BP drop after quitting smoking?

[CargoMatatu]

Just a quick question to ask on average how long after quitting smoking is there likely to be a NOTICEABLE drop in blood pressure?

I have been on bp medication for some years (Cozaar Plus, not beta-blockers) and quit smoking (progressively) through the first half of May. Now nicotine-free.

In the last couple of days I have felt exceptionally sleepy and wonder if it's a manifestation of lower bp?

Any advice, please?

[cavortingcheetah]

For me the green heart of Europe is Bavaria and so, were you there, you could go to many a pharmacy and have your BP checked for you. I don't think though that you can do this in Britain because there your blood pressure is calcified - or do I mean classified? You can certainly buy BP machines on the internet. The one with the integrated wrist band is perhaps the most easy to use.

[Old Smokey]

THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS A STATEMENT FOR OR AGAINST SMOKING, JUST A STATEMENT OF FACT (Although many will see it as one or the other).

I was a very heavy smoker for 45 years (50 to 60 per day). I've cut down to 3, maybe 4 per day (usually after each meal).

My Blood Pressure has dropped by about 7 points (Upper and Lower), not a significant difference. I've always had quite low blood pressure (110/70 at 62 years of age), and no noticeable difference in this area.

I feel a bit healthier (but not much), but the most significant difference is a noticeable increase in tiredness.

Don't believe me, do a Google, check Wickipedia, talk to your doctor - Nicotine is a SIGNIFICANT stimulent. Therein lies the probable cause of your tiredness. In time, your body will probably adjust (I'm still waiting).

THIS IS NOT A MEDICALLY QUALIFIED RESPONSE!

Ok, flak jacket on, awaiting the countless derogatory posts for naming just one good point about smoking, whilst I concede readily that there are thousands of points against it.

[cavortingcheetah]

Since you've grasped the nettle I'll continue. I don't smoke any more except perhaps for an occasional Cuban but when I did smoke I often used to not smoke for days or weeks at a time. In other words, stopping was never a problem. But I can also attest to the fact that if I'd been away for a week down the line smoking hard then I was much more tired than was normal for the first few days off the weed and back at home. In the end of course I got bladder cancer and even though that may or may not have been caused by smoking, you don't smoke after that. The occasional cigar doesn't count because it helps me to remember who I am.

[gingernut]

I suspect the tiredness is a red herring. I remember when I was a 20 B&H man, I was always shattered- som'at to do with oxyhaemoglobin and carbonmonoxyhaemoglobin or some such thing.

The health promotion lot reckon pulse and bp drops within hours.It's one of the carrots they use to persuade behaviour change.

The health benefits are more to do with a decrease in cancer / cardiovascular risks, rather than the bp drop per se I think.

Well done

[homonculus]

Correct - nicotine is a stimulant so when you stop it you may feel tired, and this can take months to resolve

Cigarettes have lots of nasty chemicals which cause vasoconstriction, and when you stop your BP may fall but this as has been said happens over hours, not months. Most smokers dont have a drag in the doctor's surgery - it sets off that silly alarm you lot have in your toilets which make me go deaf whenever I light up mid Atlasntic - so your measured BP doesnt change.

Sadly much of the damage is permanent which again means BP wont fall but this doesnt mean you are not doing yourself a real benefit in other areas so keep up the abstinence and you will all live much longer

Oh, and regular drinking will also prolong your life - honest!"