cold climate and heart failure

[Ktomoph_]

my bucket list included a trip to Norway and now i would like to tick that off as experienced!

I have heart failure; atrial fibrillation; a CRT-D device (fitted 8 years ago); CKD; and occasionally get problems with oedema.

I understand that cold temperatures can thicken the blood and therefore could cause blood clots to form, so general advice is to avoid cold temperatures......but I wonder if anyone out there who suffers heart failure etc has travelled to Norway, or even better, lives in Norway?

I am thinking of travelling in mid to late May, with the idea that we travel by ferry, train, ferry/cruise through the fjords with final destination Norway.

I will be speaking with my GP and also consultant to consider their advice, but would like to hear from anyone who has travelled to Norway or similar cooler climates.

extra info - age-wise: original replacement parts are no longer available, but still mobile!

[Hidden]

I can’t help on your specific question but please, if you decide to go, make sure you have adequate travel insurance or at least know the price before you book.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Hidden]

ohhh that was my first research, and as expected it is around the £1000 mark!!!

but thankyou for responding and raising the all important travel insurance cover.

[Barre01 in reply to Ktomoph_]

Try one of the comparison sites

[devonian186]

Norway could be very warm at that time of the year as we head towards very long days.

I was in Austria in January and whilst we are all different, warm weather clothing and the availability of a snood to cover my face if needed meant no problems were caused.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to devonian186]

thankyou for responding - your info does help as I had read that there is 'no such thing as bad weather in Norway, just bad clothing' - am becoming more positive about it!

[Anothernewbie]

Depends on where you are going, Hammerfest is around 7c; Alesund 11c and Bergen 16. I got these figures from whatsinport.com. a useful website for a Norwegian tour.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Anothernewbie]

thankyou for the info on the website. Very helpful..

[wishIwasbetter]

Hi Ktompoph,

As others say you have to listen to the Medical personnel and that is your first port of call.

Having said that if you are felling good then follow your dreams. I was suffering from A,F, COPD and heart failure but having passed all the medical questions on my insurance we have been to the Fjords (the weather was good) but also have traveled extensively in the freezing winter to Switzerland and Germany. If you have the right clothes on and are warm it makes a difference. We also went up a few mountains where the air is thin and I had no ill effects. I think confidence plays a part but if you don't feel well on a certain day them you rest that day.

This is just an opinion. I don't know how you feel mentally or physically all I am saying to you is if you are happy to do it mentally and are (according to medics) well enough then go and enjoy. Only you know your body and mind. Sometimes if you think negatively it snowballs try to be positive and it does work honestly..

[Ktomoph_ in reply to wishIwasbetter]

oh all you have said is so true and so how I am feeling! we only have one go at this life and all it has to offer and I would rather die doing things i enjoy than sitting waiting for death to come!

thankyou for this reminder

[wishIwasbetter in reply to Ktomoph_]

I like your attitude. Once you are on the holiday and mix with others you find quite a few have their own problems. It is surprising but once you start chatting and enjoying suddenly you feel like you did before your illness(s) and everything becomes better and you'll be glad you made the effort and I am sure your wife will. Don't dwell on the odd twinge. Good luck and enjoy.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to wishIwasbetter]

thanks wish! this is a trip with either my daughter or sis-in-law, or I may even do the adventure on my own, as my husband sadly died a few years ago. And you are right - people do help lift your spirits and take your mind off things!

[wishIwasbetter in reply to Ktomoph_]

Dear Ktomoph

I thought after wrote it that maybe I should not of assumed you were male or even had a partner as your non de plume sheds no light on it. please accept my apologies as you know once sent it cannot be redeemed. I would say however what you decide to do either Daughter, sis in law or on your own one thing I assure you is that you won't be on your own. I found making friends on a cruise or whatever holiday you chose just happens and is all part of your trip. What ever you decide I am sure you will enjoy with your new found positivity and i hope my initial comments were of help to you.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to wishIwasbetter]

thanks wish. no worries about gender and marital status here!

so looking forward to trip, and yes your comments and info were most welcome!

[Sanmo]

I'm a frequent visitor to Switzerland to see friends and family, I don't have any problems in the cold of winter, it's a very dry climate though even in winter, but I do become very lethargic and generally out of sorts in the high temperatures of a Swiss summer.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Sanmo]

thankyou for this info. I hadnt considered the dry/damp climate aspect.....good to know.

[Thanksnhs in reply to Ktomoph_]

They were beautiful, I also done a cruise round Iceland it was absolutely amazing and the weather was gorgeous we had a big party on the ship when we crossed the artic circle the sun was splitting the sky and the crew were throwing each other in the pool, it was too hot for me in the blue lagoon 😂. Char

[Thanksnhs]

Hi I cruised the fiords in Norway at the end of May a few years ago, the weather was lovely, sunny with a few cloudy days but pleasant, just like a normal Scottish summer. Char

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Thanksnhs]

cruising the fjords is part of what i would like to do so thanks for that

[Qualipop]

I've been to Norway several times from June to September and found the temperatures very similar to here unless of course you're going to the far north. I didn't go much further up than Bergen. I have a friend who lives on the north coast near the Russian border . After about June she reports temperatures above 14c and mid summer in the 20s. I don't have heart failure but I find that cold air gives me chest pain. I always have a scarf round my face. The higher the altitude like up on the hardangervidda the more likely it is to find snow right into August.

