Gave Up Smoking Now Blood Pressure Hits High!

[moldy]

I reckon this doesn't need to go on the smoking board, as it illustrates the trade off between bad habits and health.

I thought giving up smoking was supposed to make me healthier. True my sinuses are clearing up and for the first time for years I am controlling nasal problems largely caused by a deviated septum and narrow passages.

Yet a few months ago my blood pressure was 115/62, today it reached a peak at 153/78. That's a hefty hike. Sure I'm under a great deal of stress and today was a hel_l of a day following a nasty day before that and a poor night's sleep, but I can't tell you what a misery life is like without a cig.

Maybe my old man who has smoked for 60 years has got it right all along. Maybe we choose our poison, and the wise man chooses the one that will kill him less slowly.

So have I just traded in a low level problem for a stroke or heart attack in a few years time?

To be honest my doctor was not unduly worried and told me to get a good nights sleep.

One thing is for sure if anyone tells you hard work never hurt anyone, tell them to try doing some!!!

And I'm not so sure health issues are that clear cut, eg. what's the point of being healthy if you can't grab simple pleasures like smoking?

[luumak]

i dont see how this is possible. correlation not causation perhaps.

i was smoking a few a day - habit picked up again after trip to india. quit - blood pressure is near perfect (with 20mg elalipril).

fyi: my diastolic dropped about 7 points after quitting as little as 3 cigs a day

maybe its:

coffee

not taken at proper time of the day

just come off excercise/walking

heat (overweight?)

stress

not sit down time before bp taken

taken incorrectly

other

Edited May 15, 2008 by luumak

[Sheryl]

Moldy,

After stopping smoking (and congrats for that), did your caffeine or alcohol intake increase? Or intake of junk foods? IHave you gained weight? ts not unusual when people stop smoking for them to fill the gap with one of these and tht could explain the jump in BP.

Or it may just be stress.

If you have out on weight or uooed caffeine or sodium intake, try to address that.

Remember tho if worse comes to worse, there are medications you can take that will control your BP and keep it in a normal range.

Whereas there aren't any medications that will prevent you from the disabling and lethal effects of smoking.

We can only do wghat we can do, quitting smoking is hard and for many people trying to do that AND control weight, diet and caffeine intake all at the same time is more than they can handle. If it's a choice between going back to the coffin nails or taking BP meds, take the latter. Later as you have gotten used to not smoking (and that does take time) you may feel up to instituting other deprivations/life style changes that might control your BP without drugs....if you want to.

[luumak]

as for life without a smoke - you could tell that to my aunt but shes dead of emphysema. my other aunt would agree though ...despite her teeth falling out for a second time. she just took xrays to j.hopkins for second opinion that her lungs are ok. my sister a nicotine fiend - has lines all around her mouth and her skin looks like shitte.

up to you pal -

there is enjoyment of tobacco and then there is life with a fag is not worth living - and so it wont...

DUDE: you have made the biggest leap. stay out of the bars and anything that 'triggers' the need for a smoke. i guarantee that in a few weeks more you will starting to feel really good. think each day - i feel way better than if i had a smoke (and you will and you will notice that in time).

Edited May 15, 2008 by luumak

[moldy]

as for life without a smoke - you could tell that to my aunt but shes dead of emphysema. my other aunt would agree though ...despite her teeth falling out for a second time. she just took xrays to j.hopkins for second opinion that her lungs are ok. my sister a nicotine fiend - has lines all around her mouth and her skin looks like shitte.

up to you pal -

there is enjoyment of tobacco and then there is life with a fag is not worth living - and so it wont...

DUDE: you have made the biggest leap. stay out of the bars and anything that 'triggers' the need for a smoke. i guarantee that in a few weeks more you will starting to feel really good. think each day - i feel way better than if i had a smoke (and you will and you will notice that in time).

Thanks to all posters.

I gave up smoking because I felt I was starting to suffer an inordinate amount of nasal/sinus problems, and last year I had 2 bronchial infections that probably were just virus, but scared the daylights out of me. I guess sometimes life is a hard choice, this was cutting my losses and the craving is something I have to adapt to.

Overall I would have classed myself as extremely fit for a 47 year old, as evidenced by heartbeat (53) and what I do in the gym. I had an ECG a few months ago and they were fine.

Yes I have numerous other bad habits. After giving up smoking my coffee intake shot up, I mean 10-15 3in1s a day, and tea on top of that. But I've cut the coffee down to 5 a day, and it was never a factor before anyway.

Instead I am drinking 3-4 small bottles of Leo a day.

My diet has been poor the last few days due to pressure, I've been working 12 -15 hours a day.

I would put my stress/anxiety on that day as 99%, just about the hardest days' work I'd ever done, and for some reason I've had a real deep emotions over the last few days to do with past events- a kind of emotional cyclone, so I've had to suppress a lot of anger- I felt like my blood was boiling. You know thinking about it, this could be an unfortunate side effect of being so fit, I haven't been able to do a workout for a few days and it could be an excess of aggressive energy.

After quitting my weight went up 5 kilos. It was also mostly lean muscle that I needed and I doubled my aerobic work at the gym. I weigh 73 kilos and am 181cm, so I'm bang on where I should be on a light frame.

