Tapering and Blood Pressure

I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my tablets as I taper my Lorazepam level.  It's really helped me keep track of what I've achieved, where I am, and where I'm going. 

It also shows how much Lorazepam is in my body, based on a half life of about 12 hours.

Early in my taper plan I include my daily blood pressure readings on the spreadsheet and strangely, my Systolic pressure decreased from about 125 to less than 100 over a period of about 2 months - and has stayed lower. 

(I would have included a picture of the spreadsheet, but it looks as though that's not possible :-|)

Is a BP decrease common?

Hi Will!

When I started my second taper, right at the beginning, my BP used to go down a lot, less than 100 sometimes. Once my readings were 98/58. This mainly happened at night before bed. Low reasonable BP pressure is normal at night time.The main symptom was blurred vision and feeling tired. I got scared at the beginning but I decided to ignore it. Now I'm half way on my taper and on certain days i got high BP around 140/90, this normally happens in the afternoon. Although BP is a critical indication of something going on I think anxiety is the main factor of BP fluctuations induced by the withdrawal. I think we can rule out serious issues if the BP goes back to normal values during the rest of the day.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Miguel

Hi Will!

When I started my second taper, right at the beginning, my BP used to go down a lot, less than 100 sometimes. Once my readings were 98/58. This mainly happened at night before bed. Low reasonable BP pressure is normal at night time.The main symptom was blurred vision and feeling tired. I got scared at the beginning but I decided to ignore it. Now I'm half way on my taper and on certain days i got high BP around 140/90, this normally happens in the afternoon. Although BP is a critical indication of something going on I think anxiety is the main factor of BP fluctuations induced by the withdrawal. I think we can rule out serious issues if the BP goes back to normal values during the rest of the day.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Miguel

The body produces a stress reaction hormone CORTISOL.  Typically when a person encounters a stress trigger, the hormone is released (think from the pituitary gland in the brain), the body tenses up - BP go up  - etc. A 'fight or flight' reaction.   

I get this stress sweating armpit reaction while in an air conditioned house while working on a problem (I take grad courses on the side for the brain exercise).