Originally Posted by
genejockey
Interesting. When I was diagnosed with hypertension some years back, I was told I might have to give up coffee. I didn't. But last fall I was doing an extended check of my BP on a daily basis, and I became interested in the effect of caffeine on my blood pressure. So I tested it before, and then 20 minutes and an hour after drinking a big cup (or more) of strong coffee. Results: no change in BP. Slightly higher HR.
(Turns out the biggest difference in BP was waiting 5 minutes after sitting down in the morning before taking BP. It dropped from 140+/80 to 130-ish.)
I think it will take at least one week of no caffeine to see any changes. But beware of withdrawal effects if you attempt to fully quit on coffee.
One way you can reduce or eliminate withdrawal effect is slowly taper your consumption of caffeine. Lesser dosage each day. Avoid decaf coffee. IMO, decaf coffee can still stimulate caffeine receptors in the body. In fact, I went with decaf coffee for several months and still suffered withdrawal effects when I quit decaf coffee.
I've been coffee-free for many months now both caffeine and decaf. I've been diagnosed with hypertension as well. It's mostly due to daily stress. Harder cardio workouts and quitting coffee and my BP is back to teenage levels despite dealing with the same levels of stress or even worse. I just had to make for the lack of coffee with harder intervals in training. Hold harder efforts for longer until adrenaline kicks in.