Information
Symptoms
You may not have any symptoms of heart failure, or the symptoms may be 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.
•Shortness of breath - Occurs with exercise or rest or when lying flat in bed.
•Fluid backs up in the lungs, - Causing shortness of breath and, often, a hacking cough.
•Dizziness - Less blood to the brain causes dizziness.
•Tiredness (fatigue) and weakness - Less blood to the major organs and muscles causes fatigue.
•Rapid or irregular heartbeats - The heart beats faster to pump enough blood to the body. This causes a fast or irregular heartbeat.
•Swelling in ankles, legs and abdomen and weight gain - Less blood to your kidneys causes the kidneys to retain fluid and water, resulting in edema (swelling) and water weight gain.
•Other heart failure symptoms:
◦nausea
◦palpitations
◦chest pain
◦waking suddenly at night unable to breathe
◦changes in sleep pattern
Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms (what they feel like, how strong they are, what causes them and how long they last). Your symptoms may not be related to how weak your heart is. You may have many symptoms and your heart function may be mildly weakened. Or you may have a more severely damaged heart but have no symptoms.
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