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."
I do not know how long this tread will be, the idea is that between all of us we should have a good list of "Tricks" that makes our life easier with our sickness .... If we all share them we can create something that can be useful for all of us.
Please senior people in DS, tell me if this has already been done .. so we save time or drop it.
Any idea is welcome, tricks to dress, to eat, to furnish your house, to drive, to drink, to exercise ....anything that makes you feel better or solve a problem that you had.
Please just start each entry with a sort sentence describing the topic.
Please senior people in DS, tell me if this has already been done .. so we save time or drop it.
Any idea is welcome, tricks to dress, to eat, to furnish your house, to drive, to drink, to exercise ....anything that makes you feel better or solve a problem that you had.
Please just start each entry with a sort sentence describing the topic.
One of the problems that I faced was that I cannot stand up for more than 1 minute without loosing my breath ....and I Like to cook and to do some "DIY" in a tall work bench in the garage.
The solution was to buy hight stools for both places, so I can cook and enjoy my small reparations as long as I want. BTW Ikea sells good ones at a very affordable price.
My old kitchen stopped to work (after 30 years of good use).
If this happen to you, DO NOT INSTALL an induction one. In the future you might need a pacer or defibrillator and you could not be able to enter in your kitchen any more.
Induction stoves have no effect on defibrillators or pacemakers
http://www.medtronic.com/rhythms/downloads/UC200602918EN.pdf
Jesus
I consider myself as an small appliance running on old rechargeable batteries, and I try to save every single drop of energy .... I never stand up if I can sit, I never climb a stair if there is lift ...
My goal is just to exercise my heart, at its prescribed rate range, for a given number of minutes 5 times per week.
Therefore I find my pulsometer an invaluable tool, since the amount of effort that I need to achieve my target rate vary greatly for many reasons: time from meals & medications, temperature, tiredness...
Trying to minimize my effort I do not follow the typical rotation between different gym apparatus... I only use the one where it is easier for me to achieve my rate: the treadmill.
Suffice to say Medtronics sometimes uses the CYA approach (Cover your assets) to eliminate nuisance lawsuits. Even when won, they are extraordinarily costly to corporations and in the hands of a jury unpredictable. There are numerous studies as far back as 2002 that show induction stoves have no effect, and as I said, I use one all the time.
What I do for CHF ~
I walk 2 miles every morning, 6 days a week at a brisk pace, about 30 minutes. Recently, I've been walking an additional 2 miles mid-day. The walks have a short but steep incline adding to the exertion.
As most patients are instructed, I weigh myself every morning, and if I show a weight gain in excess of 2 lbs, I increase my Furosemide (diuretics) until the weight drops back then go back to my normal dosage. I can quickly tell without weighing myself as I struggle to breathe when I retain fluids but check the weight to get a feel for how much Furosemide to take.
Low to no sodium diet of course, and take meds as prescribed.
Exercise is so important.
For the past year I have increased my cardio at the gym to its current level of 40 minutes of cardio - 4 times a week. To accomplish my cardio - I use the tredmill, stair climber, elyptical and bicycle for about 10 minutes each. By using each machine for fewer minutes - I have been able to reduce the incidence of muscle, tendon and other injuries. Before spreading the cardio time out - i used to sprain wrists, ankles, knees, and other items from too much exercise.
Raoul