within the last two or so weeks i was diagnosed with chf scared to death that i wont be able to live a normal life etc. i am on beta blockrs n ace inhibitors which brought my heart rate down, anyway i was wondering with the ejection fraction, will that ever go up mine is at 15% i have no heart muscle damage and no blocked arteries any help would be appreciated
within the last two or so weeks i was diagnosed with chf scared to death that i wont be able to live a normal life etc. i am on beta blockrs n ace inhibitors which brought my heart rate down, anyway i was wondering with the ejection fraction, will that ever go up mine is at 15% i have no heart muscle damage and no blocked arteries any help would be appreciated
How old are you? When they say no heart muscle dmg and no blocked arteries, do they think you had a heart virus? I would seek second opinions depending on how old you are
i am 34. they definatly said i have chf. i went into emerg one day with a bad cough and they did an exray on my chest n they noticed my heart was slightly enlarged. there wasa no mention of virus. my blood pressure is always good my heart rate has slowed down to like 64 bpm from the 115 i was at.
tell me about the process of you being diagnosed. Were you refered to a cardio doc or did they just tell you? I am very confused that a heart with no damage at all and no blockages could just go into CHF like that. something must of happened
ok this is how it went down. i went to the hospital like i said to get a chest cold checked out, they did chest exrays n noticed my heart was slightly enlarged. the er doc sent a referral to a cardiologist doc. a week after that i went to see the cardiologist that was a tuesday so she sent a referral to get an echo done. the next morning they called and wanted me to come in for an echo. i did. the one givin me the echo didnt say much other than i was being admitted to hospital. i was in hospital for ten days. they monitored me gave me an angiogram poked n prodded etc. doc says there is no damage or blockages, the pressure in my heart is a bit high, and my ejection fraction is like 15% but all my bloodwork comes back fine no problems there. i do have an underactive thyroid i wonder if that caused it. my mind is racin tryin to figure everything out
Ok starting to come together. did you ever have issues with your heart that can cause it to weaken? Excessive heart rate, like a-fib or anything like that. someones EF does not just go down that far and you being so young. There is an underlying issue somewhere.
BUT to go on about living a normal life, follow exactly what the doctors tell you. There are plenty of people who have CHF and have lived 10+ years with no issue. My father has had CHF for 2 years and he is doing very good from the last time i heard anything about it.
My hubby has CHF and has for 5 years DX..... he had a heart attack in 2007 and seems that things went down from there. He had an ICD implanted a year ago and 4 days ago changed out to a Bi-V CRT-D, which will constantly pace him and train his heart to beat "normally".. DIET is the most important thing and meds......as well as exercise with what you can tolerate. NO SALT. ... salt is poison to you, so you have to read all labels and eliminate salt from your diet. You will get it naturally, so when people say you need salt, yes you do...... Good luck. READ and learn all you can. Seems that is all I do to help my hubby. His problem now is severe back pain in his left shoulder, and all think it is heart related. So, find out today and will have a left /right heart cath. Get a CHF specialist as well. Not all cardios are equally in tuned to CHF.....believe me, a long story, but I know I am right!!! HUGS
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My husband was dx with CHF, cardiomyopathy, and with a EF 10% -10 years ago. They thought he had gotten a virus and it attacked his heart. He continued to work for 4 1/2 years-then had A Fib. In fact his heart is much better with medicines, and 6 years ago he got a ICD put in. With the extra third wire for CHF-his heart is much better than 10 years ago. His EF is 50% now. The pacemaker has made his heart work better. He is able to do everything he wants to do. Although he could not go back to work after the ICD-as he worked in a factory with large equipment.
You can get CHF at any age from the flu or a virus and when the flu/virus is gone-it has damaged a organ. Can be any organ. With my husband it was the flu-within a month of the flu he started coughing-mostly at night when he was laying down. He saw a cardio dr and they said he was having CHF. They did a heart cath-he had heart muscle damage-they dx him with cardiomyopathy-EF 10%. He took meds and did fine for many years until the A Fib started one week-then the ICD was put in. But his heart is doing great and the EF is much higher due to the pacemaker.
The best way to explain is that when you get the flu/virus and the flu has run its course thru your body-the flu/virus can leave behind a damaged heart muscle. The virus can attack your organ. The weaker heart muscle has trouble pumping the blood out of the heart-and fluid backs up in the heart-this is CHF. Too much fluid in the heart. But with diuretics, heart meds, exercise, and watch your diet-you can live a good life. At some point many end up with a pacemaker or ICD. My husband was 43 when he got sick with the flu then he got CHF. Good luck to you.
cogestive heart failure and ef 
