chrissycoff

I am a little confused reading all the posts that say that quitting the alcohol can cause high BPs. My husband had been to his doc, and his BP was like 180/105, and he had elevated AST/ALT. He subsequently went ~35 days cold turkey (after previously drinking daily, anywhere from 4 beers to 10-12 beers, probably for at least 1 1/2 years). When he went back to the doctor, his BP was normal, around 120/70. he also did not experience withdrawal symptoms. Yes, it was a little harder to sleep at first, but that got easier. he also was going to the gym literally every night.
So my question is, does that mean he was not physically addicted to the alcohol? Can some people have been drinkers for years, then quit and not have withdrawal symptoms?

adore79

I think it is different for everyone where withdrawl is concerned. Ive read many times that while drinking people's bp was high, and during withdrawl it is high, but then goes down hopefully to healthy levels after a little time of not drinking. But Im not a doctor, that is just what Ive read on here.

Fubarcdn

Drinking definitely raises your BP and exercising and abstaining lowers it.
I had no withdrawl systems either. I think it varies from person to person.
I was drinking fairly steady for several years.
Glad to see he is getting back in shape. Exercise is key for me.

Dime

I had drank excessively for years and stopped many times cold turkey without overt apparent symptoms. However I was most definitely an alcoholic and there were adaptations fairly involved going on with my body.

I was the master of stopping on my own. When I was already an alcoholic I stopped for periods of a couple days upwards to a period of six months. Heck I even stopped for two weeks on my own three months before I was hospitalized for a life threatening detox three months later. I always thought that because I could stop on my own that I didn't have a problem. I rarely had a hang over and only had the shakes right toward the end.

The last time I quit drinking my blood pressure went through the roof and had to be managed medically for quite a while. Blood pressure changes and things like not being able to sleep after quitting are all signs of physical adaptations to alcohol. I am not a Doctor but now that I am honest with myself I can see these are clearly signs of physical addiction.

Jomey

My experience is that blood pressure can sky rocket during the withdrawal process - when my brother was detoxing from about 24-36 beers a day, the rehab he was in sent him by ambulance to a hospital because his blood pressure went so high they feared a stroke. After the initial withdrawal period, his blood pressure returned to his regular numbers.

So, to answer your question, not being a doctor and only from my own experience, withdrawal is different for everyone, BP can spike dangerously, even fatally, during withdrawal and you can be a full-blown alcoholic and have very little in the way of withdrawal symptoms.