Feeling full up very quickly is this a symptom of Heart Failure? Does anyone else have this?

[shwills]

Hello

For the past week or so I have been unable to eat very much, I have a very good diet anyway and good BMI etc. I find I can only eat a very small amount as I get bloated and feel sick, the sickness is not every day but the fullness is all the time

I have suspected heart failure and waiting for echo to find out, raised BNP levels, SVT and AF and heart block

I have looked on BHF website and NHS on heart failure but no mention of if these symptoms, however The American Heart Association lists this symptom as one of the things you can get

Does anyone else get this? Any help appreciated

Thank you

[Lezzers]

Hi shwills, my husband has HF and he often skips meals as he's just not hungry. However, feeling full or just not hungry is not an indication of HF, there are lots of reasons for feeling full including stress or worry. When are you due to have your echo?

[shwills in reply to Lezzers]

Hi Leezers

Echo on 1 October so only a few weeks the waiting is the worse think when you know what is what you can cope better etc

I have GERD and a hiatus hernia but they have been manageable lately but I suppose worry and stress could have aggravated them

[Lezzers in reply to shwills]

Hi shwills, I know you've been really worried that you have HF, but please try not to worry too much (easier said than done, I know! I'm a bit like you I can deal with things better if I know what I'm dealing with). But even if you do have HF, it really only means your heart just needs a bit of help pumping and with the right meds, diet, exercise etc there's no reason to suppose you'll not live a normal life with a normal life span. I may have suggested it before but it's worth your while looking at the HF charity pumping marvellous website, lots of positive information & support there.

[shwills in reply to Lezzers]

Thank you for your kind words of support I have put it at the back of my mind since the BHP levels were detected but I suppose it could be just lurking there all the time

[Lezzers in reply to shwills]

Please keep in touch & let us know how things are with you.

[shwills in reply to Lezzers]

I will when I have the results

Thank you

[Mickymoo in reply to shwills]

I'm in the same boat as you. My bnp levels came back at 1007pg/ml. Am getting my echo on 3rd October. The waiting is the worst. I have no other symptoms other than alot of swelling in my feet and legs and a bit short of breath. I'm only 41 and heart failure was the last thing on my mind when I went to the doctor. Can I ask what your bnp levels were? I'm sick with worry. This echo can't come quick enough! X

[shwills in reply to Mickymoo]

Hello Mickymoo

My BNP level is higher 1260

Shortness of breath a lot

Some swelling of feet and legs but not all the time, extreme fatigue I do have SVT and AF, heart block and a pacemaker

My Own GP said he wasn’t too concerned even though he suspected heart failure. I have read lots on this site and it has made me realise that there is so much that can be done, also it is up to us to have very healthy diet and listen and have respect for your body.

I think if I have HF it will be manageable like my other heart conditions, must have. a positive outlook

Yes the waiting is the worst

If I have it then meds hopefully will help a lot. I can’t walk that far at all due to the breathlessness and I get extreme fatigued

I work and find I come home exhausted and if the meds help that and I am able to walk better that will be great

Keep positive and only read positive things

[Mickymoo in reply to shwills]

Can I ask you what are SVT and AF? I also an very tired but can't sleep come bedtime. I go to work (fulltime) then collect my 6 year old son and do dinner, homework, housework etc but I find I get out of breath now just mopping the floor! Your echo is the day b4 mine so it'll be interesting to see what comes up for us both. Hope all goes well for u xx

[shwills in reply to Mickymoo]

Mickymoo

SVT is super ventricular tachycardia and Atrial fibrillation. Started with AF around 7 years ago and heart block the SVT in the last year or so. I have a good BMI and low cholesterol, the SVT and AF could be the cause of HF

I have trouble sleeping as well but think that is due partly to the heart problems and partly due to me

It’s not to long to wait now and find out I have had to wait 7 weeks for the echo and at first I was stressed but not now

I have got my head around it

you will to. One step at a time

Working is hard and exhausting but have to work and I do want to work couldn’t think what I would do if I didn’t

[Mickymoo in reply to shwills]

I'm the same. Need to work for my mental health!! Would go mad sitting at home all day! Will be glad to see the cardiologist next Wednesday for hopefully some answers. I've been having a sharp pain under my left breast today every time I breath in but it's fine when I breath out. Do u think this is anything to worry about? I'm so new to all this. Should I go to a & e or just wait for my appointment next week. Any advice would be welcome xx

[shwills in reply to Mickymoo]

I wouldn’t like to say about the sharp pain, I do get a similar thing and it comes and goes. I understand how difficult it is, you just never know if any pains etc are connected

Sorry I can’t be more helpful on this

If you are really worried perhaps see your GP?

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Feeling full can be a sign of many things. Elevated blood sugar can give me it as can spicy food. I think you should run it past your doctor as other causes include GERD, ulcers and some forms of cancer including pancreatic. Probably none of these but worth checking out.

[shwills in reply to MichaelJH]

Hi MichaelJH

I have GERD and a hiatus hernia but they have been manageable lately but it’s possible stress and worry could have aggravated them

I’m blood sugars are good

[daisy2311]

I would go to the doctor as this could be many things unrelated to the heart but equally as serious. Best to get things checked out.

[Routemaster]

Hi Shwills

This was certainly one of my symptoms before heart failure was diagnosed. I think it is to do with the unwanted build up of fluid in you.

Fortunately once I had been sorted out in hospital my appetite quickly returned to normal! I do hope that you feel better soon.

