Sheebah

I slipped in October and started drinking again. Three months ago. After being clean for a year.

I quickly got back to my habit of drinking a whole bottle of wine every night.

I need to pass a Physical. My blood pressure is 160/90. I obviously won't pass the Physical until my blood pressure comes down.

I stopped drinking a few days ago. My blood pressure is still high. How long will it take to go back to normal?

Dee74

I'm not a Dr but I'd imagine there'd be a lot of individual variables to consider in that question.

D

Nevertheless

I had high blood pressure,and was taking medicine when I quit drinking.
I watched and read on this forum,people claiming it going down in the first 30-90 days. I was kind of disappointed when mine did not. I stayed the course,went to the gym 1 or 2 times a week. Low an behold it did come down and I no longer take medicine. But it took over a year. Mine still isn't perfect,but it's good enough I no longer need medicine.
We all know people that seldom drink and have high blood pressure. There really is no predicting it. One thing for sure. Drinking DOES make it worse.
Fred

Sheebah

Oh boy, that's a long time! I wonder if something else might be wrong. I bought one of those home blood pressure monitors. It's down to 145 now, but that still seems high to me.

Thepatman

If you are like me I get panicky when taking my pressure. That does not help.

My doctor told me to give it a month and see from there. But everyone is different. You probably know already, stay away from salt if you can. Some food like tomato juice is really high in sodium.

My doctor also told me it's better to take when you wake up, coffee is a no no before.

Mountainmanbob

only time will tell
a lot depends on ones age
many have higher blood pressure as they grow older

MB

Sheebah

I got worried and went to see my doctor. He gave me Amlodipime, and said it works fast to bring blood pressure down. He doesn't know how much I was drinking, and that I quit.

JackieC

I was put on bp medication this past summer. I researched "alcohol and high blood pressure" so of course I knew it was a factor but I wasn't honest with my doctor. I just told her "Well, my parents both have high bp and so did their parents so I guess it's just genetic." Meanwhile, all those people are or were alcoholics! Of course we all have high bp. Sigh.
At any rate, I look forward to lowering mine and being able to get off the medication now that I've stopped drinking. Hoping the same goes for you!
Jackie

Mountainmanbob

You can't usually feel or notice high blood pressure

Around a third of people in England have high blood pressure and many don't know it. This is because high blood pressure very rarely causes any obvious symptoms.

There isn’t always a clear explanation as to why someone’s blood pressure is high. However, there are several things that can play a part:
•regularly drinking too much alcohol
•not doing enough exercise
•being overweight
•not eating a healthy diet that includes enough fruit or vegetables
•a family history of high blood pressure
•consuming too much salt.

The only way of knowing if there’s a problem is to have your blood pressure measured. You can have this done at your GP surgery, some local pharmacies, or you can buy a blood pressure monitor from the chemist.

TeddyRose

I'm 35. I got my blood pressure checked many times over the past year and it was always way too high. 160 over 104. Finally I got fed up and changed everything I was putting in my body. Within 2 weeks my blood pressure was 118 over 78.

I STOPPED DRINKING.

1.) Went vegan eating only a plant based diet with legumes, nutts and seeds. No oils or bad fats.
2.) Started running a fartlek (walk a block run 2 blocks) for 2 miles for heart rate and then added High intensity workouts after week one. (6 days a week)
3.) Intermittent fasting was also applied with a 8 hour feed window and 16 hour fasting period. (6 days a week)

When I checked my blood pressure after 2 weeks I almost fell off the chair. I went to a couple more places to have it checked and it was saying the same. I then checked it all the time after that and it went a little bit lower.

I also felt amazing after that.

This is just my own experience though.

Best of luck everyone!!

Dee74

welcome Teddy

D

Dropsie

Teddy,

That is commitment -- great result.

Good for you.

SnazzyDresser

For me to get reasonable control of my high blood pressure (without medication) took around 4 to 6 months, and that was battling on all fronts, not just quitting alcohol. Eating better, losing weight, exercising every day, watching the sodium. I still have to watch the sodium even now. But there are huge ongoing multiplier benefits to all those things from improved health, things that go way beyond quitting alcohol.

Rar

I never had high blood pressure, but it became quite a bit higher during my first couple of weeks of sobriety (probably anxiety induced).

Zebra1275

How long does it take for blood pressure to return to normal

Sometimes it doesn't. But prescription medication can make it normal.