Sugar spike drives up blood pressure?

[MichaelTimothy]

Another newbie question.

This morning my fasting glucose was 122 mg/dl, and my systolic BP was 121. All was well with the world. And then my wife tempted me with a cup of coffee with 2 sugars. I experienced an instant high; it was actually quite pleasant and I now understand what a sugar "rush" means!

Thirty mins later I measured both blood glucose and blood pressure: 178 mg/dl, and systolic 155. I am freaked, but I guess I have learned a lesson? The two march together, or do they?

 

[Trevor vP]

Another newbie question.

This morning my fasting glucose was 122 mg/dl, and my systolic BP was 121. All was well with the world. And then my wife tempted me with a cup of coffee with 2 sugars. I experienced an instant high; it was actually quite pleasant and I now understand what a sugar "rush" means!

Thirty mins later I measured both blood glucose and blood pressure: 178 mg/dl, and systolic 155. I am freaked, but I guess I have learned a lesson? The two march together, or do they?

Extremely high blood sugar will stress your body and its organs, just like the body was poisoned plus add some coffee that is a stimulant. Thus increase in blood pressure. Do not be tempted with sugar like that as a diabetic you body will not enjoy it.

 

[MichaelTimothy]

Extremely high blood sugar will stress your body and its organs, just like the body was poisoned plus add some coffee that is a stimulant. Thus increase in blood pressure. Do not be tempted with sugar like that as a diabetic you body will not enjoy it.

Thank you very much! I have I guess now learned that lesson the hard way. I immediately drank a large amount of water, swam for an hour and did 10 mins on my wife's power plate machine - and BP is back to what passes for normal these days, and blood sugar is back down to 120 mg/dl.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Thank you very much! I have I guess now learned that lesson the hard way. I immediately drank a large amount of water, swam for an hour and did 10 mins on my wife's power plate machine - and BP is back to what passes for normal these days, and blood sugar is back down to 120 mg/dl.

Dealing with carbs, including the glucose part of those sugars, causes the body to hold onto water (hence hypertension) regardless of whether you've become diabetic which is why lots of pre diabetics also have higher blood pressure to go with the elevated insulin levels that can then lead to full blown type 2 diabetes. It is a sign of the body not handling carbs well but not every type 2 is hypertensive so don't worry if this was a blip and you now know what to do!

 

[MichaelTimothy]

Dealing with carbs, including the glucose part of those sugars, causes the body to hold onto water (hence hypertension) regardless of whether you've become diabetic which is why lots of pre diabetics also have higher blood pressure to go with the elevated insulin levels that can then lead to full blown type 2 diabetes. It is a sign of the body not handling carbs well but not every type 2 is hypertensive so don't worry if this was a blip and you now know what to do!

Thank you! Actually I have been hypertensive for a while; it was during a cardiac checkup/blood test that the diabetes came to light, and the first reading was 8.8 %, which shocked me rigid. It has been only 3 weeks, and on balance I have done well, both with regard to hypertension and blood glucose - and weight!

 

[coby]

Dealing with carbs, including the glucose part of those sugars, causes the body to hold onto water (hence hypertension) regardless of whether you've become diabetic which is why lots of pre diabetics also have higher blood pressure to go with the elevated insulin levels that can then lead to full blown type 2 diabetes. It is a sign of the body not handling carbs well but not every type 2 is hypertensive so don't worry if this was a blip and you now know what to do!

Hi NicoleC1971. So is high blood pressure caused by too much water being retained in the body? My systolic is high (144) but it's something I have yet to learn about. Thank you

 

[Oldvatr]

Dealing with carbs, including the glucose part of those sugars, causes the body to hold onto water (hence hypertension) regardless of whether you've become diabetic which is why lots of pre diabetics also have higher blood pressure to go with the elevated insulin levels that can then lead to full blown type 2 diabetes. It is a sign of the body not handling carbs well but not every type 2 is hypertensive so don't worry if this was a blip and you now know what to do!

