Cardiac Rehab question

[Jeanie]

Please forgive me if this has already been covered somewhere, but I hope someone has some advice to share. I had aortic stenosis repaired via AVR with an ATS Open Pivot mech valve. I am now in the rehab exercise program, and not sure if this is a result of beta blocker I am on, or what, but my body does not want to cooperate with one of their protocols. They expect/assume/almost requre before they let you leave that after cool down and 5 minute rest, that your BP will be no more than 10 points higher than the before exercise number. In my recent session, my BP was 104/78 before exercise, 126/82 during exercise, and 118/76 post exercise. I am mostly pleased that diastolic dropped, and was not personally concerned that from 104 to 118 was just a tad over 10 points but they were freaking out. Just what the heck is so important about this magical (or mythical, LOL) 10 points!?!?
Edited to add, I am sorry I did not know there was already a rehab message area, Mod/Admin please feel free to move this.
thanks,
Jeanie
p.s. My last echo shows a normal EF, still some residual LV hypertrophy, all valves working normally.

 

[Philip B]

Rehab

Rehab

Rehab programs vary. I'm not sure why the folks running yours seem to be hugely concerned with the blood pressure numbers. Perspectives probably differ, but I've always felt rehab is about getting better.

My blood pressure and heart rate were kinda all over the place when I started my rehab program. As I progressed through the program, things improved considerably. It was beneficial to me to see weekly progress.

I suspect you'll see improvement as you get your heart back in shape.

-Philip

 

[Doug]

Depending on the amount of work I do during the exercises my BP bounces all over the place. I have started at 106 over 70 something and left at 130 over 70 something. And other times my bp has dropped. I am surprised that your folks would pick one metric like that as a critical trigger. I would ask them what the deal is and then discuss with it with the cardiologist.

The only time I have seen my rehab nurses stop anyone is when their bp exceeded 150 over something. They let him cool down a bit and let him restart at a lower level of exertion.

 

[JimL]

I recommend relaxing, whether or not the cardiac rehab people relax. I had problems with my heart rate going too high, and they got excited about that, which led to me being put on amiodarone for a month, a really lousy medicine. Besides, relaxing lowers the blood pressure.

 

[Mentu]

Jeanie, I would ask each of your instructors about the variation they expect to see. If the difference is only a few points, you might consider a meditative pause after exercise which can lower pulse rate and blood pressure for most people. It doesn't help if you are anxious about it since that is likely to keep it higher. You might ask them to review with you the general trend in your pulse rate and blood pressure since you began rehab as that would seem to me to be a better indicator of progress than blood pressures on any one day.

Larry

 

[tobagotwo]

I would love to hear their explanation of how a blood presure of 118/76 is cause for panic or concern.

Best wishes,

 

[Superbob]

I agree, those numbers don't sound alarming to me. I went through 36 sessions of cardiac rehab, thoroughly enjoyed it, and the nurses and participants were all pretty easy-going (though they did get a little rattled one morning when I told them I felt a tad dizzy. Turned out to be nothing.) Anyway, try to relax and enjoy and hopefully the staff will settle down.

 

[Eva]

Those numbers are not alarming to me neither! The nurses at the time I had my rehab always asked me to DRINK water during the exercise and AFTER the cool down/stretching!

 

[Jeanie]

Thanks a bunch! The second session BPs did fall into the 'magickal' parameters, had to miss today's session as Hubby's car was in the shop and mine is on the fritz too. I agree that the BP they were concerned about did not seem like a big deal to me, will be interesting to see how the Monday session goes. I did read somewhere that, when taking Beta Blockers ( am on one ) it is important not to abruptly stop exercise, that the cool down part is important, but I forgot why.