Heart Failure Symptoms

Heart failure is a serious condition that one should be concerned about, especially when a family history of any type of heart condition is present. With heart failure, symptoms may vary to a great degree. Major symptoms of heart failure are tiredness, fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling, asthma, enlargement of the heart, blueness of the skin, frequent urgency to urinate at night, palpitations, irregular fast heartbeat, pronounced neck veins, fainting, and weakness.

These symptoms are often triggered by infections, increased intake of fluids or salt, fever, anemia, irregular heartbeats (also called arrhythmias), overactive thyroid gland or hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, and blockage in the coronary arteries. The major triggering factors of the symptoms mentioned earlier are coronary artery disease, weakness of the heart muscle, uncontrolled high blood pressure, and disease of the heart valves.

Most of the symptoms mentioned just now are those that you may notice yourself. However, it is always important to see a healthcare professional when you suspect heart failure. Your healthcare provider can give you a physical examination and analyze your risk of having heart failure. Tests may reveal murmurs, abnormal lung sounds, abnormal heart sounds, enlarged liver, irregular or rapid heartbeat, ankle swelling, or distended neck veins. All these are hidden symptoms of heart failure you may not know about if it weren’t for physical examinations.

The tests surrounding heart failure include an ECG, chest x-ray, or an echocardiogram. The ECG is performed to search for any sign of a thickened heart muscle or enlarged heart chambers. A chest x-ray can reveal enlargement of the heart and accumulation of fluids in the lungs. Finally, an echocardiogram (commonly known as a heart ultrasound) can reveal enlargement of the heart chambers, weak pumping function, and leaky valves. Lab tests include blood chemistry, urinalysis, CBC, thyroid function tests, liver function tests, and B-type natriuretic peptide or BNP.

Although heart failure progresses gradually in some cases, symptoms may show suddenly in other cases. This is especially evident when the cause of heart failure is a heart attack. Symptoms can develop within a few days to over several months. They may even become steady for some time while still progressing gradually and silently. This makes the symptoms of heart failure quite difficult to catch and heart failure itself very difficult to diagnose. This is one good reason why one should get proper diagnosis from a professional.

Common complaints are feelings of exhaustion and weakness even when physical activity is rather mild. This is the case because the muscles are not receiving sufficient amounts of blood.

The “final symptom” of heart failure is when the heart can no longer pump normal amounts of blood into the body. As a result blood clots develop, break off, travel into the bloodstream and end up blocking an artery.

Other symptoms can be misdiagnosed because they are actually symptoms of other conditions that may have worsened heart failure in an individual. An example is in the case of depression. For proper treatment and prevention, consult with a healthcare professional.