Beta Blocker and Keto

(Dwight Walters) #1

New here. History- started serious keto/low carb about 18 months ago after getting A1C of 6.6. After 10 months had lost 40 pounds but then stalled. Did serious Keto then but could not get below that 40 pound loss. Very active 71 year old male. Starting weight 280 down to 240 and stalled. A1C at 5.5!!!

So started looking at my meds. Beta blocker- Atenolol. After research came to the conclusion that this may be the problem. So I’m doing a two week experiment- 2 week break and monitor weight loss. BTW- my heart is healthy so low risk. I’ll see the doctor at the end of two weeks and discuss this.

So after one week, I’ve dropped almost 5 pounds. First loss in a long time! Feel encouraged and I’m monitoring my heart rate with my Apple Watch.

Has anyone else had this issue? Are there other beta blockers that don’t have these results? Of course I’ll ask my doctor. Just wanted to hear your experience. Thanks in advance.

(Bob M) #2

This is tough, as there are few RCTs of beta blockers and weight, particularly with placebo.

I have been on carvedilol for almost 10 years. During that time, I’ve lost at least 50 pounds, though I gained some back (trying The Croissant Diet), and I’ve now lost almost all that again. While carvedilol does not seem to totally prevent weight loss, like you, I wonder if it slows weight loss or even stops it at some point. Or affects things in other ways (eg, causes hunger, etc.).

Unfortunately, I’ve reached my limit of what I know.

In my case, I’m not allowed to stop taking the drug.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

The only thing I know about beta blockers is that I can’t take them, because they give me asthma attacks.

(Joey) #4

@Gracejourney You note that you have a healthy heart profile, so I’m wondering if perhaps you’re taking the beta-blocker to lower blood pressure?

If so, I’d suggest keeping a very close eye on your BP (home-monitoring) and see if your BP begins to come down on its own - as has been the case for many others who carb-restrict.

My wife enjoyed this benefit of keto and was taken off her BP meds.

You’ll want to be doubly-sure to maintain adequate hydration and electrolytes (yes, salt, along with magnesium, which is also important for heart function) as your body adjusts.

Alternatively, perhaps there are other reasons you’re taking the prescription?

(Bob M) #5

I have found this to be true, in the sense that when I get sick, I will maintain a chest cold for a month or more. I took antibiotics for a week, got sick shortly thereafter (first time in a looooong time, so I’m blaming the antibiotics :wink:), and got over the “cold” (or whatever it was) in not too long. But my chest remained congested for about a month, slowly getting better in that time.

This is one reason I’m trying to avoid covid, which isn’t known for being good to your lungs.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

The omicron variant wasn’t too bad, as far as my lungs were concerned. I took guaifenesin tablets to keep the phlegm loose. More troubling to me was the fever. I’ve been left with a persistent occasional cough, which is slowly going away.

(Bob M) #7

I find covid difficult to analyze. My brother got it (2 years younger than me), said it was like a cold. (This was one of the first variants.) But a neighbor got it (also, an earlier variant), spent 12 days on a ventilator and many days in the hospital. He’s my age.

While I’m hoping low carb/keto, vitamin D, selenium, etc., all go toward helping me, there really aren’t any guarantees.

So, I just got my blood test results from giving blood. They restarted testing for antibodies for covid, and I got a “reactive +”, meaning that my blood has so many antibodies, it can be used for plasma donation.

Ah, what? Maybe that “cold” I had was covid? I took a rapid test, but only one and only at the beginning. Or at least I think I took one…

My wife called and said she thinks it was covid, as I had a cough for a very long time (true) and was tired (and still am, a bit). I had chalked that up to working out more, but maybe I’m wrong?

And, dang is covid sneaky. When did I get it? And why did my wife not get it? (Or did she?) Hard to know.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

Don’t know if you’re wrong, but you could be. And your wife could possibly have had an asymptomatic case (it’s not unheard of). Since there’s a lot of individual variation, it’s hard to say. My sister, father, and I didn’t catch COVID the first time, when both my niece and nephew came down with it, and my nephew never caught the omicron variant this last go-round, when all the rest of us did.

Dad was actually perkier while sick; now, he’s really dragging (though starting to improve.) I got sicker worse and longer than the others (which is a lifelong pattern for me), but now I’m starting to perk up, too. Having omicron was was reminiscent of having H1N1 from years ago, except the fever was much less, and I didn’t get as overwhelmed.

I do believe that it helped me to have my immune system in good shape from a low-carb, high-fat diet, but who knows? Can’t go back and try it differently, so there’s no way of knowing.

(Bob M) #9

Well, if it was covid, I didn’t get a fever at all, and really not many symptoms other than a cough and some tiredness. Wasn’t cold, no chills, really not much at all. Did get a little more congested while jogging, but I chalked that up to how cold it was. Had to blow my nose more often, and “normal” for me = none, so it wasn’t much. Still went to working out 5 days a week, but had to cut that back to 4 days a week.

Anyway, as with everything, we really need two of us: one that does low carb/keto, and one that doesn’t. Without that, it’s a guess…

(OK, not totally a guess. I’m way healthier while on low carb/keto than I was on SAD: lower weight, feel better, no or few allergies, better skin, better mentally, too many other benefits to list.)

