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Somewhat long post here, but please bear with me...

I’ve mentioned before I’m a returning player, and I have a rather large horn (‘94 PT-6). Anyway, I’m having trouble playing for long(er) periods of time, sometimes not even that long. I’ll get winded/dizzy, plus my hands & face will get tingly. If I continue playing, my embouchure will tighten up and the tingles will expand into my chest. All I have to do is stop playing, stand up and drink some water and the feeling will fade away in about the same time frame as it came on. Originally, I chalked that up to just being out of playing shape or coming down with a cold, or the fact I currently live in Denver and the air is thinner. BUT, the problem persists, despite being back to playing for a few months. What REALLY worries me is the fact that this exact same feeling came over me out of the blue as I was just driving home from work one day, and it was even worse than it had ever been while playing.

I have high blood pressure, but nothing too serious. I’m on medication and I’m pretty good about taking the meds. My doctor seems to think that these “episodes” may be due to the blood pressure. She may want to up my medication to see if that helps, but has not done so yet.

I know that nobody can dispense medical advise, but I was wondering if anyone else out there has high blood pressure and had felt these same symptoms? If so, what did you do?

Would getting a smaller horn be a good idea? Has anyone out there downsized and regretted it later?

Also, I’ll be moving back to sea-level in less than a month (Southern California) and wonder if the sea-level air will help. Has anyone noticed a difference if moving from higher altitude to lower (or noticed a difference going from low to high)?

I suppose I should just wait and see if the meds and/or move help my situation, but I figured I might as well get some opinions before-hand.

-Jason “who would love to see a long-winded response from Rick” Park

I don't think you said so, but do you check your blood pressure when you have these episodes so you could verify that's the problem?

I've had high blood pressure (under control with meds) for 40 years and lived in Denver longer than that. I have never had the problems you describe.

Unfortunately, I have VERY little time to practice. Luckily, I'm just a community band player, and I get enough time in to play the parts.

I've been in Denver almost 3 years now.

I have seen a doctor. The "out of the blue" episode happened on Mon. of last week, and I went in to the doctors on Wed. I'm keeping track of my BP with a home-use monitor, and it is still running high, even on the current meds, so I'm thinking I'll need an adjustment in dosage regardless.

G.H., care to share your experience (either here or PM) ?

My word, DP! How much does that dog weigh? He looks as round as one of my cats! He is huge!

HBP is no joke. Get off the salt.Dont eat anthing with hydrogenated anythin. No trans fats
Im not a doctor. and dont panic with what I m suggesting. Shortness of breath could be many things
I suggest this to everyone over 40 with any family history, Diabeties, waist over 40"


Get checked by a cardiologest at a heart hospital. DEMAND a 64 slice CT scan. If necessary pay for it yourself. Dont settle for a only a stress test. they a simply not good enough tests

dont panic about the symptom s but dont ignore them

be proactive about your heart health.

Ray N
new date of birth 2/5/09

JP, where did you move from? I've been to Denver and up in the mountains there a few times, and I'm young and in reasonably good shape. But the contrast of any altitude over my lifelong "couple of feet above sea level" altitude was tough to handle (albeit only a few days at a time). One benefit though...the beer seemed much stronger.

I had moved from Orange County Ca. to Denver in Aug of '06. If the sell of our house goes through, we'll be back there in less than a month.

I'm 6'4" and weigh about 260, 36 years old. Although I have been as heavy as 315 and as lean as 198 within the past 4 years. I struggle greatly with my weight, and I seem to be able to both gain and lose weight easily. (gain if I don't give a s***, or lose if I make a real effort) I'm currently in "don't give a s*** mode." What I cannot seem to do is be able to find a nice "acceptable" weight and stay there. So the roller coaster weight gain/loss ride probably is working against me as well.

I report my BP back to my doc tomorrow, and based on the readings I've gotten in the past week, it's way higher than it should be. Like 140/105...

What's happening to you is the exact same thing that was happening to me, I had high blood pressure and was getting the same symptoms. I'm 6 ft and weigh 175 pounds, but back when i was having those symptoms i was around 220-225, but once i started loosing the extra pounds, those symptoms started going away and now I don't have them at all, I can play all day and nothing happens anymore.Maybe it's time to get out of that "I don't give a S*** mode" and start loosing some of the extra pounds, it really helped me, and I wasn't gonna let some high blood pressure end my tubaing days, but hey it's just my opinion you know. Good luck man.

everything everybody says about hypertension is quite right, check it out with your doctor, don't panic but don't ignore it is good advice.
What I thought was that your symptoms sound a bit like hyper-ventilation, the tingling in your face etc that goes away a few minutes after you stop playing and breathe calmly and normally,
this might make sense to you, since you say you are a returning player with a big tuba, and so you might be making a huge respiratory effort to play it. relaxation and thinking about your breathing might be a solution.