Hot weather with AF and HF

[bushy2016]

Been just over a year since diagnosed with AF and HF and this hot weather is knocking me for six...within 5 mins I have to sit down before passing out with the HF... I am limited to no more than 1.5 ltr of fluid a day..anyone else got any ideas what to do...other than sitting in a paddling pool all day!!!!

[rosyG]

I keep having showers and not drying my hair!

[P0rtnahapp1e]

bushy2016 , I have AF and HF, limited to 1300 litres a day, and diagnosed April 2016. I find that the hot weather affects me less severely if I keep eating to a minimum.

My fluid retention is much worse, causing swollen ankles and stomach so my furosemide has been raised from 80 mg to 120 mg daily.

I walk 3 - 4 miles early in the morning before it gets too warm so that I don't feel guilty about taking little exercise for the rest of the day other than my usual chores and shopping etc.

[bushy2016 in reply to P0rtnahapp1e]

Wish I could walk that far!! I too have upped the furosemide...starting to look like humpty dumpty!!

Role on winter!!!

[rothwell in reply to bushy2016]

Felt a bit miserable this morning as going to Italy for a week tomorrow and have developed an awful chesty cough which kept me awake in the night. Then I read your post and the 'Humpty Dumpty' bit really cheered me up..we really have to keep a sense of humour.. Good on yer!

[bushy2016 in reply to rothwell]

if you dont laugh ...youll cry

[Bauldy]

Sorry for asking but why the limit on fluids ?

[bushy2016 in reply to Bauldy]

with Heart failure you have problems with retaining fluids so you take diuretics to help you ...so they limit the amount you consume to lesson the strain on the heart

[Solara]

Glad to see your post cos your case is exactly the same as mine. I can cope pretty well under normal conditions but since the heatwave began, Iam getting the symptoms 4 or 5 times daily. Scary.

[azriverrat]

Thankfully no limit on fluids for me. Was 90 degrees at 4:30 am. Hitting 120. Just walking to mailbox is 1.5 liters.

[ILowe]

Not sure on this. But, surely those with heart failure in hot weather are sweating a lot. Therefore they need to increase their fluid intake to cope?

A general point: acclimatisation to heat is strongly related to fitness, and requires moderate exercise in the heat.

[bushy2016 in reply to ILowe]

Why do you presume people with Heart failure are sweating alot? Im not...my heart is working overtime due to the heat which then starts the AF off...and excersise is impossible and Im not over weight

[ILowe]

I am assuming that anyone, with or without heart failure, will sweat a lot in hot weather. Therefore, even when taking diuretics, fluid intake has to be increased as usual.

You must avoid your triggers. I do know for a fact that a major element of learning to cope with heat is to do some exercise, however small. If 30 minutes is impossible, then several short times.

[bushy2016 in reply to ILowe]

Learn to cope with the heat? Its not a mental state of mind having heart failure and af.. the body gets warm.....the heart goes into over drive...triggers...1 day I can be sat still...and then af kicks in and I can be woken in the night with af

[ILowe in reply to bushy2016]

Learning to cope with heat is both mental and behavioural. The coping also changes with time because the body adjusts to heat, and usually does so quite well, considering that a large part of the world live where it is routinely 25C or more.

[P0rtnahapp1e]

ILowe , I have heart failure which is why I'm limited to 1300 MLS per day. Without diuretics my feet swell, but worse than that my lungs are swamped with fluid causing pulmonary oedema which I can assure you can't be relieved by "getting used to it". The last time it happened I was rushed to hospital in the middle of the night where over a stone in weight was pumped off in the form of fluid. A quick diet, but not one that I would recommend 😀.

Is Lowe your surname? I only ask as it was my maiden name.

[ILowe in reply to P0rtnahapp1e]

Yes, Lowe is my surname.

I am puzzled, genuinely puzzled by what you say. I do not question your problem. Over 20 years ago I too had heart failure. I had bad shortness of breath. I was sluggish, which I fought by repeated short exercise, and I recorded 39C in my flat, with just a fan to help me.

Right now it is a cool 28C in my flat, a relative has been given diuretics to cope with leaky valves and blood pressure. Diuretics and the heat, apparently, go together. The relative maintains regular water intake, because most of the water is lost as sweat.

[P0rtnahapp1e in reply to ILowe]

I take exercise in the morning when it's cool(er); four mile walk on a good day, and only two if I'm not feeling great, but the latter is a result of weakness having just recovered from a nine week stay in hospital due to sepsis and then endocarditis.

The doctors jumped from foot to foot on my admission since their answer to sepsis was to flood my body with fluids, orally and intravenously which was in direct contravention to my cardiologist's instructions limiting my fluids to 1300ml.

The decision was made to treat the more potentially fatal of my problems which was marginally the sepsis so fluids were poured into me. Naturally that had dire consequences for my legs and lungs.

I'm not sure why you are puzzled. I don't pretend to be qualified to explain the physiology of my body, but I know that the hot weather has necessitated me to up my furosemide dosage from 80mg per day to 120mg because of the increased swelling. That goes directly against your theory that the loss of sweat will negate the need for diuretics.

Any Lowes that I know have an argumentative streak. 😀

[ILowe in reply to P0rtnahapp1e]

I did once study physiology. That is why I am puzzled. OK. It seems that in some people the venous return is unable to cope with the increased dilatation of peripheral blood supply. This leads to swelling.

But, crucially, I cannot see how this negates the need for increased supplies of water during hot weather. On the contrary, greater sweating will provide the cooling needed for the body to justify constricting the peripheral blood supply and so counteracting the oedema.

Given the priority of staying hydrated, I would expect any doctor to have strong justification for limiting water intake during hot weather.

The first site I looked at when googling says:

"4. Drink plenty of water

"Whatever you do, don’t limit the amount of water you drink thinking this will lessen the amount of water you retain. Not drinking enough water can make the salt concentration in your blood to go up, which makes your body retain any water you do drink and cause swelling! Excess salt is a big contributor to swelling, so by drinking more water you can help to dilute the amount of salt in your system and flush it out. avogel.co.uk/health/circula...

[P0rtnahapp1e in reply to ILowe]

Just wrote a big long reply and deleted it. 😩

Thanks for your advice. I have always been told that it's just as dangerous to drink too little as too much because of the salts so that's in line with your thinking.

Did you recover from your heart failure? My GP has told me that it's a condition for life, but my heart failure nurse tells me that mine is not so grave as it was.

[ILowe in reply to P0rtnahapp1e]

In my case there was a reason for it, but it was not discovered early. I had made appointments for further investigations, then one long breathless night I collapsed. In hospital they found out the strings on the mitral valve had snapped. A few weeks later I had the valve replaced. Wow, what an operation. I went into hospital in a wheelchair, and came out at a fast walk. Happy memories!!

[P0rtnahapp1e in reply to ILowe]

What a great outcome! Well done you!

[bushy2016]

I know who I will be listening to...my cardiologist...I too had sepsis...so they decided to insert a intra aortic balloon pump to keep me going while they battled with sepsis for 3 weeks....I had severe hf but left with lvsd along with af, Obstructive and central sleep apnea...oh I nearly forgot...femoral nerve damage due to IABP and cant fly due to my AF being unstable at present

[P0rtnahapp1e in reply to bushy2016]

Poor bushy2016 . What a catalogue of problems! Hope it all gets sorted soon.