I had heart palpitations daily for the last two years of my drinking. I remember googling if it was possible for a 29 year old to have a heart attack. When I begrudgingly went to the doctor she took my blood pressure. I knew it would be high but boy was I in for a surprise.
It was 187/something. I forget the bottom number but I'll never forget two things she said. She was visibly flustered/shocked. She said:
Your blood pressure should NOT BE THIS HIGH for someone your age!
This is "stroke level." You can "stroke out" and die.
She wanted to give me a shot of some kind of benzo to calm my body down but they were out that day at her office. There was a hospital across the street and she considered going across herself and picking up the shot bringing it back and giving it to me.
As I sat there I told her that I actually felt like this almost every day and I knew that I would calm down. The way my body felt in the doctors office was how I often felt every day because I drank 12-14 units every night and was going through daily withdrawals.
I did not get a shot that day. I went home and laid down and calmed myself and I think it went down. She sent me home with a sheet to keep track of my blood pressure daily at the grocery store. I also stopped drinking that day. It was never as high as 187 but it would have her around 175 and go down to about 155 depending on how stressed out I felt.
I am happy to save my blood pressure has gone way down to like 130 now. Still high, but WAY down from my drinking days.