heart failure

[Toyoungforthis]

hey guy just reaching out I have been told some awful new over the past couple of days, my heart is working at 15% I spent a week in hospital snow sent home with a lot of medication can I recover from this am only 34 am so scared

[fishonabike]

It is unlikely that anyone here could reliably tell you whether or not you can recover, but you can improve and learn to live with this with good treatment and support.

I'm sure your cardiology team will be following you up, maybe with more investigations to find out more about why you heart is struggling. Meanwhile your medications are aimed at supporting your heart and improving how well it works

There are charities (as well as the BHF) like Pumping Marvellous and Cardipmyopathy UK who offer advice and support for people with struggling hearts, do look them up

[RTCLP1]

I would suggest reading other posts on here with people who have been new to heart failure. People on here at great at responding. Hopefully, it'll give you some reassurance. With this group, you don't feel alone.

[TheBesty]

Hi,

Can't say either way on your case but here is my stats when I was in hospital to today:

I was hospitalised with acute cardiomyopathy with EF of 13%, I was put on four pillars of heart medication and changed my diet & Lifestyle, fast forward a year and I now have an EF of 38%

[RufusScamp]

I was diagnosed with heart failure (E/F 20%) over 5 years ago. With medication and a pacemaker it recovered to 60% (a normal value), and life goes on as normal.

Heart failure just means inefficiency, not actual failure, and in many cases it can be improved. If you are offered a cardio rehab course, I would recommend you take it, to give you the best ideas on how to take care of yourself.

[Anon2023]

Hi. I completely understand your anxiety because I felt exactly the same. It's 3 years since my diagnosis with heart failure (awful title) and I've adjusted better over time. It took a while to come to terms with the fact that my heart wasn't working as well as it should but there there is life after diagnosis. There are a lot of people on this forum who have had heart problems for years and years and they are still living life to the full. The pumping marvellous website is excellent and explains a lot. Google can be very frightening and is full of misinformation and outdated statistics so stick to reliable sources of information. Most of all, give yourself a bit of time to adjust and be kind to yourself.

[Thumper76]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I can totally understand your anxiety. It’s a huge shock and takes time to adjust to the new lifestyle. Heart failure is a rubbish phrase…it should be something like heart not working quite as well as it could be…but that’s a bit of a mouthful. It probably will take time for you to get your head around it…I know it took me a while and I still get anxious moments…but make sure you take your meds, go for your appointments, have a look at the sites that people have recommended and know that the doctors can do amazing things and that the heart can improve There are loads of people on here, both young and older, who have or have had similar to you so you can always pop on here for help if you need it. Be kind to yourself. Hope this has helped a bit 🤗

[gkjowett]

There are some good replies here! Heart failure is a really undermining expression - you have to attend the Heart Failure Clinic, see the Heart Failure nurse. If you have a kidney disease, they send you to the Urology Department, not the Dodgy Water-works Clinic! Your 15% Ejection Fraction can be really improved by keeping to the drug regime and carrying on with the tests, which will probably include ecg, echo-cardiograms, CT- and MRI-scans. None of these are too stressful unless you don’t like having your chest shaved, or being told to lay down in a big metal pipe and hold your breath. Keep us posted about how you’re getting on.