Certainly, the storage of glycogen in the muscle cells does lead to an increase in water storage, It is not noted for an increase in blood pressure. There is one rare case of a particular disease that is associated with causing hypertension due to a glycogen storage defect in a T1D patient, but it is not a run-of-the-mill occurrence.
https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/20/1/59
The storage of glycogen leads to an increase in body mass.

 

[LionChild]

Another newbie question.

This morning my fasting glucose was 122 mg/dl, and my systolic BP was 121. All was well with the world. And then my wife tempted me with a cup of coffee with 2 sugars. I experienced an instant high; it was actually quite pleasant and I now understand what a sugar "rush" means!

Thirty mins later I measured both blood glucose and blood pressure: 178 mg/dl, and systolic 155. I am freaked, but I guess I have learned a lesson? The two march together, or do they?

I am not sure that high blood glucose = high blood pressure. I have not found a correlation there. But obviously, two teaspoons of sugar will make your bg rise quickly and significantly. Coffee can give a sudden rise in blood pressure, and though it will not last long, it probably is not a good idea to drink too many cups of coffee a day. The sudden rise in BP might be triggered by coffee.

 

[LionChild]

Another newbie question.

This morning my fasting glucose was 122 mg/dl, and my systolic BP was 121. All was well with the world. And then my wife tempted me with a cup of coffee with 2 sugars. I experienced an instant high; it was actually quite pleasant and I now understand what a sugar "rush" means!

Thirty mins later I measured both blood glucose and blood pressure: 178 mg/dl, and systolic 155. I am freaked, but I guess I have learned a lesson? The two march together, or do they?

I generally eat salads with some kind of animal protein and every now and again I eat about 20 grams of granola with 5 units of Novorapid. I can tell you, it feels like HEAVEN, a real 'HIT', to eat granola, compared to the very low level of carbs in salads!

 

[NicoleC1971]

Certainly, the storage of glycogen in the muscle cells does lead to an increase in water storage, It is not noted for an increase in blood pressure. There is one rare case of a particular disease that is associated with causing hypertension due to a glycogen storage defect in a T1D patient, but it is not a run-of-the-mill occurrence.
https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/20/1/59
The storage of glycogen leads to an increase in body mass.

I had always heard that hypertension is a symptom of metabolic syndrome (some type 1s do suffer from this as well as t1 ). Proposed mechanisms described here:
Notably when people drop carbs they do drop water weight and see a reduction in their bp so could just be the reduction in mass that causes this but probably not just excess mass when we see lots of normal weight people who have metabolic syndrome.
This is from
The underlying mechanisms for development of hypertension in the metabolic syndrome
Conclusion
Visceral obesity, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, activated renin-angiotensin system, increased inflammatory mediators, and obstructive sleep apnea have been proposed to be possible factors to develop hypertension in the metabolic syndrome. These factors may induce sympathetic overactivity, vasoconstriction, increased intravascular fluid, and decreased vasodilatation, leading to development of hypertension in the metabolic syndrome.

 

[Oldvatr]

The OP is reporting a dramatic increase in systolic some 30 mins after eating a sugar snack.
I think this may provide an explanation
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/high-blood-pressure-excess-sugar-diet-may-culprit/

It seems the GI rating of what is consumed is relevant. Seems to fit the OP.

 

[MichaelTimothy]

A follow-on question if I may. Over the last few days, I have experienced a very satisfying and steady decline in average BP and glucose readings. My average BP systolic has steadied in the 118 - 120 region, and my glucose has steadied in the 120 mg/dl region, with two forays in the sub-100s.

An hour or so ago, I took a very nasty fall down the stairs, nothing broken thank goodness, but a lot of pain and I guess shock. I have just taken my readings: the BP hasn't moved at all - except downwards at 118/57. My wife gave me a glass of orange juice for the shock - and now my glucose has shot up to 190 mg/dl. Should I be concerned, I never had a reading this high? What can I do to reduce it quickly; or do I even need to, perhaps it will stabilise of its volition?