If you have heart failure, you may not have any symptoms, or the symptoms may range from mild to severe. Symptoms can be constant or can come and go. Heart failure symptoms are related to the changes that occur to your heart and body, and the severity depends on how weak your heart is.
Heart failure can be acute, like after a heart attack, or it may develop over time, for example because of permanently high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. Depending on how severe heart failure is, it may go unnoticed, only cause minor symptoms, or really affect your physical fitness.
Chest pain. Fainting or severe weakness. Rapid or irregular heartbeat associated with shortness of breath, chest pain or fainting. Sudden, severe shortness of breath and coughing up white or pink, foamy mucus.
Breathlessness might occur, or become more noticeable, when walking or exerting yourself. People with more severe heart failure might experience breathlessness when resting and may notice that this gets worse when they lie flat. During the night, you may wake and feel an urgent need to sit up and get a breath in.
Weight gain or swelling (edema) of the feet, ankles, legs, abdomen, or neck veins. Tiredness, weakness. Lack of appetite, nausea. Thinking difficulties, confusion, memory loss, feelings of disorientation.
Breathlessness or Shortness of Breath (Dyspnea) When the heart begins to fail, blood backs up in the veins attempting to carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart. As fluid pools in the lungs, it interferes with normal breathing. In turn, you may experience breathlessness during exercise or other activities.
People with heart failure are often unable to do their normal activities because they become easily tired and short of breath. C = Congestion. Fluid buildup in the lungs can result in coughing, wheezing, and breathing difficulty.
Go to the emergency room or call your local emergency number if you have heart failure and have gained more than 5 pounds in a week. Also seek help if you can't lie flat, are short of breath at rest, have increased swelling and discomfort in the lower body, or have a constant, hacking cough.
Tests for heart failure
Tests you may have to diagnose heart failure include: blood tests – to check whether there's anything in your blood that might indicate heart failure or another illness. an electrocardiogram (ECG) – this records the electrical activity of your heart to check for problems.
The progress of heart failure is unpredictable and different for each person. In many cases, the symptoms remain at a stable level for quite some time (months or years) before becoming worse. In some cases the severity and symptoms become gradually worse over time.
Tiredness, fatigue
...a tired feeling all the time and difficulty with everyday activities, such as shopping, climbing stairs, carrying groceries or walking. The heart can't pump enough blood to meet the needs of body tissues.
Your doctor can listen to your lungs for signs of fluid buildup (lung congestion) and your heart for whooshing sounds (murmurs) that may suggest heart failure. The doctor may examine the veins in your neck and check for fluid buildup in your abdomen and legs.
The answer is, it depends. CHF is a chronic condition that gradually worsens over time for many patients, although some cases may be reversed with timely treatment and healthy lifestyle choices. In general, heart disease is more likely to be reversed when it is identified early and promptly addressed.
The blood test alone at the 125 pg/ml cut-off correctly identified 94% of people with heart failure but led to 50% of people who did not have heart failure being referred for further investigation.
Blood Tests
Your doctor may recommend a blood test to check for B-type natriuretic peptide, a protein that the heart secretes to keep blood pressure stable. These levels increase with heart failure.
Official answer. You can check for heart disease at home by measuring your pulse rate and your blood pressure if you have a blood pressure monitor. You can also monitor yourself for symptoms of heart disease, such as: Chest pain, pressure, discomfort, or tightness.
BNP (B-type natriuretic peptides) tests – these show the level of a hormone in your blood which if elevated can be a sign of heart failure.
Chronic kidney disease can look like heart failure. Both diseases cause fluids to backup, leading to swelling, or edema, in your lower extremities, meaning in your legs and feet. Fluid can build up in the lungs, as well, in both diseases, leading to (once again) shortness of breath.
In general, more than half of all people diagnosed with congestive heart failure will survive for 5 years. About 35% will survive for 10 years. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic, progressive condition that affects the heart's ability to pump blood around the body.
Untreated heart failure can eventually lead to congestive heart failure (CHF), a condition in which blood builds up in other areas of your body. In this potential life threatening condition, you may experience fluid retention in your limbs as well as in your organs, such as the liver and lungs.
Women are more likely than men to have heart attack symptoms unrelated to chest pain, such as: Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or upper belly (abdomen) discomfort. Shortness of breath. Pain in one or both arms.
Most often, heart failure is caused by another medical condition that damages your heart. This includes coronary heart disease, heart inflammation, high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, or an irregular heartbeat.
Most of the time, heart failure develops on the left side of your heart. Right-sided heart failure most commonly develops due to left-sided failure, but some lung or heart problems can also lead to right-sided failure.