Thursday, February 05, 2009 CoolHand asks

Q: 20 yr old male BP question

I am a 20 year old male who does 3 hours of martial arts 3x per week, and 5-8 hours of football on weekends, and I am taking a stack of 200mg caffiene/20mg ephedra/325 mg aspirin as recommended to me by a friend for minor weight loss purposes. My BP has jumped from approximately 128/90 to 158/96, though I feel perfectly fine. Strangely, my RHR has dropped from 61 to 53 in the past four weeks, though I don't know if thats an effect of the drugs (probably not) or just the increase in exercise.

Should I stop taking the drugs? Like I said, I feel fine, but that is in the realm of hypertension correct?

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Answers (2)

Martin Cane, M.D., Health Pro

2/ 5/09 9:10pm

CoolHand,

I'm not quite sure what a "stack" is, but the combination of caffeine and ephedrine most certainly accounts for your rise in blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure is also known as the "silent killer" because in most cases patients have no symptoms to indicate that their pressure is elevated. So, the fact that you have no symptoms is no indication that your blood pressure should be ignored.

Your reading of 158/96 is definitely in the range of hypertension (high blood pressure) and you need to see a physician to examine you for any signs of its effect on your eyes, heart and other organs. As I am sure he/she will tell you, these supplements should be stopped immediately.

As for your lower heart rate, this is most likely due to the increase in exercise, but it is difficult to say without having the benefit of examining you.

I suggest: 1. Stop the supplements drugs.

2. See your physician as soon as possible for the above reasons.

Martin Cane, M.D.

PATRICK AUDICK

8/ 6/09 5:31pm

WHAT IS YOUR DIET LIKE? ARE YOU EATING WITH THE 200MG CAFFIENE/ 20 MG EPHEDRA, 325 MG ASPIRIN YOU BP JUMPED BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT TAKING THESE DRUGS FOR A GOOD REASON YOUR BP WAS NORMAL BEFORE YOU STARTED TAKING THESE DRUGS. YOU ARE OVERDOSING. PLUS, YOU SHOULDN'T TRUST YOUR FRIEND AS A RELIABLE SOURCE. PLEASE DO YOURSELF GOOD AND CONSULT A PHYSICIAN IMMEDIATELY AND STOP TAKING ALL OF THESES DRUGS. NEVER TAKE WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS DO IT THE SMART WAY AND EAT RIGHT. YOUR BP IS MODERATE-SEVERE HYPERSON. CAFFIENE HAS A DRASTIC EFFECT AND CAUSE AN INCREASE IN BLOOD PRESSURE. SEEK A DOCTOR, ECHOCARDIOGRAM, EKG ,ULTRASOUND YOU NAME IT FROM A CARDIOLOGIST. STOP THESE DRUGS IMMEDIATELY!

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Q: 20 yr old male BP question

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