brief period of time. The heart is under load from increased vascular resistance 100% of the time.

Good luck to you and hope all turns out well.

And everyone else reading this, do your cardio!!!!!!!

I've always felt as if cardio is somewhat catabolic. On my last cycle my BP was getting really high so I started cardio and the drop was quick. I guess it's better to be a little catabolic then dead. I will keep doing 20-30 min after each workout wheather on or off cycle. Nice post!

**peachfuzz** · 12-31-2008, 02:06 AM

i cant find a BP cuff big enough

**Wheelie_Rider_R6** · 01-01-2009, 01:55 AM

Peachfuzz,...they sell bigger cuff sizes at CVS or Walgreens. Its seperate from the actual machine.

**MuscleScience** · 01-01-2009, 02:43 AM

Originally Posted by DS21

I've always felt as if cardio is somewhat catabolic. On my last cycle my BP was getting really high so I started cardio and the drop was quick. I guess it's better to be a little catabolic then dead. I will keep doing 20-30 min after each workout wheather on or off cycle. Nice post!

Even if its a little catabolic, it is better than being dead in my opinion....

**Physicians** · 01-01-2009, 10:54 AM

Steroids do raise blood pressure! Winstroil and Anavar and anabolics like them do not cause much if any water retention. Test dbol deca eq ect cause water retain-ion and could raise your bp. If its high chances are it is going up with the use of some anabolics. If you are prone to having high blood pressure you will see it rise. I keep my anabolics to a min today. I also take divan a medication to keep my pressure down. The bottom line is check you pb keep things moderate watch sodium levels and do you cardio.

**TestSubject123** · 01-01-2009, 01:08 PM

your an idiot

**peachfuzz** · 01-01-2009, 01:19 PM

do yourself a favor and read number 4^

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=368651

**Gears** · 01-01-2009, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by MuscleScience

I think the moral of the story should be more in the fact to not skip on cardio. I have ran stress test on a ton of people and every one that has heart problems has a relatively low aerobic capacity. It goes hand in hand, yet everyone thinks they will lose muscle if they do cardio. It just doesnt happen like that. Cardio keeps the heart healthy.

The doctor is only giving you half the story, heavy weight lifting can cause LVH. But the more likely pathological factor is increased peripheral vascular resistance. Cardio will help reduce this tremendously, the heart is only under load from weight lifting for a very brief period of time. The heart is under load from increased vascular resistance 100% of the time.

Good luck to you and hope all turns out well.

And everyone else reading this, do your cardio!!!!!!!

What kind of cardio do you suggest? Right now I pretty much walk 5-6 days out of the week when I wake up, do you suggest something of more moderate intensity to work the heart?

**MuscleScience** · 01-01-2009, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by Gears

What kind of cardio do you suggest? Right now I pretty much walk 5-6 days out of the week when I wake up, do you suggest something of more moderate intensity to work the heart?

Most studies suggest for heart health that a person needs 30 minutes of moderate to intense cardio 4-5 days a week.

The exercise organizations (NSCA, ACSM, ASEP) differ a little bit in their recommendations but in general if you get your heart rate between 60-70% of your predicted max heart rate then your at a pretty good working zone as far as cardiovascular health.