Heart Failure - 55% EF but still breathlessness

[vnarayan]

Is it possible to have EF of 55% and breathlessness due to heart failure. I have chest stiffness along with breathlessness.

[Hidden]

Dear vnarayan

Certainly Im 60% + now from -20% and I am still breathless, some days brilliant others { like today } I keep catching my breath.

The cold and damp is playing havoc . I found that the GTN spray helped { Dr said give it a go } which makes me wonder if its a sort of asthmatic thing { something Ive never been }

Have an appointment for tests and Cardiologist soon so will bring it up then.

I must admit { something new for me to do } that I find the breathlessness the most annoying and disability making.

Moan over

Take care

[vnarayan in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, infact i have asthma, but my breathlessness is not related to the same. It is due to my heart. It is so frustrating to live with breathlessness. However there are many people with just 30% EF living without breathlessness.

[fishonabike]

I had shortness of breath with a "normal EF", i had a basic lung function test at my GP surgery which indicated that i needed further assessment - this was 3 yrs ago - i was promptly referred to a local chest clinic who did a more thorough assessment and diagnosed asthma with low level COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary diease, formerly known as bronchitis) - a simple daily inhaler has resolved it

but EF is not the only measure of how effectively your heart is pumping - Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) is an additional measure which takes into account the twisting action of the heart muscle which can be reduced without affecting the EF - you may want to ask your cardiologist if this has been tested and they think there is a need to check yours

[vnarayan in reply to fishonabike]

thanks

[fishonabike in reply to vnarayan]

By the way i should have said that i had occasional allergic asthma previously, triggered by dust mites and cats, controled with ventolin and anti-histamines when required - but this breathlessness was so different to what i was used to that i did not recognise it as asthma

the nurse specialist told me that more cases are now being diagnosed due to poor air quality, so i was glad that i had mine checked out

[Karabiner]

Yes, there are multiple variants of HF. Some are with "preserved ejection fraction", others with "reduced ejection fraction", and some with "improved ejection fraction". See here for a recent full analysis. It's long, and detailed, but Table 4 shows the categories. And section 2 describes the various stages, etc... ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161...

[Silvertail]

There is a problem called heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction where the EF is normal. It's when the heart pumps normally but is too stiff to fill properly, You can have symptoms of heart failure with this. I had similar a few years ago, but am stable now.

[vnarayan in reply to Silvertail]

Silvertail thanks. Hope Entresto is helping you. If not was there any other medicine which helped.

[Silvertail]

vnarayan, I was never on Entresto. I was diagnosed in 2012 before Entresto came on the market here. Since then, I have been on Candesartan, Spironolactone, and Carvedilol/Bisoprolol. I changed from Carvedilol to Bisoprolol because I thought it may have caused my neuropathy.

[DucatiGuy]

Hi vnarayan,

I had the heart attack 2 years ago and was put all the meds and had EF of 40% but this has increased to 49% since. During the last 2 years I had Bisoprolol which the doctor has reduced to 1.5mg from 2.5mg recently and I have found breathlessness and fatigue has totally disappeared. So the breathlessness could be the medication side effect and not the condition itself. Haven’t felt so alive in 2 years. Hope you find the cause.

[vnarayan in reply to DucatiGuy]

DucatiGuy thanks, infact even after stopping Biso i still have breathlessness

[Judithdalston]

interesting to read some of these posts…I have breathlessness that has appeared post virally with raised bp and HR…had echocardiogram and chest X-ray and now on 5 BP drugs, and done LC breathing clinics but not improving. 3 weeks ago bisoprolol dose was increased and I have had felt more breathless, though HR seems to have reduced on mild activity, BP still raised. Talked to my dr.son this am, who admittedly is a psych. , but he thought worst symptoms might be bisoprolol related and that a asthma inhaler might be the answer! Is this normal, ie more drugs to overcome ill affects of a bisoprol, or should I try another drug completely?

[Reltuc]

I am slightly asthmatic and thought it was getting worse, but I was not whezzing..didnt have a cough or cold so it seemed strange for how breathless I was and how fatiuged Iwondered if I had a clot on my lung as I had pain in the top of my ribs and my backA scan showed I had sick sinus and heart failure, I had a pacemaker fitted and feel better than I have in years.