Sudden blood pressure spike, any ideas?

#1

I am at a loss (and so are the doctors) as to what is currently going on with me. My blood pressure has gotten as high as 220/105 in the past week and a half.

Here is some background: I have never, ever had an issue with blood pressure in the past. The last 2 times my blood pressure was measured in the past year, it was 110/70 and 102/70. I am 5’9 and at the most have weighed 220lb and am currently at 200lb(after 2 months of ketosis). I quit smoking a year ago and I drink far less than I ever did. A typical dietary day on the ketogenic diet is an avocado smoothie, a big salad, and some sort of meat and vegetables for dinner. I was absolutely not eating too much salt but I am also aware that you need more salt in a keto diet so I don’t think I wasn’t eating enough either. According to my food diary I was eating about 2600mg/day of sodium. I was also on proton pump inhibitors for about 6 years(I just stopped taking them about 2 weeks ago). I have also been intermittent fasting and has just done a 24 hour fast prior to noticing the high blood pressure for the first time. I was also drinking too much water I think(about 140 oz and I am not very active, work in air conditioning office all day) so I was peeing an absurd amount.

I went to the ER and they said that an EKG was fine. They did some blood work that looked like this:
Sodium 136
Potassium 3.8
Chloride 100
CO2 24
AGAP 12
Glucose 92
BUN 9
Creatinine .8
Calcium 8.7

I just had more bloodwork done today so I am interested to see what that looks like. I was certainly overhydrated according to the low BUN and the rest of the electrolytes are normal but at the lowest end of normal.

Does anybody have any idea what is wrong with me? My hypothesis is that between the poor absorption in my stomach due to years of PPI’s in combination with the keto using up my electrolytes and then drinking too much water, that I created an imbalance and that wreaking havoc on my blood pressure. But I have been out of ketosis for at least a week now and I was hoping that I would have stabilized by now. I am starting to get worried…

(Taitai) #2

Drinking too much water alone can throw off a balance, and cause a spike in blood pressure . It didn’t that to me, and I was having too much Hinayana salt also. Hope you figure it out, and be careful. :slight_smile:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

One hundred thirty-six is at the low end of the normal sodium range. You might try getting a bit more salt. (Recent studies suggest we need 5 g a day, which translates to 2-1/2 tsp of table salt, including that naturally present in the food.) Too little sodium can raise blood pressure by causing a reduction in blood volume.

On the other hand, don’t overdo do the salt, either, for obvious reasons.

Be advised that I am not a physician. Good luck figuring out what is wrong, and please keep us posted.

(Mary McNeight) #4

Did you figure this out? I had the EXACT thing happen to me yesterday. Almost the EXACT same numbers as you. I went off my blood pressure meds in March when I had consistent regular blood pressure readings and have had them for MONTHS with without meds with no issues. All of a sudden I used my moms cuff on a joke and about had a heart attack when I saw 220/120 readings. Went right to the ER. They gave me meds and told me to follow up with my doctor. Ive been keto for almost a year now.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

When I was in the hospital for a while a couple of years ago, the blood pressure readings would occasionally be wonky. The nurse or CNA would first try a fresh reading after re-positioning the cuff. If that didn’t make a difference, he or she would try a different cuff. Apparently as the cuffs go bad, you start getting weirdly high readings.

On the other hand, Mary, I’m sure that if they gave you medication at the hospital their BP monitor must have confirmed the elevated reading you got at your mom’s.

(Mary McNeight) #6

Yes, they confirmed the readings were as high as her cuff. Thats why they did the blood tests and EKG too. They are still high and its got me really concerned.

#7

No I still haven’t figured out exactly what is going on but I have ruled out my initial hypothesis of electrolyte imbalance as those have all returned to a more normal level. However, after further blood work, my triglycerides were 255 and my ALT was elevated. So it would seem I have some sort of acute onset liver injury. I also had a mild headache that I recently developed for over 10 straight days bolstering the idea that this was an acute onset and not a chronic condition. My PCP believes it was caused by a supplement or vitamin I started taking. I had started recently taking: exogenous ketones, betane, collagen peptides, k2 vitamin, d3, magnesium, and zinc. Unfortunately I started them all around the same time so I have no idea what caused it. The doctor put me on a beta blocker and took me off the diuretic as obviously don’t have a sodium problem. My blood pressure is lower but still higher than it should be at an average of 130/90.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

My blood pressure was normally at 130/90 for years. It seems a bit odd to hear that described as excessively high, lol! Fortunately, it finally went down after I’d been in ketosis for about eight months, to 112/70 at my last physical.

I’m afraid the only way to know which supplement caused the problem is to cut them all out, and then slowly reintroduce them, one by one. Good luck!