alcohol binges and lasting high blood pressure - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

wildpikey · 01-03-2007, 08:21 AM

Hi all. Any advise on this one.

Im an ex soldier and i have always been very fit. Never ever really feeling the need to watch out for my health.
Also what goes along with the territory is binge drinking, when the lads get together.

Ive been out of the military 10 years now, and at the ripe old age of 35, ive started now to become a little more interested in my health. Im still very fit, but i also still do binge drink.

Ive noticed that after ive had a night of drinking, that my blood pressure is elevated to approx 160 / 85 the next day, (obviously the higher number being the worrying one), this stays high for approx 48 hours until it startes to come down again. And also a little worrying is my resting normal is not far below 140 most of the time.

Does any one have some advise on alcohol raises, and if it could be a lasting thing???

What is anyone elses blood pressure trends after drinking too much? id like to hear about something to compare myself with to see if it is normal or not, as i cant really find any proper info on the internet.

Hope to hear some advise soon.

GEORGEP · 01-03-2007, 11:26 AM

If you binge drink that is one of the worst things you can do for your body. Drinking alcohol in moderation ( no more that two drinks a day for a man, and one for a woman ) does not raise your blood pressure. But anymore than that on a regular basis can be a risk factor for developing hypertension. I have hypertension and I asked my doctor about drinking. I drink Red wine. He said not to drink every day and when I do drink wine to limit it to no more than two five ounce glasses. He did mention that binge drinking is bad for your health.. He said that too much alcohol has a rebound effect and a pressor effect on your blood vessels which cause them to constrict and raise your blood pressure.

Hogweed · 01-26-2007, 06:40 AM

Alcohol will ABSOLUTELY raise your blood pressure, in exactly the way you've described. As you get older, it will almost certainly get worse, too – I speak from experience. I’m trying very hard to learn how to live without drinking, myself, for this and lots of reasons.

My pressure rises by a good 20 points, sometimes more, after I have a few ciders (about a gallon or so).

When you’re asleep after hitting the sauce, it can rise so high that some people are at risk of stroke.

When (fortunately most of the time now) I can abstain, I can HALVE my blood pressure medication dose.