Water tablets problem

[quickenthetempo]

I was diagnosed with Heart failure last November and it was a real shock to me. I am on the normal cocktail of drugs for this condition including Fusemide and Spirolactone which are water tablets.

I am coping ok apart from have an urgent desire to go to the toilet many times after taking the water tablets.

I have been tested for prostrate cancer and that was fine. The need to use the toilet comes on so quickly sometimes that I have had to use a loo in inappropriate places a couple of times.

If I know I have meeting or other commitment I dont take the water tablets until afterwards.

Do others have the same problem and if so how do you cope with it

[shopman]

I know how you feel it is no joke trying to find somewhere in a hurry. Planning time out can be frustrating if you are unsure if a toilet is nearby. I think I have said elsewhere that I occasionally play University Challenge looking for a starter for 10. Fortunately I have now been able to reduce my Furosemide down from 240mg to 80mg which I now take just after midday - this allows me still to go out later in the afternoon after the initial urges have calmed down.

The most important issue I had was going for regular blood tests to ensure Kidney function and/or Potassium levels weren't compromised.

[Andrew_A]

The hospital pharmacist told me to take the furosemide once I get to work if it causes any problems like that but luckily I've been OK with it

[judes]

Oh how I know how you feel it reminds me of when I was pregnant, I know where every public loo is!

If I know I’ve got to go out early in the morning I take them later in the day or if I’m going for a day out I miss a dose. I know naughty but I feel every now and then isn’t going to hurt and I watch what I drink.

For example I’m going from Hull to Southampton on a coach next week and there is no way I’m taking them befor the journey!

J

[quickenthetempo]

Thanks for the replies. It seems a catch 22 situation. I have been told by my doctor I should drink 2 litres of fluid a day and also not to miss a day's tablets. I try to take them later in the day if I have something on earlier but if I take them at bedtime I am up all night and don't sleep.

Also the amount I have eaten the day before also seems to effect how much fluid I have to lose the next day. Guess its the price I have to pay to sort my heart problems. it can be just so embarrassing and inconvenient when I have to drop everything and find a toilet straight away, especially when I am with other people who are not family.

[Handel]

It's awful isn't it! Hubby takes his Furosemide at 6am which helps. By the time 9 or 10am rolls around, the urges to pop to the loo urgently have disappeared. He has missed one (taken it later) when we've had to travel.

Our GP said he shouldn't be on them but the hospital advised the GP that hubby should still take them!!

All the very best xxx

[BS-ZIG]

I take it in the morning, and plan to be home at least 2 hours. unless I have an Appt. , then I wait until I get home. I use those 2 hours to drink my coffee, and catch up on my computer, watch the news, etc. oh and pee every 10 or 15 minutes...

[nymima01]

My mother is housebound at this point due to the water pills she takes. It is life or death for her however and she is much older than you are. She is on Metazolone - lowest dose, and furosemide 40 mgs a day. She cannot take more of a dose than this as she then has the problem of not being able to urinate. I suspect her kidneys are not in good shape.

She is in stage 4 chf.