m@t Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 Having reached a minimal activity base line of 20mg of propranolol a day I decided to undertake some gym based experiments... It would appear I can tolerate an hour (including warm up and down etc) of gym work twice a week if I stick to recumbant bike, rowing machine and some floor work. All these machines are set to very easy levels and my HR doesnt really get much up over 90bpm but to maintain my feeling 'ok' level I have had to increase the propranolol to an average of 60mg per day. I have tried some treadmill work and this did not go well and saw me needing around 120mg of propranolol as well as feeling shockingly bad whilst doong it. Without upping the propranolol I get the following symptoms: Larger increase in HR on standing Overactivated buzzy feeling Need for sleep savagely drops to only a few hours Massively high libido Talk very quickly (possibly a little hypomanic even) Anxious on edge feelings Its pretty unbearable! If I stop and do absolutely nothing for a few days other than sit I can ride this out. As the over activated feeling subsides I then crash into equisite fatigue which is actually an awesome feeling and I get a good 12+ hours sleep. Using the propranolol I can shorten the time taken for this cycle to complete by increasing the dose. Does this ring true with anyone elses experience? I would like to try and find out if the best way forward it to keep pushing the propranolol dose up or tough it out in the hope that my body just gets used to it. No medic I have contacted is interested in helping with an answer to this. The only person I have ever spoken who has felt similar apart from the episodic nature is someone who was hyperthyroid. Mine was 'fine' when the TSH was checked a few years back but I do wonder if there may be some post exertion link. I have also had a high dopamine level which seems to give the same symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterSown Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 Please do not increase your medication without the supervision of a doctor. Try doing less exercise for a while and then build up your endurance instead of increasing your drugs so you can sustain your endurance. It's better to build up your strength slowly in a safer manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 Hi - I am not sure if this is helpful but I relate to some of your observations: with me when tested both NE and dopamine were elevated after walking. I was not particularly symptomatic even at that time. I have noted also that I benefitted mostly from adjusting my exercise to my meds rather than adjusting my meds to my exercise. Changing ANYTHING about your life will affect your symptoms if you have dysautonomia. If you keep adjusting meds than you will not get balance - it is an autonomic IMBALANCE! It is best if you take the same meds everyday for a while and adjust your activity to a place where you can tell you feel good. Then you can go from there - changing dosages every day or even every week can be counterproductive for dysautonomia. It is just something many of us have discovered over time and maybe it might be helpful to you too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m@t Posted July 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 I hear what your saying but I am not increasing without the doctor. My script says up to 160mg a day as required and they are more than happy for me to play with the dose on a daily basis from 0 up to 160mg to find the minimum dose to support a level of activity. Indeed this has been the advice from 2 cardiologists and a neurologist. What they can't tell me is if I should push through and tolerate some degree of symptoms for overall gain. Doing less exercise will not work as the amount I can do in the gym without the drug increase to prevent reaction is fairly trivial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m@t Posted July 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 Thanks pistol. I really do have to adjist everyday, if I take the same amount of meds needed to counteract the exercise on a day when I cant exercise due to work I end up in a world of pain. Seriously I have been learning my reaction to propranolol for 3 years or so and I am in a far better place now than I have been since the start of the journey. The only problem is moving on to tapering up the exercise level and the best way to approach it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p8d Posted July 8, 2018 Report Share Posted July 8, 2018 Do you have hyper POTS? Have you checked your BP right after getting off the treadmill? Some of the symptoms sound hyper POTS to me. Are you fluid loading sufficiently to prevent blood pooling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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