Ann

[shwills in reply to Routemaster]

Hello Routemaster

That is very helpful thank you

As I said the American Heart Association states this can be a symptom but BHF doesn’t state it

[santisuk]

Are you on any heart meds? I'm on a clopidogrel/aspirin/bisoprolol/atorvastatin/amiodarone program (post triple bypass op). That cocktail sometimes gives me a lack of appetite.

[shwills in reply to santisuk]

Bisoprolol and warfarin at present

GP won’t give me anything else he is leaving it up to Consultant after Echo and diagnosis

[santisuk in reply to shwills]

As it happens I saw my Bangkok big hospital-based lung consultant today as I was experiencing continuing pains in my chest at random (3 months after bypass) which I thought might be a lung infection rather than the chest cutting hangover. My concern was fuelled by having woken in a pool of cold sweat at 4:30am today and by reading on the internet that chest pains will typically clear up after 3 months.

My lung consultant here in Thailand is an "old school" practitioner with a wealth of experience including working alongside the thoracic surgeon I used - another old schooler and feted for heart and lung cutting in this country.

My lung consultant said that I did not have an infection - all the symptoms I had raised were consistent with pains that can continue for at least 6 months (not 3 months) post operation. he went so far as to say that a pneumonia diagnosis I had been given a month ago by my local regional pulmo - a former student doctor of his - was "understandable but wrong"! Those, even pulmos, who don't also work along with heart/thoracic guys, don't appreciate the far reaching effects of post-operation outbreaks and end up giving faux diagnoses. So that's why my apparently faux pneumonia did not make me feel anything like as unwell as I expected!

Then coming to the relevant point to your original post he said "and do you have any appetite problems when you are experiencing these chest pains". I smiled at his perspicacity. Yes I said but I thought that was down to the meds. He confirmed that appetite loss - either occasional or longer running was another classic aftermath of heart work, meds or no meds.

[Hidden]

Bloating might be.

As other posters had said, it could be caused by

other conditions.

Do you get any swelling in lower extremities?

There is an official name - ascites.

"Severe congestive heart failure of the right ventricle can also cause ascites, perhaps also by increased venous pressure Ascites without portal hypertension can be caused by disease involvement of the inner lining of the abdomen (peritoneum)".

Cardiologists I had known usually disliked "too many symptoms".

They go straight to look for any swelling on your feet.

That's "it".

Interesting to read that in the USA, they consider as a symptom of HF.

This might lead to a higher rate in HF diagnosis (?)

What's considered to be "faffing about" in one country is officially addressed, properly, elsewhere. . . Difference in attitude?

It could be the colder weather in September(?)

[shwills in reply to Hidden]

Hello

Yes it is interesting the difference in different countries

I do get swollen feet sometimes and it could be bloated stomach area

Yes most consultants will look at the more obvious symptoms and dismiss others

This is the same with most conditions it is rare but good when a consultant is enlightened

[Mickymoo in reply to Hidden]

Hi autumnsonnet. I have had alot if swelling in my feet, ankles legs and stomach. I have put on a stone in fluid. Have been going to the doctors for over a year about it and has been dismissed every time as arthritic swelling. They have never even taken time to look at the swelling even though I look pregnant around my stomach area. Few weeks ago a new doctor sent me to have bnp levels checked which came back at 1007. I'm so disappointed with the nhs system. I am now to see cardiologists on 3rd October but feel this should have been done a year ago when the swelling 1st started. X

[oranga]

had this a few weeks ago, cut out nuts and dried fruit and used charcoal tablets. Are you drinking enough fluid? I think as you get older you need softer well cooked food. x?x

[shwills in reply to oranga]

I do eat a lot if legumes and vegetables as I try to follow a really good diet and I like them

Think I drink enough but could be something

[Hidden in reply to shwills]

Legumes /"veggies" can be hard to digest in our much older gut.

Something to do with "fibres".

I won't be shocked if a condition like HF would make the gut less active (?) and "sludge" much longer in the GI tract.

I agree with oranga.

[Hidden in reply to oranga]

I think this is so true.

[Dolphin14]

It is a sign you can goggle it, Early satiety in heart failure.

It's also a sign of other things as well.

[Vivi2711]

Respected shwills,

The prominent symptoms of heart failure are,

1) Exceesive fatigue

2) Sudden unintended increase in weight

3) shortness of breadth while lying down flat or while bending

4) Inability to perform tasks which were easily done earlier such as lifting a grocery bag or climbing stairs

5) Swelling of feet, ankles and bloating of stomach

6) Suddenly waking up from sleep and gasping for breadth or dreaming as if climbing up a steep hill or running with extraordinary speed and feeling a gasp for breadth in the dream itself.

7) Constipation

8) Feeling depressed

9) Inability to perform even short time exercise

10) Constant higher heart rate & BP

Loss of appetite is also a symptom but if other symptoms such as shortness of breadth, excessive tiredness & swelling in feet,ankles with bloating of stomach are not felt, I doubt it is not heart failure.

Check as to whether your eyes / skin has turned yellow.

A liver functioning test may be required if the loss of appetite condition persists.

With regards

[Zezee in reply to Vivi2711]

A very good response most helpful

[shwills in reply to Vivi2711]

Hello

I have High BNP levels, shortness of breath on walking and on little exertion, get extremely exhausted, coughing, feet and legs swelling

So quite a few of the things you listed and GP suspects heart failure

Thank you the list was helpful