u/BraveNote4844

I've been told I had high blood pressure before, but never really paid attention to it.

Just a bit of background info;

30 yo, 6 feet, currently 210lbs

I pay attention to my diet, I avoid processed food, almost never eat junk food/takeout. Don't eat salt or drink caffeine, I work out 3-5 x a week and have been told I look like I'm in good shape (a nurse actually told me that while she pulled up my sleeve to take my elevated blood pressure).

Then a couple months ago my doctor told me I need to make changes after a reading of about 160/100. We discussed lifestyle changes. I decided the obvious culprit must be booze.

I drink pretty much every weekend. (Vodka tonic) I don't do it to get "drunk". But sip it throughout the afternoon to night. I usually go through two bottles a weekend.

I started checking my BP every week, and after a month or two of cutting out booze entirely, my blood pressure steadily dropped, eventually hitting around 118/80. In other words, out of hypertension territory.

Of course, inevitably I was invited on a night out with mates. I figured this shouldn't be much of an issue now that I wasn't regularly going thru two bottles of vodka a weekend.

I went out, started on beer and moved to vodka/tonic, I got drunk. I woke up on Sunday with a hangover and drank beer to lighten it.

Next Tue I checked my BP as usual and it had continued to drop (this was actually the week I got under hypertension).

I felt good. It showed I could still have the odd night out and drink with friends.

Next weekend, I thought; maybe I could try light beer. I could sip that over the weekend. Surely a lot less trouble than my previous vodka/tonic. I ordered an 18 pack and went through most of it by the end of the weekend. So maybe 8 on Sat/8 on Sun.

The following Tue, I checked my BP again, only to find it's now jumped up to 130 - 140.

Could someone explain what has happened here? has 18 light beers somehow spiked my BP? is this a delayed reaction to my drunk night out two weekends ago? Am I going to have to worry for the rest of my life every time I take a sip of alcohol, even after months of abstaining???

And of course, is this how easy it is to jump from healthy BP to stage 2 hypertension? And in only one week no less??