Heart Failure Support Group
Heart failure is a condition that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the heart to fill with or pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body. It is often undiagnosed due to a lack of a universally agreed definition and difficulties in diagnosis, particularly when the condition is considered "mild."
Hi guys, first time here. 48 yr old male was in hospital dec27 - Jan 3rd. First time I was told I have CHF, my EF was 25 to 30. I said to myself WTF!!! Back to hospital Jan 16-23rd where I was told I was in A-FIB, have a blood clot on my heart, I was in kidney failure stage 3 and my EFratio dropped to 15. We waited two and a half months before doing another Echo not to mention I am on the following meds, Ambiodarone, eliquis, symbacort, Metropol succinate, torsemide and lisinipril. Today March 13 thought I was gonna get good news cause on Friday my cardiologist told me my heart converted on its own. Got my echo done today back in A-FIB and my EF ratio dropped to 10%. Should I be making arrangements for my exit strategy and how the hell do you keep faith. Thanks michael
I have been in end stage CHF for 10 years now. The doctors gave no hope without a transplant and yet here I am just having celebrated 10 years.
Yours is a rather strange story, not being a doctor I still cannot but wonder why with stage 3 kidney failure you'd be taking a diuretic like Furosemide that is so hard on the kidneys. Secondarily you haven't said what caused the CHF. Could be important in determining whether the problem is transient and could resolve.
You may or not be aware that Echo Cardiograms are a quick cheap and dirty way of measuring the Ejection Fraction. There's quite a bit of tolerance on the results and they are subjective. ie results can depend on who reads them. So if you are going to use an echo for this then you want the same person performing the tests and reading the results every time so then you are just interested in trends over time.
Here's the important question...how do you feel? When my EF was 10 - 15%, I could barely function and everybody I know who has had such a low function felt much the same. At my current 20% EF, I do much better, but still limited.
Good luck
I am now on torsemide, and ambiodarone and both are destroying my kidneys. Both my cardiologist and nephrologist would rather me hurt my kidneys and not my heart.
As far as luck, if i didn't have bad luck I would have no luck at all!!!