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #10

Bob, you’re a beast, so my guess (absolute guess) would be that it was COVID and you were in such great shape you had a very mild case. (How’s that for showing my biases, lol?)

(Bob M) #11

I like the compliment, but the three covid shots I got might have helped too. :wink:

After thinking about this, I got my booster shot way too long ago to get that high of antibodies on an antibody test. It’s almost certainly covid.

Which means that stuff is tricky. It would be so much better if it knocked people down, as I’ve heard the flu will do. At least then, you don’t have people (including me) walking around able to transmit it. I really think I took a rapid test, but maybe I should’ve taken them daily for a while? As I was going to work, etc., while sick. How long was I communicable? (That’s what the rapid tests are supposedly good at - telling you you’re communicable.) Ugh. I feel bad now, knowing that I was probably communicable at some point, and still going to work, going out, etc. I’m still masking, but only sometimes now. Most people in my office no longer use masks, so I only use mine sometimes. Which means I could have spread covid to others. (In my line of work, I can go a day or more without talking to anyone, and I have my own office, so it’s not as bad as it could have been.)

(Robin) #12

I had covid/omicron (tested positive Jan 17). 2-3 days of flu symptoms, mostly fever and achy joints. No cough or lung issues. Left me with no taste or smell. Both are back to about 80% now.
However, am currently experiencing the memory and brain fog issues. No bueno. But optimistic it will also improve.
I’ve started keeping a little journal of info that I might need to remember the next day. Or hour. :grimacing:

Also… fully vaccinated and 2 boosters.

(Bob M) #13

Interesting how it affects people differently. I never lost taste or smell.

I’m optimistic for you, too, and wish you well.

I guess the good news is that vax + covid supposedly means really high immunity.

Sorry to derail the original poster’s thread, but for that thread, if you can get off any drug, get off it. If you can’t, then see if there’s research comparing drugs (and there may not be).

(Dwight Walters) #14

When I weighed 40+ pounds more than now my heart rate was a bit high during a regular visit. So doctor gave me this Rx. Simply for BPM. Having lost now 45 pounds I’m hoping to drop Atenolol.

In addition I am taking a blood pressure Rx.

#15

HUGE amount of people I know only know they had it from the blood donation screening. Most never notice it. I only had a sore throat and a little run down energy, nothing I’d think twice about but my kid said everybody at school was getting strep, so I got checked and of course it was COVID, My wife had it worse, her’s was flu-ish and my kid never showed any signs of anything and never lost his smell/taste. Me and the wife went like 2mo before we even remotely started getting them back.

I had my COVID oh crap kit ready and started dosing myself on day 1 as did the wife, by day 3 we couldn’t really tell we were sick anymore. How much that did? Who knows!

#16

Seems to be mixed results with beta blockers and weight loss, but I’d make sure you have a finger on everything else, so you don’t wrongly blame that when it could just be what you’re eating. Assuming you’re on a beta blocker since nothing else works for you? If not, you could always go with an ARB, Cialis, or a combo of others.

(Bob M) #17

That’s what’s troubling to me about covid: you can have few symptoms or nearly none or maybe even none, yet be communicable. I followed a guy on Twitter who has been advocating rapid, at home tests since the beginning. He got covid and took tests and was positive for quite a while, 10 days from what I remember.

The types of tests he used were good at telling you whether you were communicable, not whether you have covid (PCR tests are great at that, but not for letting you know you’re communicable).

I made the mistake of not taking enough of the rapid tests. Only one was not good enough.

My wife also reminded me that I did stay at home from work at least one day (true, slept part of the day), and that I got a “Berry White” voice with a cough. Also true, but other than the day I stayed home, I never felt bad. And a “Barry White” voice has happened to me in the past with a cold.

While some people don’t get much with covid, for others, it’s disastrous. While kids usually get over it well, about 1,000 kids in the US have died from it. And kids have gotten MIS-C, but that tends to be genetic. I saw tons of parents (on Twitter) say their formerly athletic kid could barely walk up the stairs, for a month or more. Dr. David Unwin’s son had POTS for 6+ months.

So, if I had the choice of getting it or not, I’d choose not.

My goal was to not endanger my family (or colleagues), but I miscalculated and didn’t realize what I had to do.

(Bob M) #18

You should be able to get off of both of those. Some people, however, still have high blood pressure even while keto, but most drop blood pressure.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #19

This is true of rhinoviruses (cold viruses), as well. In fact, I’ve read that we are most contagious the three or four days before we come down with symptoms, which is why colds spread so easily. And of course, “Typhoid” Mary Mallon never came down with symptoms of the disease herself, though a number of people in her employers’ families died of it.

(Bob M) #20

I listen to this week in virology, and someone they had talked quite a bit about Typhoid Mary. Quite a case.

I’m not familiar enough with cold viruses other than to say that sounds reasonable.

Listening to this week in virology has taught me that I don’t know much about virology. This week’s episode was brutal. It was like the two people were discussing studies between themselves, and both of them have PhDs and have spent their entire working careers in the area. They didn’t take the time to “dumb it down” for people like me.

Most times, they are better, but this one in particular was tough.