I was thrilled when the doctor gave me the green light to exercise and an inhaler to help cure the cough. The inhaler helps so much I was able to go to the gym today. Obviously I planned to take it easy since I've been sick for almost 3 weeks and still have a cough, but I was eager to get back into it.
I did mostly moderate paced walking with two 5 minute run intervals, for a total of 45 minutes. The running felt just ok, and even though I took it really slow (13:30 pace) it was all I could do, and got a stitch towards the end of the second interval.
There was a brand new treadmill at the gym that I'd decided to try out, and a few minutes after my first run interval I realized there was a HR monitor on it so I gave it a shot. It said my HR was 147!! That seems insane, because usually when I'm walking after a short run it's more like 123.
I have a few theories/concerns about why this is, but I'd really like to hear from you guys because it's not a good thing. I mean, it was just a few months ago that my gynie commented on my nice slow heart rate.
Here's my thoughts:
- I recently tapered off of Inderal, a blood pressure medication I'd been taking for migraine prophylaxis for over 10 years. This medication will, by it's nature, slow down the heart rate. But I've been on a very low dose of it for quite a while now, it doesn't seem logical that stopping it would have such a dramatic impact.
- I'm temporarily taking the Advair inhaler for my bronchitis. After the very first dose I immediately noticed my heart racing. The drug's website says that patients "may experience... increased heart rate", but I don't know if that just describes the racing heart immediately post-dosage or if it will remain elevated until I'm done with the medication.
- I'm sure I lost some cardio base from not being able to exercise for about 5 of the last 9 weeks... but it's not possible for it to change that dramatically, is it?
I'm really concerned about this. Any insights y'all might have would be appreciated.
2 comments:
If I had taken the measurement immediately after the run that number wouldn't surprise me, but this was about 3 minutes later, after walking a pretty mellow 20:00 pace. Usually when I'm just walking my HR is around 110-125, depending on speed/incline.
I don't know, but maybe it was the heart rate monitor on the new treadmill? There are at least 4 kinds of treadmills at the gym I use and I have a terrible time trying to get a running heart rate on all of them. One of them even gave me a 200 one day. I just started laughing and showed Teri, I'm like "Teri if my HR is 200 my heart is about to blow up any second, call 911." Between the 4 treadmills my HR will land on anything between 145 and 180. I have serious doubts if any of those are accurate because I have to hold on to the darn grips for about 2 min to get any reading at all. Maybe try one of the treadmills you typically use next time and see if that makes any difference.
Post a Comment