On Aug 18, 1:57*pm, "Steve Freides" wrote:
"Paul B. Anders" wrote in ...

Today, my cardio switched me from 25 mg metoprolol twice daily to 5 mg
Bystolic (Nebivolol), I think it's 2x daily (need to ask to make
certain). From what he told me and from what I can figure out from the
wikipedia entry, this beta blocker doesn't have the same negative
effect on VO2max that metoprolol. Anyone else have any experience with
Bystolic?

thanks,

Brad Anders

I'm not a doctor (well, I am, but not that kind) but isn't one of the
effects (side effects?) of beta blockers to keep your heart from beating
too fast? *It's not necessarily that they directly have an adverse
effect on VO2Max, just that if you can't get your heart rate up, you're
limiting one of the many things you need to get the O2 maximally out to
where it's needed.

Anyway, the link you gave in your other message does indeed make this
sound like a promising beta blocker. *At the risk of asking the obvious,
have you tried other methods of lowering your blood pressure, e.g., diet
(both what and how much you eat)?

-S-

While my BP might have been a bit high to start with (~130/80), the
main reason my cardiologist and my cardiothoracic surgeon have me on a
beta blocker is that I had an ascending aortic aneurysm repair in
2004, and they want to limit the long-term aortic dP/dt to reduce
strain on the graft, and to minimize the chance of any future
aneurysms in the rest of the aorta. I also take Avapro (irbesartan)
which is an ARB that also lowers BP, plus has been shown to have
positive effects (perhaps preventative) in reducing aneurysms.

Athletically, other than heavy weightlifing, I don't have any
restrictions. I just had my stress echo, that was fine, and I have
done 3 MRA's with no indication of any problems since the surgery,
during a period where I did about 3K miles a year of mostly fairly
hard rides.

Brad Anders