Hypertension and B12

[Laverdista]

Just wondering if others have had issues with B12-raised hypertension?

I've suffered with hypertension for a while (>5 years) and it has gone through periods of being controlled by medication, only to see the blood pressure start to climb again after a year or two, necessitating a change in medication. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't have caffeine, and ate a relatively healthy diet.

However, since my other B12 symptoms started getting bad about 10 weeks ago, my blood pressure has started spiralling out of control again, and this trend has continued in the 4 weeks since I've been injecting - Last night my blood pressure was 186/121...

I've got to see my cardiologist ASAP, but he's away until Monday. He's also very reluctant to believe that B12 is behind any of my symptoms.

I take one medication (Eplerenone) which is supposed to maintain potassium levels (I've also just found out that it affects B12 absorption), but even with that my potassium level had dropped in 3 weeks (4.9 to 3.9). I should have new potassium blood test results today, so if that's low, I wonder if that could be a culprit?

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

"I don't drink, don't smoke, don't have caffeine"

Have you checked your diet carefully to see if there might be caffeine in some of the foods you eat?

For example, chocolate and cocoa contain caffeine.

Tea contains caffeine.

Even decaf coffee and decaf tea still have some caffeine in them.

Some of these may also contain caffeine...

Energy bars

Painkillers

Vitamin supplements

I'm not medically trained.

[Sleepybunny in reply to Sleepybunny]

Just wondered if you'd ever had a homocysteine test.

Some studies suggest that B12 deficiency and folate deficiency can be associated with raised homocysteine.

Some studies suggest raised homocysteine can be associated with hypertension.

Link about homocysteine

labtestsonline.org.uk/tests...

[Laverdista in reply to Sleepybunny]

Thanks. I will mention it to my cardiologist next week.

[Jillymo]

My blood pressure went sky high and is now kept under control with diuretics prescribed by my cardiologist. The diuretics do not come without side effects such as high uric acid and low potassium.

I feel your cardiologist needs educating......

Can a vitamin B12 deficiency cause high blood pressure?

Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Hypertension

A deficiency in Vitamin B12 can lead to elevated homocysteine levels, potentially contributing to cardiovascular problems, including hypertension. Individuals with lower levels of Vitamin B12 may have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure.

A low vitamin D level may make a person more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes. These conditions are risk factors for heart disease. It's unclear whether a daily vitamin D supplement protects against heart attacks and strokes. It may only help those with severely low vitamin D levels.

I wonder if you could pesuade your Gp or Cardiologist to check your vit D ? If you buy over the counter a vit D only take as prescribed.

My potassium dropped quite recently due to a medication that was prescribed me. I can honestly say I were surprised at how ill I felt !

[Laverdista in reply to Jillymo]

Thanks. My vitamin D has been quite low for a while (57 nmoL a few weeks ago, and not much better a year ago). I'd been trying to follow the protocol from a Facebook group for the last few weeks, but to be honest, I think the very high doses were adding to my malaise. I've cut down a bit (2000iu a day instead of 5000 or even 10000), and I'll slowly try to build up, but as long as my level has improved a bit when I have my next blood test tomorrow, I'll be happy to take it slower with the Vit D, as long as it's slowly heading in the right direction. Obviously my B12 and folate deficiencies are the most pressing at the moment, with D still important.

[Jillymo in reply to Laverdista]

Go steady on the Vit D it can be harmful. Unlike B 12 which is water soluable vit D is toxic !

Seek advice from a healthcare professional.........

Is 5000 IU of vitamin D daily bad?

The UL for vitamin D is 4,000 IU per day. While vitamin D toxicity usually happens with very high intakes of 10,000+ IU per day, experts suggest that even amounts less than the UL could have negative health effects.

[Technoid]

In case it might be helpful, few tips in this video

m.youtube.com/watch?v=36YPP...(Not working as expected?)

[Laverdista in reply to Technoid]

Thanks! 👍

[WiscGuy]

As has been mentioned, B12 deficiency is associated with hyper homocysteine, which can be associated with vascular inflammation, which can be associated with high blood pressure. This link leads to a search in Google Scholar:

scholar.google.com/scholar?...

[Judithdalston]

My BP rose from a healthy low 120s/ 70s 4 1/2 years ago ‘overnight’ ( well nearly) with Covid, and stayed raised with continuing Long covid and left on 5 hypertensives most of that time that still didn’t get a sustained reduction. Gradually noticed high HR with tiniest ‘exercise’ eg brushing teeth/hair. Had ecgs, echocardiogram, 24 hour BP monitor, chest X-rays, respiratory tests etc and cardio/ respiratory consultants just said ‘ nothing wrong’ so released me back to my GP, who just left the situation as it was. So I tried DIY support: 18 months ago started swimming 50 mins 5 x a week, already diabetic ( type 3c ) but got prescribed continuous blood glucose monitor and insulins changed so I now know BG levels 24/7 and not found any link there to BP/HR. Last Jan. got a referral out of Trust to a Falls consultant with tilt test table and diagnosed with hypertensive at rest, but ‘postural hypotension’ (PH) on standing (down to 60/40), and she removed / moved around some BP drugs, noting bisoprolol was actually causing some of my problems. Again let go back to GP who put me back on one of the hypertensives, indapamide a diuretic! So round and round, now waiting for a 7 day BP monitor. I have done lots of research re.other causes for high BP, and HR, and introduced and tested for many vits/ mins, or supplemented regardless ( eg thiamine ,Mg taurate)…I do have lots of gut issues that probably effect absorption from food ( hypothyroidism, no gallbladder, and compromised pancreas thus the type 3c diabetes) and take drops/ sprays to be absorbed in the mouth where possible eg vit d with K2 drops, or gentle 3 Arrows Heme. I take a Thorne Basic B complex plus B12/ folate, I also do PH protocols like lots of liquids, compression socks… and for 18 months done 16 hour a day intermittent fasting to try to loose weight ( lost about 2 kg over 18 months with low carbs. and the swimming!). Can get days when BP in 130s/70s but then also ones as currently last few days high 140s systolic or 157/67…heaven knows why, except dysautonomia.

[MoKayD]

I've never seen anyone else mention this, but when I started receiving my loading doses of B12 my blood pressure started to rise. The nurse at my work was giving me the B12 shots and she would take my blood pressure before each shot. She started to become alarmed at how much my blood pressure was rising and didn't want to continue giving me my shots. I did manage to get the full course of loading doses and my blood pressure went down and stabilized. I don't know what caused this but my homocysteine level dropped dramatically within a couple of months after treatment was started.

[Hockey_player in reply to MoKayD]

To get reliable blood pressure measurements, it would be wise to also do some measurements at home. It is normal for some people to get raised blood pressure at a doctor's office. Especially if the doctor is about to do something stressful like stick a needle into you.

[MoKayD in reply to Hockey_player]

We took possible "white coat syndrome" into account. I'm also not afraid of needle at all. It had something to do with the B12 loading doses. The raised blood pressure hasn't returned, thank goodness.

[Laverdista in reply to MoKayD]

Thanks. That's interesting to hear. My very elevated blood pressure readings have actually been at home - They'd be even more scary at the GP's surgery! It's interesting that my blood pressure started to become much more erratic at around the time my other B12 deficiency symptoms got worse. I've had periods like this in the last few years - And I've discovered that my B12 levels have been 'borderline' for at least the same amount of time. 🤔