Lucky you- enjoy your trip but do be aware , Norway is VERY expensive, eve a cup of coffee.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Qualipop]

thanks Qualipop for suggestion about face scarf - a couple of people have said the same about breathing in the cold air.

and yes I did notice it is going to be an expensive trip - starting with the travel insurance! - and then followed by the cost of food and drink.....perhaps it will help towards shifting some body pounds ;D which is a positive against spending some!

[Qualipop in reply to Ktomoph_]

at least alcohol is only sold in state shops so the price is always the same (very high) although I guess you may miss that. I ordered a campari soda on a ferry and the waiter asked if I was sure and did I know the price. It was the ONLY drink I had the whole time. First time I went, and drove up through Denmark, I was working with the army and took compo( Army rations) and a camping stove for the whole trip and as many petrol cans as we could fit in. A few years later, I found it's completely normal to pack up from the breakfast buffet for lunchtime sandwiches; lots of rolls, cheese and ham. so we only paid for one meal a day. Brunost ( brown cheese) is lovely. and Kanelboller (Cinnamon buns are to die for. As the Norwegians say, here's no bad weather, only bad clothes. I adore Norway and have learned the language; well one of them, but everyone speaks English and most will refuse to speak Norse to you. My lifetime dream is to go on the Hurtigruten but I'm afraid I'm now far too badly disabled. You will have a lovely time.. If you are in Oslo don't miss the Vigeland sculpture park and in Bergen the ski lift is a must for the views.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Qualipop]

gosh thankyou for this info....really helpful! I also suffer IBS but hadnt given a lot of thought to food as I normally find things I can eat...so it may be yet another one of those challenges watching others tuck into all the wonderful treats but thankfully my imagination helps my tastebuds immensely, and there is plenty of fish I am told, which I adore. I will try the cheeses though.

I did joke that I could actually drink alcohol in Norway as the colder climate makes the blood thicker and glupier and alcohol makes it thinner!

Oh it all sounds wonderful. I will lookup the Hurtigruten as not heard of that.

[Qualipop in reply to Ktomoph_]

Hurtigruten is a ship company that sails u p the coast right to North Cape and beyond to KIrkenes where my friend lives, just a mile from Russia. There now have adverts on TV. You sleep on the ships but it acts like a bus service delivering pretty much everything from cars to knitting needles to all the islands and coastal towns and you can take day trips out. People usually fly out to Bergen, get the ship north then fly back to Bergen from Kirkenes or vice versa. The food in Norway is everything from McDonalds and Pizzas to traditional with an emphasis on local salmon and the cheeses; a lot of lamb; fairly bland food traditionally. Do a google on traditional Norwegian foods. We found everything from Thai, Chinese etc ; great restaurants but very expensive. I prefer to eat the local food when I'm away. It's a very modern country but not very easy for anyone disabled. I've been turned away from several places as I use a wheelchair; footpaths slope to the road to let snow melt run off; again not at all easy in a wheelchair that wants to go sideways, no dropped kerbs etc. On the brand new waterfront in Oslo i lost a tyre. The gaps between flagstones are just far enough apart to get your wheel stuck. At one restaurant I had to use the service lift with the stinking dustbins.I found the medical service very easy and good when my son was ill but had to pay upfront before seeing a GP. My insurance company was very helpful too but i can't remember who it was.

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Qualipop]

just read your other posts - my goodness Qualipop you have been through it!

but I identify with a lot of episodes you have outlined and it does now bother me a little more. Last year I had 3 separate episodes of what I initially on first episode thought was severe indigestion.

a scan was arranged at the hospital but it was carried out by a trainee student and the results showed the images were unreadable. However, I was told it could be angina (emphasis on could be) and then prescribed Glyceryl Trinitrate sublingual spray and told to spray it under the tongue if it happens again.

A couple of months later the same all around central chest and back pain accompanied by profuse sweating, dizziness and this time being sick, happened again, so I sprayed under the tongue. It took a while but finally the pain stopped and exhausted I fell asleep.

3-4 months later it happened again as above. But nothing since.

It has taken till now for another scan to be arranged but this time using the radioactive dye - which will be the decider to whether I can travel in May.

But reading your posts and the fact that many things were missed is now making me think and recall things. My family also has a definite history of heart problems and deaths which I have repeatedly told them about.

my positive thought in this moment of choices to be made right now is....wow, what a wonderful place to step off this mortal coil!!

[Qualipop in reply to Ktomoph_]

Yep it's not been easy but that's life and getting older. I just mentioned the Norwegian medical services in my last reply. No trouble at all and a great insurance company that kept phoning me to ask how my son was. Luckily that was before my heart problems and my spine was pretty stable.

[Haresear55]

Norway is lovely and in late May temps warm up to 16-20C in Oslo. Cooler in the Mountains and fjords. Similar to Orkney temperatures. We love our trips to Norway. Speak to doctors about medications and I bring extra in case of delays. Medical insurance is necessary for emergency transport from ships or in remote areas. Most small villages have helpful chemists with good supplies.

One caution I get from my cardiologist: no saunas and cold water plunges!

Enjoy if cleared to go!

[Ktomoph_ in reply to Haresear55]

thankyou Haresear.... I am annoyed with myself that I did not go to Norway years ago - before heart started playing up as saunas and cold plunges are experiences I would have loved to take there! But yes, both are not good for wonky hearts!

Thanks for info on chemists and as with everywhere I go I would be taking extra meds 'just in case'. I am speaking with cardiologist next week, but am now quite excited that the prospect looks good!

[Haresear55]

Agree. I am hoping you will get the opportunity to make the trip. Lovely scenery and lovely people.