Heart Failure

[Kiwiphil]

Can you have severe heart failure with an ef of 15 and no symptoms at all?

[iansHealth1]

One thing I’ve learned about this site, the fine people who contribute to it and cardiac issues in general, is that we’re all different.

One mans (womans, persons, etc) ambrosia is anothers poison.

My lasting EF count has hovered around the 15% mark. Seen it at 25% and had it commented on as being 30%, but 15% is the most common number.

As far as symptoms are concerned, I get breathless climbing steep stairs but I walk 10k a day and climb at least 40 flights within that walk.

I think the drugs I’m on mask or repress a lot of symptoms for the better.

My average - 4 times daily at home - BP is 94/60 -ish and my PR when exercising can get up to 130 bpm, but will return to 65/70 within a couple of minutes.

I can’t lose weight. I’m 84kg and would like to be 78, I don’t drink alcohol or smoke/vape anymore and eat a lot better than before the HA in Oct 22.

I’m 63 and tell people I’m tons healthier than I used to be.

So, we’re all different symptom wise…😆

[PinkKizzie]

Hi Kiwiphil, as iansHealth1 has said, we are all different. Before I found out my EF was 25% I felt tired and breathless and I thought it was just old age. Hopefully your GP has put you on medication to keep your EF stable or improve. Keep as active as you are able. Take care, keep well.

[Blearyeyed]

As others have said , everyone is different and the type of heart failure or cause of the EF makes a big difference in which symptoms a person gets and when.It's not uncommon to have EF of 30% and lower and for someone not to feel they have any symptoms and for symptoms not to correlate with his severe your heart failure is. Interestingly, this symptom free phenomena is more likely to occur in very active and athletic people or those of a younger age range which is why a cardiac crisis happens without warning.

Although, with diagnosed heart failure and an EF of 20 or below symptoms are usually more severe and obvious. Especially, issues like breathlessness, exercise intolerance, joint pain and stiffness , dizziness on moving up and down, headaches. tiredness or fatigue , slower thinking skills and coordination and numbness in the extremities during physical activity.

With a sustained EF of 15% or lower and heart failure it would be very unusual to have absolutely no symptoms at all.

You may get many symptoms, all be it mild ones , which you may be putting down to other causes or don't recognise as being part of your cardiac problem but are actually related to your heart dysfunction when you look at the pattern of things that happen during the day.

[Kiwiphil in reply to Blearyeyed]

Hi, thank you.

I acctually went to hospital with covid (I am 76) and was "totally wiped out" but no other symptoms.

When there they were more interested in my heart than the covid.

The day after my rat test was negative I had the echcocardiograph and I feel covid had a big part to play in this.