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."
Hey guys... I am here because I ...honestly I don't know why I am here... What I do know is this...
Eight months ago I went to the ER with a severe asthma attack, or so I thought... When I got there, I was triaged and rushed into a EKG and then wheelchaired into a Level 1 Trauma room surrounded with three doctors and six nurses who never left my side...for three hours I was treated as hospital royalty and only knew what I had overheard one nurse say to another: I was the patient who had walked into the ER with 'Early onset CHF.
Well dang...I wrote a whole lot more last night than what posted...and now I don't really remember it all...but here goes...anyway.
So!...After three hours in that Level 1 Trauma room...I was moved to the ER ward right behind a RN's Station...she would check on me constantly...go work on other patients, come back, ask how I was doing, check on me again...after a while I started thinking that maybe I was really sick...in the mean time I was poked and prodded...visited by doctors...asked all sorts of questions...given all sorts of tests, x-rays, even a cat scan, which was a really weird feeling...I was given nitroglycerin - which also gave me a weird feeling in my head (the opening of all those vessels) ...and damn near drained of all my blood (at least it seemed like it!) ... and the whole time the RN kept a constant vigil on me!
At about 2pm in the afternoon (I got there at 6:45 am)...the Doctor came and told me that I was going to be admitted to the hospital...the diagnosis was: Pneumonia! ...I spent the rest of the day, and night in the ER behind the RN who kept constant vigil on me...I was not transferred to my room until 5 o'clock the next morning. I was alone...anxious...having multiple panic attacks...and just pissed off...mostly at my-self!...I spent five days in the hospital and was released home by an incompetent doctor who had only seen me ONCE on the same day I was released!!!
While in the ER, I had the chance to google "Early Onset CHF...I had ALL of the symptoms...and confused them with ASTHMA! Now, the point has been made below that CHF is sometimes referred to as CARDIAC ASTHMA, and I understand that...however, the symptoms I was and currently am having, are not asthma related...they're very similar, BUT yet very different...I stuggled with childhood asthma for the first 18 years of my life...I took all the medications...all the tests...all the shots...all the blood tests...all the peak flow tests...I know ASTHMA better than I know my own self... I know Asthma...I know the triggers...I know the symptoms...and THIS IS NOT ASTHMA!...but I digressed.
Fast forward to today...I turned 49 years old on Sunday but I feel like a 94 year old!...and I know what that feels like because both my grandmother and mother lived to see that age and beyond...they were both healthy for their ages but extremely tired and ready to die...So the fact that I feel like a 94-year old says a lot... I get short of breath with the slightest exertion...eating...walking short (very short) distances...changing positions in bed...getting up from the bed......laying flat in bed...I practically have sleep sitting down...not that I sleep much, because I have real bad INSOMNIA...but when I do sleep, I wake up choking on my own phlegm (that never happened with my asthma)...I am bloated...to the point that my stomach hurts!... I am struggling with undiagnosed and untreated CHF like I struggled with asthma for the first 18 years of my life...the only difference is...that I am too tired and too exhausted to fight it!...I honestly don't care whether I live or die and prefer, honestly, to die...which brings me back to my reason for being here...I am here to ask a question...and that question is:
How long can/will a person survive with undiagnosed, untreated CHF and what would that person's quality of life be like?
Welcome to the club. If you have any specific questions ask away...
In my post...I didn't mention that I also have uncontrolled HBP...so I do have medications for that that include a diuretic...Actually, I now see why I was prescribed the medications but I have a real hard time taking care of myself...I did take the diuretic and my other meds today...but only because I really do feel miserable... I am not currently seeing cardiologist...Thanks for your comment.
How long can/will a person survive with undiagnosed, untreated CHF and what would that person's quality of life be like? The answer is how far will a rubber band stretch and will it hurt when it breaks... There is no way anyone can answer your question. There is no specific timeline and when you say undiagnosed, that would imply you are doing your own diagnosing. I just hope you have malpractice insurance.
See a doctor and get a proper diagnosis so that they can put you on a proper treatment regimen for your condition. All CHF is not created equal. I was diagnosed with CHF 9.5 years ago and still going. There may be a lot of smoke coming out my exhaust but I'm enjoying life and making the most of whatever time I have. Not to mention annoying doctors by outliving their projections.
Good luck
And the reason I say undiagnosed/untreated CHF is because that is what it is...when I was in the hospital back in December it was for Pneumonia...after the first 15 minutes in the ER, I never again heard the term Early Onset CHF...no one ever discussed with me much less give me an official diagnosis...BUT (and there is always a but)...from my research, I currently have ALL the symptoms and have struggled with uncontrolled HBP for over 10 years!...So no, I don't have malpractice insurance, but I am smart enough to know what condition I have and that it will more than likely go undiagnosed and untreated until I succumb to it...although I found out tonight that my Asthma rescue inhaler does actually slightly relieve the inability to breathe.
Whatever you decide, good luck.
There is Freedom in TRUTH,