Heidi - one of the reasons I stopped drinking was that my BP was getting out of control even while on medication. Another was that the medication I was taking was causing a photosensitivity issue that exacerbates skin cancers (basal and squamous cell type cancers, particularly on my face).
But the clincher for me were my high cholesterol readings, which I was looking at going on to a statin to bring down. Do some research on vascular (blood vessels) and the correlation to alcohol abuse. It's one of the culprits on contributing to clogging our arteries. I reached my point of "done" when my legs started feeling restless and like I had on tight socks. I have only been a heavy drinker in the past seven years but enough to scare the B-jez's out of me.
Alcohol = no bueno