I recently saw a very interesting patient.
20 year old male college student (whom I will call Mr. X) with no known past medical history was referred to the medical clinic by his dentist for high blood pressure. During the office visit, Mr. X did not complain of any symptoms and said that he felt fine. On pressing a little further he said that at times he had headaches for which he takes over the counter painkillers.
Past medical history, family history and social history were unremarkable.
On examination his blood pressure was 180/116 in right arm and 175/110 in left arm. Heart rate was about 80. Rest of the physical exam was normal.
I tried to ask Mr. X if he was taking any drugs especially cocaine, marijuana or over the counter medications (besides painkillers – NSAIDS), but he denied.
Unable to explain the high blood pressure, I asked Mr. X to get some blood work done and asked him to come back in a week.
Next week Mr. X is back, asymptomatic with a high BP similar to the previous visit. His blood work is normal. Now I decide to start a million dollar work up to get to the root of his mysterious hypertension.
But then he tells me something interesting – cramps. He has been having mild cramps from weight lifting and exercising in the gym for about 3-4 weeks.
With a rush of adrenaline surging in me, I ask Mr. X “how many times do you work out in a week”
Mr. X – “Daily, I am trying to build some serious muscles”
Me – “I hope you are not taking steroids for body building”
Mr. X – “No, no, not at all. I know they are bad. I actually use this wonderful pre-workout supplement which I purchased from the internet. It does not have any steroids in it and works great”
Me – “And what is the supplement”
Mr X – “NO-xplode”
Case solved. Next week Mr. X’s blood pressure is 120/80.
(This is one of the many patients which I have seen and heard from colleagues, in which people get duped by fraudulent internet companies that sell FDA unapproved, non-tested diet supplements, body building supplements, herbal medicines and a whole lot of other stuff which can be extremely harmful. If you are taking any such supplement please consult your doctor).
Technorati Tags: Body building, Drugs, Hypertension, NO-xplode, Steroid, Supplement
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[...] Administrator placed an observative post today on Unexplained high blood pressure in 20 year old.Here’s a quick excerpt:X) with no known past medical history was referred to the medical clinic by his dentist for high blood pressure. During the office visit, Mr. X did not complain of any symptoms and said that he felt fine. On pressing a little further he … [...]
BSN’s NO-Xplode is one of the most popular pre-workout supplements on the market. NO-Xplode is an an “all-in-one” product: it’s formulated to provide nitric oxide, creatine, electrolyte replenishment/hydration, and—most importantly—a workout boost, simultaneously.
If there’s a “fly in the NO-Xplode ointment” it’s that a class-action lawsuit is currently being filed against BSN. The lawsuit claims that although BSN claims No-Xplode contains a special form of creatine (CEM3 — a derivative of creatine ethyl ester), it only contains plain old creatine monohydrate.
For a complete review of NO-Xplode and more details on the class action suit…
http://bodybuilding.ultimatefatburner.com/BSN-NO-Xplode.html
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“This is one of the many patients which I have seen and heard from colleagues, in which people get duped by fraudulent internet companies that sell FDA unapproved, non-tested diet supplements, body building supplements, herbal medicines and a whole lot of other stuff which can be extremely harmful.”
Is there any way we can find about these fraudulent internet companies. They’re really putting people at risk.
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Sir,
Thanks for the good info. I am 21 and was diagnosed with high blood pressure – 160/100. I got it measured for few days and reading were same almost.
As the subject you dealt with, I am not taking any supplement. I don’t have any symptoms like headache, cramps etc. I don’t do work outs.
I know that with such high blood pressure I can’t remain without the medicine. But I just want to know if there is an alternative of taking medicine life long.
Please help me. I am pretty much worried.
Thanks in anticipation.
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One more thing I want to say that in my family neither of my parents have had any problem of blood pressure. They are in their 50s now.
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My son was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure…he takes no supplements, only vitamins. After a month of no salt and watching his diet it is still high…top number 150…he doesn’t have cramps in his muscles but he was getting a little fatigued which has passed also. I do not believe we have any history of high blood pressure in our family…mine is 120/80 and I’m 58. My son will be 24 on August 21…any ideas why he suddenly has this condition? Thanks
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I am a 23 yr old female that was recently (in august ‘09) diagnosed with high bp (it was 217/144 when I went to the hospital). I had no priors except headaches (mostly caffeine related), no family history, and a relatively healthy diet as well because of food allergies. The doctors have still not figured out what has caused this. My bp was normal when I had it checked 2 months prior, in a doctors office, and has been normal my whole life.
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hello, i thought this post would place me in the right direction. I smiled at the steroid story, but I never did any of of bodybuilding experiments. I actually had episodes of extremely high blood pressure and migraines(and even mild stroke) at age 22. all my tests were normal as well. I yet to find out what have been causing my over decade long bouts of hypertension. I almost died from preeclampsia and am still recovering from its after effects after my daughter was born 4.5 yrs ago.
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Hi, I’ve had HBP for nearly 4 years now, ever since i was in 7th grade and it might be jeopardizing my future hopes/dreams of being in the air force, I’ve gone threw extensive tests for my brain,heart,kidney, and intestines and they so far have found nothing wrong with me. We are leaning towards it maybe being my family history but there have been none to very little records of anyone adopting their family related hypertension at such a young age as 13… I was looking at a vaccine that had been canceled that lowered blood pressure nearly 30 points called CYT006-AngQb and i was not able to find why they canceled it
it worked! why did they cancel it? well I’m just hoping someone might have an explanation for some of this and btw I’m 17 now and really wish to join the air force next year.
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Administrator,
I realize this article is fairly old, but felt you may like the following information if you are still following this subject.
I am a 25 year old male who had been taking NO-Xplode as well as Creatine and NO2 on and off for about 5 years. I have never taken any drugs or steroids, have around 11% body fat, and had a blood pressure of 160/110 when I was eventually diagnosed with hypertension (pulse of 64). I workout daily, eat very healthy, played Division 1 sports, and have no history of high blood pressure in my family.
The doctors I have seen say all of my tests are completely normal except for an enlarged heart muscle from my blood pressure being high for a long period of time. I was not on any supplements when my blood pressure reading of 160/110 was taken, and I have since been put on a high dose of Diuretic and ACE Inhibitor to regulate my blood pressure.
I am convinced that these supplements were the cause, as none of the doctors can seem to figure out why else my blood pressure would be high. Specifically, I am curious if the L-Arginine in the NO2 supplement (and NO-Xplode) could create a dependence in the blood vessels, disabling them from properly dialating when the supplementation of the L-Arginine is stopped, therefore resulting in higher blood pressure?
I hope you continue to follow this subject because I think these supplements might be a lot more dangerous than people think. And to think, most high school and college athletes take these supplements because they want to avoid the health risks of steroids!
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