I’m going to say straight off that I know doctors are a thing and that I should see one. I’m not going to, at least not right now. I’m just not. I have my reasons.
About 7 months ago, my blood pressure was in a pretty good range – 120/80ish or sometimes just a bit higher. Occasionally, systolic BP would even be below 120.
My drinking got worse after those days, topping out at 35-40 drinks per week. It probably doesn’t matter but this involved hitting it hard (10-11 drinks in one day), then not drinking at all for one or two days, lather, rinse, repeat.
Finally measured my BP a couple weeks ago, and it was ~155/90. So I stopped cold turkey. Yeah, I know that can be danerous. Fortunately I had no withdrawal symptoms at all.
I’m on day 15 and my BP is coming in at ~135/80. Anyone have a clue if it stands a chance of ever being normal again, and if so, how long that might take?
Drinking alcohol alcoholicly has a really bad effect on your blood pressure, a reason that alcoholics are prone to heart attacks and strokes.
The good news is that getting sober ie not drinking should given a bit of time bring your BP down, but @Ray_M_C_Laren mentioned exercise and diet play a big part as well, as alcoholics we never tended to eat sensibly or do enough/any exercise. Oh and don’t forget to keep up on your fluid intake. Take care. &
I’m on day 1 and my bp is 161/96. I’m now on beta blockers so I’m hoping this will come down soon. I never made the connection between my bp and alcohol until now as I always thought it was because of thyroid problems that I have. Thankfully I’m discovering a lot today!
It could but blood pressure is not something to mess with. But I can say that your numbers aren’t horrible. But if you are concerned you should keep track for few days and go see a doctor.
I could be lengthy on a response but I’ll simply say that if after 8-12 wks of no alcohol intake and applying a healthy heart diet, minimizing salt intake, activity, good fluid intake (100-120 oz/day) and good sleep/wake cycles hopefully it’ll return to a normal range. If you’re stll elevated (135/85 or higher after resting 5 min) I would discuss with your PCP. Age, family history of HTN, other meds/supplements we are taking, kidney status and several other factors drive a lot of why we develop HTN.
Glad you’re here and treating yourself well! Sober = sanity and happiness
My body MOT tomorrow nurse checks my BP , Cholesterol , takes blood, urine, checks my meds , 73 now so its good they check see if this old guys still fighting fit lol
At 40 years old, I quit drinking and smoking in late September 2018, about a month later, I started tracking my BP. Here’s 3 months of tracking. I also started working out and eating better.
Since then, I let myself go. My diet was poor, my activity was nil, needless to say I packed on the pounds. Over the last year I worked hard changing all of that, and it shows. Here’s my readings in the past 12 months.
If this even shows up, my HR was so high peak drinking, and lowered as I tapered off. And now has been steadily low since being sober over 40 days. I could feel my heart beating so fast during peak addiction even to the point of feeling pulsing in my ears, continued the first week or so of quitting, but now its great. My advice is get a watch or something to track at least your HR to put it in perspective for you!
I am on meds for blood pressure despite being fit, healthy, very active and the right weight.
But it sounds like yours has suddenly changed and isn’t in your genes. However, like me you may be sensitive to certain things.
Coffee, caffeine in general is something I can only have little of and infrequently. Watch your salt too - not just adding it yourself, but the hidden ingredients in packaged and takeaway food. Stuff like pizza and Chinese food amongst others can be brutally salty.
But the key with food and caffeine etc is to do an elimination test. Give up only one potential trigger at a time and do a BP test after a couple of days. By process of elimination you’ll hopefully find the culprit.
Last year I had to go to hospital it was so high even on meds. Something like 180/100 But skipping caffeine in particular has really helped. We are all different. Hopefully you can work it out.
See your Dr if it’s worrying you. Worry will make it worse.
Thanks for the replies! Yeah cardiovascular disease runs in my family (on both sides, no less) so I don’t want to push my luck.
The good thing is that my systolic BP (the top number) has come down from ~155 to ~127 already, in just over two weeks. I guess I stressed over nothing.
I’ve been exercising and taking a ton of supplements, and lost 10 pounds already (tells you how damned fat I am). Never again with this shit.
First day of class, our path instructor asked, “who here wants to die of cancer?” Nobody raised their hand. He next asked, “what about heart attacks or strokes”. A few of us raised. He then said, oh the rest of you obviously wanna die of dementia, cause that’s the three main ones that get nearly all of us. And, it’s about even at 1/3, 1/3, 1/3.
We have DNA & environment to blame for most health conditions that develop. All we have control of is ourselves and the environment we allow ourselves to be in.
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