What are the symptoms of heart failure?
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What are the symptoms of heart failure?
Symptoms are mainly due to an accumulation of fluid in the lungs and body. This fluid retention mainly occurs as the heart does not pump blood around the body as well as it should. Symptoms include:
- Breathlessness (short of breath). In mild cases, you may only become breathless when you exert yourself. For example, when you walk up a hill. With more severe heart failure you may become breathless whilst resting. Breathlessness when lying flat, for example, when you go to bed, is a fairly typical symptom of heart failure. This is called orthopnoea.
- Fluid retention in the legs. Fluid retention in the body mainly affects the legs due to the effect of gravity. At first, you may notice some swelling of your ankles and feet at the end of the day. In time, the swelling may gradually affect the lower parts of the legs, or higher if it is not treated. In many cases there is a gradual build up of fluid. In some cases the fluid retention develops quickly, over a day or so. However, you may not have any fluid retention in your feet or legs if you have mild heart failure.
- Tiredness. This can be very variable and can occur even in mild cases.
Depending on the underlying cause for the heart failure, you may also have other symptoms. For example, chest pains if you have angina, palpitations if you have a heart rhythm problem, etc.
The severity of heart failure is often graded into four classes.
- Class 1 (very mild) - ordinary physical activity does not cause breathlessness, fatigue (extreme tiredness), or palpitations. You may not have any symptoms at all, but tests (perhaps done for other reasons) may have detected mild heart failure.
- Class 2 (mild) - you are comfortable at rest. However, ordinary physical activity such as walking may cause some breathlessness, fatigue, or palpitations.
- Class 3 (moderate) - although comfortable at rest, slight physical activity such as dressing yourself will cause breathlessness, fatigue, or palpitations.
- Class 4 (severe) - you are unable to carry out any physical activity without developing breathlessness, fatigue, or palpitations. Symptoms are often present even at rest. With any physical activity you have increased symptoms and discomfort.
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Robert Bruce, about 1 year
Thankyou from Japan. Following my second period of hospitalisation and a more serious "message" from my body, I am grateful for having found this site. The information is put in real laymans terms with the medical vocabulary well explained. From your site I have been able to collate a large number of questions for my cardiologist. Being ill in a foriegn country is not the easiest but the people here have been absolutely fantastic despite my lack of Japanese and my stubborn approach to medical care. Before becoming ill in 2006 I had not visited a doctor in over 20 years. This together with a work hard, play hard lifestylye not always healthily finally caught p wth me. Following treatment in 2006 I did feel very good for over a year before work took over my life. The company I worked for collapsed leaving many young people in a difficult situation as well as myself financially. Our clients were also left stranded. To cut a long story short, I was working in a number of areas 14/18 hours a day, no day off in 4 months, and no salary payment for 3 months. I guess it was inevitable my heart was going to object, especially when my medication finished and I could not afford to renew my prescription. Things did turn around and teachers and students were eventually "rescued" so now it was time to takecare of myself by having some time off. I had perhaps a week before I could visit my doctor when I had "a turn". The sensation was very strange but I recognised one or two signs. What was different was the verocity of this one. Struggling for breath, I , with help from friends got to the hospital, where the emergency team found my saturation (oxygen) had fallen to 65%. Not sure how serious this was, but felt serious. However, I knew I was in good hands and within an hour I was at least breathing easier nad the associated anxiety had eased. Due to the bankruptcy of my employer, medical insurance became a concern, yet with the help of one of my friends and the hospital clerical staff, the usual bureaucratic red tape was literally cut away and I was able to receive renewed medical insurance, ( a must in this country), in a very short period of time. So grateful to all these people some of whom I will never meet, (state bureaucrats), who pushed the envelop on my behalf. There is much I can do to improve my health, and your articles have helped answer some questions I wanted to ask my doctor as well as giving me questions I can ask. The seriousness of my condition in terms of long term prognosis is unknown though I have responed well to medication. The biggest challenge I face is changing my lifestyle. It seems I will need to slow down to what I think is a crawl which is somewhat alien to me. Yet, if the events of the last few months are anything to go by then perhaps I have "earned the right" to at least relax and improve my quality of life. A change of motto might be "work slow, play gentle". Here's to a healthy 2008. Thankyou again, and Merry Christmas
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