Talking to my girlfriend, she says the doctor is not concerned, thinks it was nerves and not sleeping well the night before. Also I hadn't eaten and when I'm hungry for a long while I get very jumpy. She says I've been very tense for a few days- she can tell straight away.

So I'm lightening my work load, starting to read for relaxation, and going down the gym today and I'm putting the emphasis on cardiovascular.

Maybe I'm in shock having just discovered in reality just what stress can do. The puzzling thing is that since giving up I'd say my energy and strength has increased about 20% I'd say.

[luumak]

i want to wish you the best of luck on the smoking thing, really.

dont listen to the thai doctors and nurses get your info from the internet. they will always tell you your bp is 'ok'

take your bp in a proper environment correctly a few times. no food and no coffee, feet flat and sit 15min prior. then youll know the score. if something angers you in the morning -skip the test. get a benchmark.

if you have lots of fat on your body (you say youre fit) that can raise bp. being overweight really sucks healthwise. i did not realize it until i gained 10 pounds one time.

i have heard coffee has little effect as salt is questionable as well.

do what you can to minimize your stress and while your bp may be high now and that isnt good - dont freak out. minimize the stress and get a benchmark. from there you might need meds.

personally - 4 beer a day is nothing. i drink about 6 whiskies. alcohol can raise your bp sure.

dont freak - isolate the variables and fix it. high bp is serious, the silent killer.

[moldy]

i want to wish you the best of luck on the smoking thing, really.

dont listen to the thai doctors and nurses get your info from the internet. they will always tell you your bp is 'ok'

take your bp in a proper environment correctly a few times. no food and no coffee, feet flat and sit 15min prior. then youll know the score. if something angers you in the morning -skip the test. get a benchmark.

if you have lots of fat on your body (you say youre fit) that can raise bp. being overweight really sucks healthwise. i did not realize it until i gained 10 pounds one time.

i have heard coffee has little effect as salt is questionable as well.

do what you can to minimize your stress and while your bp may be high now and that isnt good - dont freak out. minimize the stress and get a benchmark. from there you might need meds.

personally - 4 beer a day is nothing. i drink about 6 whiskies. alcohol can raise your bp sure.

dont freak - isolate the variables and fix it. high bp is serious, the silent killer.

Thanks, it's something I'll have to accept. I'm hoping it is just a temporary thing and caused by stress. I really can't relax without cigarettes.

Certainly in the gym I appear to be as fit as a fiddle. Today a fast 35 min jog in 34 degree heat. So maybe the reading will turn out to be a blip, as I'm normally around 120/60.

I won't do anything yet. I guess the ideal would be to return to smoking with discipline, but it's so addictive I doubt that I could stick to a target of 5 a day.

But for sure, giving up appears to have been counter productive.

If it goes past a couple of months more I'll start again. As I said maybe we have to choose our poison, and it looks like they'll be the death of me one way or another.

[Sheryl]

High blood pressue certainly doesn't have to be the death of you. Can be well controlled with medication.

Nicotine is a powerful addiction and I don't think there is much scope for "disciplined" smoking.

As for the stress, some of it may be the effects of withdrawal, and that will ease up with time. Thoie other parts are tensions you generate in how you deal with life and yourslf, which in the past were temporarily relieved through smoking. Minus that crutch, they are on the surface. It is possible to learn to gneerate less tension and stress and several ways to approach doing that: short-term therapy and meditation being two of the best.

[moldy]

High blood pressue certainly doesn't have to be the death of you. Can be well controlled with medication.

Nicotine is a powerful addiction and I don't think there is much scope for "disciplined" smoking.

As for the stress, some of it may be the effects of withdrawal, and that will ease up with time. Thoie other parts are tensions you generate in how you deal with life and yourslf, which in the past were temporarily relieved through smoking. Minus that crutch, they are on the surface. It is possible to learn to gneerate less tension and stress and several ways to approach doing that: short-term therapy and meditation being two of the best.

This posting rings very true and I'll be reading it again and again, as it hits at the heart of the matter. I guess smoking was keeping a lid on things. I think this is just a blow to my ego, and a reminder that nobody can survive without adequate sleep, relaxation and good food.

[moldy]

High blood pressue certainly doesn't have to be the death of you. Can be well controlled with medication.

Nicotine is a powerful addiction and I don't think there is much scope for "disciplined" smoking.

As for the stress, some of it may be the effects of withdrawal, and that will ease up with time. Thoie other parts are tensions you generate in how you deal with life and yourslf, which in the past were temporarily relieved through smoking. Minus that crutch, they are on the surface. It is possible to learn to gneerate less tension and stress and several ways to approach doing that: short-term therapy and meditation being two of the best.

This posting rings very true and I'll be reading it again and again, as it hits at the heart of the matter. I guess smoking was keeping a lid on things. I think this is just a blow to my ego, and a reminder that nobody can survive without adequate sleep, relaxation and good food.

Reading is down again. Maybe since I have a phobia about operations (even the prospect of having one) I was scared.

That's it I'm going out in a drug crazed orgy, hospitals frighten me rigid ( even very good ones).

Life stinks