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Hello wpme,
I realize it's a ridiculously late reply, but I've been experiencing a very similar problem with alcohol and BP. I wonder if you were able to find out more about your condition.
The very latest research shows that any amount of alcohol consumption of any kind is bad for your health. So, maybe you should considered giving up drinking.
I say this as someone who has had to give up drinking for health reasons, so maybe I just want more company in the misery.
Alcohol makes your bp go up while it's in your system (and increases risk of cardiac dysrhythmias too), but so does exercise while you're doing it. Does that mean you shouldn't exercise?
People who have 1-2 drinks/d live longer than people who drink more, but they also live longer than people who don't drink at all.
I've searched the web trying to get more info, but I'm just not finding much that relates to this problem. I'm a Friday/Saturday night drinker and I've noticed that it makes my blood pressure soar for a day or 2 afterwards. Today is Sunday and BP is at 140/89, but its been even higher other Sundays, by wednesday it will be back to a more normal number.
Situation became apparent about 6 months ago when I saw doc on a Monday morning and BP was something crazy like 190/150 so he put me on BP meds, did an ekg and blood screen, no problems showed from those tests. After having several fainting episodes I got a BP monitor and found BP was getting way too low mid week, like 70/50, so I had to modify dosages.
I've noticed over the last few years that drinking alcohol is like a shot of adrenaline for me, and seeing what it does to my BP that might not be a wrong assumption. I used to sleep great after a few drinks, now I barely sleep at all after a few drinks. Anyone have any insights to what would cause this?
Alcohol prevents your kidneys from recirculating water in your blood stream. (This is why you pee a lot when drinking). Dehydration is also the cause of hangovers. Despiite the fact that alcohol is a blood thinner(natures way of compensating for less liquid in the system) unless you drink a lot of water you will experience negative results.
It is fairly obvious that the blood pressure meds are totally unnecessary except if you are drinking. Instead of putting drugs into your system I would try drinking a lot of water before, during and after consuming alcohol and seeing how that works for you.
Hello wpme,
I realize it's a ridiculously late reply, but I've been experiencing a very similar problem with alcohol and BP. I wonder if you were able to find out more about your condition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McGowdog
If it was me, here's what I would do. Cut the booze out totally, go to a nutritionist and eat as healthy as I can for a while, mix in some simple exercise for a while like evening walks, and see if I can be free of meds.
I'd do all of that and see if I can get my bp to my optimum and do what I can to become as healthy as I can become across the board... glycemic load, cholesterol, bp, pulse, etc.
But hey, that's just my opinion. Good luck with that.
Oh, one good thing about the passage of time, we learn new good stuff to add.
I would add this, cut the sodium down. The most practical way to do this is to prepare your own food and stay far away from processed packaged garbage trying to pass itself off as food.
While alcohol is dehydrating withdrawal syndrome is actually caused by a combination of factors and not just a lack of water. Alcohol is a Central Nervous System depressant which means that it slows your brain down. The body reacts by "turning up the volume" to keep everything running normally. Then when you quite drinking everything is running on high and you get the effect of overstimulation.
This can be "cured" by taking another drink - "hair of the dog." It's a serious warning sign for drinkers that they are moving past the point of social drinking and into alcohol abuse (regardless of the amount of alcohol they drink.) It isn't the amount; it's the effect it has on your body.
About alcoholism some people ask, "When does a cucumber turn into a pickle?" This is a good warning sign.
Many drinkers have their heart attacks on Monday or after a vacation. So much so that the condition has a name - "Holiday Heart." Please take your condition very seriously. Your body is warning you.
PS I know this is an old thread but we still have misunderstandings about alcohol use in this country and what I've added is useful information for any drinker experiencing high blood pressure.
The very latest research shows that any amount of alcohol consumption of any kind is bad for your health. So, maybe you should considered giving up drinking.
I say this as someone who has had to give up drinking for health reasons, so maybe I just want more company in the misery.
I can keep you company in that boat. I've had to give up alcohol as it seems to aggrevate my SVT even with one glass of wine, sometimes. Alcohol also interacts with the other meds I take and the cumulative effect is not pleasant. Its just not worth it. I still miss that glass of wine with a good meal, or a beer with a slice or two of pizza, though my new healthy lifestyle doesn't allow for much pizza ( at least not the way I'd like it) or beer.
They used to tell people diagnosed with mild pancreatitis to abstain completely from alcohol, permanently IIRC. My daughter had a sudden bout of acute pancreatitis earlier this year, ( we have no clue how or why she got it) and interestingly enough her hospital discharge instructions included limiting alcoholic drinks to one a day, not abstaining completely. I commented on that to the discharge nurse, he laughed and said those drinking instructions just reflected the reality that many people who got their pancreatitis from binge drinking or otherwise heavy drinking were not likely just to go cold turkey, so the current conventional wisdom () was that one drink was better than all that drinking that got these people there. He also admitted that not drinking at all would be better, but many people who really should go cold turkey aren't likely to do so.
I've also seen websites/ articles on pancreatitis, and noted the more current ones mentioned limiting the drinking after pancreatitis to one drink a day.
