Elevated blood pressure

I've read that high blood pressure can be a benzo withdrawal symptom.  How many of you have had to deal with high BP?  My BP was always good untill I went CT.  I was only taking one .5mg klonopin a day but took it for 3.5 years.  I was offered no advice from my GP and was just told I should stop so I did.  I'm almost 90 days off and still feel like crap which I can deal with but the high BP worries me.

What are your numbers when you check your BP? This is quite common in withdrawal

 

shania

I was always pretty good around 120/80 but at week 9 or so after going ct I got tachy  so  cardiologist upped my beta blocker and it helped with that. At week 11 or so bp was about 148/88 so he upped my light bp meds and it went to 165/101.  He now has me check bp 2x a day and it's stayed high for a few weeks only coming down at night after a few beers.  I really can't complain as I feel like shit but think I've gotten off a lot easier than most on here but the bp in a concern for both me and my wife.  Was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if so is it one of the longer lasting symptoms or one of those that seem to come and stick around for a month or so.

How are the beers affecting you?

Elavated blood pressure is quite common in withdrawal. Probably due to anxiety, fear and other things. Detox centers routinely use Clonidine, as it helps lower the BP and reduces anxiety. (Not everything that goes in a detox center is bad!) I know I needed it, and luckily my doctor agreed. Instead of clonidine he put me on another beta blocker and it worked quite well for me.

 

Drinking alcohol is a big no-no. Why? Because alcohol acts very much like benzos do, affecting the same part of the brain. And causes similar damage. I know it relaxes you, but it also may prolong your withdrawal.

My blood pressure was running high about a week before I C/T amd about two months after. It would shoot up to 210/101 but Doctor said it was okay and I knew it was the benzos. Now at 6 months off it has started to shoot up again a couple of times. I ignore it and it goes back to normal in about 15 minutes. I was already on a low dose beta blocker.

Since my family doctor never offered any advice on quitting I obviously didn't get any advice on drinking beer while quitting.  I have to say that drinking beer has made the withdrawal symptoms more bearable but sometimes I wonder if it may be prolonging the process.  Seems nobody in the medical community wants to talk about benzos in any way and as for drinking of any kind you will always get the patented answer of "you shouldn't"  Easy for someone that isn't feeling like crap to say.  I kinda feel like I'm on my own here so I'm trying to behave as best I can but a few beers seems to soften the blow for me.  Keep in mind that I didn't take a high dose of klonopin (.5mg/day) so it may not be a good idea for some.  But it seems to soften that edgy feeling and tones down the ringing in my ears a bit.

You can put alcohol in the search box and read how it affected other people on this forum if you would like . I was told that alcohol works on the same receptors as benzos and it does slow your recovery.

Yes, alcohol does pretty much the same things as a benzo does in your brain. When one is recovering from taking benzos, it is not a good idea to add other drugs into the mix. It may prolong your healing! Many supplements can do this, too. What I was told, and believed, was that I should try not to take anyting for my symptoms. Recovering from this mess is, in part, a mental attitude that should tell us not to "take something" whenever we feel bad. That is what got us into taking benzos, isnt it? A desire to take something to feel better???

 

I used to think that if something jurt or something felt odd, I should "take something" for it. NOT anymore. My brain can fix any problem (except for things like cancer and other external injuries-). I no longer reach for a pill if something hurts or feels odd or sick. I wait it out and if it doesnt get beter, I weigh the odds and may decide to see my doctor. Or not.

I've read that high blood pressure can be a benzo withdrawal symptom.  How many of you have had to deal with high BP?  My BP was always good untill I went CT.  I was only taking one .5mg klonopin a day but took it for 3.5 years.  I was offered no advice from my GP and was just told I should stop so I did.  I'm almost 90 days off and still feel like crap which I can deal with but the high BP worries me.

 

I was having bp spikes as well.  They seem to have subsided as I havent had a spike for about 30+ days.  I had to get an additional bp med to handle it.  Now I'm back to just my normal med and feeling much better overall. I was having waves of bp spikes for about 90 days.  Have you had any relief?  If not, just ask your doc for an additional med. Many bp folks have several different meds.

 

Good luck my friend.