While alcohol is dehydrating withdrawal syndrome is actually caused by a combination of factors and not just a lack of water. Alcohol is a Central Nervous System depressant which means that it slows your brain down. The body reacts by "turning up the volume" to keep everything running normally. Then when you quite drinking everything is running on high and you get the effect of overstimulation.
This can be "cured" by taking another drink - "hair of the dog." It's a serious warning sign for drinkers that they are moving past the point of social drinking and into alcohol abuse (regardless of the amount of alcohol they drink.) It isn't the amount; it's the effect it has on your body.
About alcoholism some people ask, "When does a cucumber turn into a pickle?" This is a good warning sign.
Many drinkers have their heart attacks on Monday or after a vacation. So much so that the condition has a name - "Holiday Heart." Please take your condition very seriously. Your body is warning you.
PS I know this is an old thread but we still have misunderstandings about alcohol use in this country and what I've added is useful information for any drinker experiencing high blood pressure.
I hope our OP is okay.
Alcohol affects other areas of health too. My ex woke up to chest palpitations and pain after he had a night of drinking liquor. His MD discovered he had mitral valve prolapse and said alcohol, particularly liquor, is dangerous to people with this ailment.
They used to tell people diagnosed with mild pancreatitis to abstain completely from alcohol, permanently IIRC. My daughter had a sudden bout of acute pancreatitis earlier this year, ( we have no clue how or why she got it) and interestingly enough her hospital discharge instructions included limiting alcoholic drinks to one a day, not abstaining completely. I commented on that to the discharge nurse, he laughed and said those drinking instructions just reflected the reality that many people who got their pancreatitis from binge drinking or otherwise heavy drinking were not likely just to go cold turkey, so the current conventional wisdom () was that one drink was better than all that drinking that got these people there. He also admitted that not drinking at all would be better, but many people who really should go cold turkey aren't likely to do so.
I've also seen websites/ articles on pancreatitis, and noted the more current ones mentioned limiting the drinking after pancreatitis to one drink a day.
Wow, this is one of my pet peeves — doctors just assuming that their patients won’t be as “good” as they need to be, so they just don’t even bother setting a high standard for self-care. When my pancreatitis was still quite bad last year, my GI said that I should limit fats to under 20% of total calories and particularly limit unhealthy fats. I told him I had been experimenting with my diet and I had to go under 5% fat (of any kind) to get my symptoms to at least kind of subside. He just kept repeating under 20%. I finally asked him if it was unhealthy to eat so little fat and maybe I should eat more even it was making me feel really quite sick. He said: “No, it’s just that most patients won’t eat that little.” Well, glad we finally truly communicated.
By the way, I think having so little fat in one’s diet would actually be quite unhealthy for most everyone who did not have pancreatitis. It was just the healthiest option for me at that point.
I could go on, but I am veering more and more off-topic here.
Wow, this is one of my pet peeves — doctors just assuming that their patients won’t be as “good” as they need to be, so they just don’t even bother setting a high standard for self-care. When my pancreatitis was still quite bad last year, my GI said that I should limit fats to under 20% of total calories and particularly limit unhealthy fats. I told him I had been experimenting with my diet and I had to go under 5% fat (of any kind) to get my symptoms to at least kind of subside. He just kept repeating under 20%. I finally asked him if it was unhealthy to eat so little fat and maybe I should eat more even it was making me feel really quite sick. He said: “No, it’s just that most patients won’t eat that little.” Well, glad we finally truly communicated.
By the way, I think having so little fat in one’s diet would actually be quite unhealthy for most everyone who did not have pancreatitis. It was just the healthiest option for me at that point.
I could go on, but I am veering more and more off-topic here.
Well, I'd guess that the docs and other healthcare professionals are seeing and dealing with the noncompliance on the part of too many patients as to instructions like not drinking, low fat, other life style changes, hence the modified instructions given to everyone.
If I were miserably suffering from an illness or condition, I'd do whatever it took to make me feel better, so I'd stop drinking cold turkey, or resort to a very low fat diet if that's what it took, but that's me. And with something as painful as pancreatitis, where the associated nausea does a number on one's appetite ( I've known a couple people who had it, or who had hepatitis B and felt that miserable), one's encouraged to eat whatever he/she can tolerate (it won't be anything fatty for sure), when they're back to eating-they're often NPO for at least a few days after diagnosis. But I know there are people who just won't do this, to their own detriment, and wonder (or blamr the docs) why they aren't getting better.
As I understand it, a diet that's too low in fat isn't great on a long term basis, as the fats are needed to build cell membranes, hormones, and also help the body assimilate the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E K. I've seen a couple people who severely limited their fat intake as part of a weight loss diet, and started losing their hair, their skin became very dry and flakey, I guess as they missed some of the fat-associated vitamins and other nutrients.
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) or beer. 
) was that one drink was better than all that drinking that got these people there. He also admitted that not drinking at all would be better, but many people who really should go cold turkey aren't likely to do so.
), when they're back to eating-they're often NPO for at least a few days after diagnosis. But I know there are people who just won't do this, to their own detriment, and wonder (or blamr the docs) why they aren't getting better. 
