Something called heart failure

Great article about heart failure is below. Relax and rest well, have a healthy diet, take walks to strengthen your heart. Have a very good Cardiologist to help you with great medical treatment. I had heart failure before and I am doing great now with the advise I gave you above. Good luck and relax.
https://patient.boehringer-ingelheim.com/us/products/jardiance/heart-failure/living-with-heart-failure?

Look for a support group through the American Heart Association. They have groups for men, for women and gender inclusive. Do not hesitate. As a member of WomenHeart for years, I have reaped the benefits and rewards through listening and sharing the challenges of other women with heart failure and heart disease. I was implanted with an ICD for heart failure in 2019 and spent several years in fear of activating it with the slightest of exertion. The support group lifted me out of this fear and now my life is better than ever. Give a support group a try.

Hi @majeedmerzah
I am checking in with you. You have been trying to address fear related to your heart failure diagnosis.

How are you feeling?

@jlharsh Thank you for asking. I am confined to my home. I never leave the house and I do not sleep either, for fear that I will not wake up.

@majeedmerzah
I am shocked to read your post. You were not given treatment options?

Who diagnosed you? Did they not go into what is the cause and options for treatments? There are so many I cannot even list them. Medications, many many that can help treat.

Your diagnosis came from what? Did you have a heart attack? Did you have a virus or infection that got into heart? Do you have childhood heart issue into adulthood? What is your ejection fraction (EF)? All those can help us who read your post to give you our experience with this.

Heart Failure. I terrible word for a condition that means the heart is not pumping the normal amount of blood out of the heart. It can be minor with no symptoms or major with symptoms. There are so many medications to help with improving ejection fraction, improving heart function, lowering blood pressure.

Do you have ability to see a heart failure specialist? Do you have access to a major medical facility? Seek them out as I really don't understand you being left with a diagnosis with no treatments or plan to treat.

I have had heart failure since 2001. Now almost 25 years I am still here. I exercise 6 days a week and do Sprint Triathlons. My EF when first diagnosed was 48. Over the years went down and down to 30 when local cardiologist wanted me to see a electrophysiologist to get a ICD.

It was then I sought a second opinion at Mayo Jacksonville to see an Electrophysioloigst. He wanted to implant both a ICD/Pacemaker as my diagnosis was cardiomyopathy not heart attack caused. My heart had electrical problems that a Pacemaker could help. My EP then referred me to Mayo Jacksonville heart failure specialist. That specialist wanted to change my medications and double some others.

Now with proper treatments and the latest medications my EF has remained the same for the last 10 years. I do Sprint Triahlons, water aerobics 5 days a week, bike, swim, walk. I am told to keep up my fitness routine to keep my heart strong and not get any weaker.

Bottom line seek out an experienced heart failure specialist or a cardiologist experienced in heart failure. I have posted before the term heart failure is terrible. Your heart has not failed. It just does not pump the normal amount of blood out of heart. I would hope cardiologist would change the diagnoses to Reduced Heart Function. Leave heart failure to a cause of death.

If you would like to contact me via private message I can go further into my experience with this but I can stress enough having experienced cardiologist and/or heart failure specialist treating you.

@jc76 No one from the doctors gave me an answer to my question. All I know is that I have an enlarged heart with heart failure. I even knew about this through the results of the tests online. I was in the hospital for twenty days, after which they told me that I can now leave the hospital. I cannot work, nor walk much, nor can I even drive, with 5 types of medications. This is all that I know about my condition that I remember until now when the doctor told me that my heart will stop at any moment.

@majeedmerzah
Are you in the U.S.?
I cannot believe this would happen anywhere in the U.S. I would hope no where on earth this would happen but I don't know the other countries.

What brought you to hospital?

From what I learned form my experience with this is I had a virus get into my heart and cause some scarring. It messed up my electrical system. The BP went up and my heart got larger trying to work harder.

If they told you your heart could stop at anytime from my experience of me getting a ICD/Pacemaker and why I got it you should have had a ICD put in. That would shock your heart back into rypthm. I am not sure of your medical history or even enough information here, but nor should I, but sounds like you could need a pacemaker also.

If you live in another country I really can't advise but if you live in U.S. find an experienced cardiologist and even better a heart failure specialist.

@jc76 i live in Canada Vancouver Every day for me is a new life. When I go to sleep, if I sleep, I say to myself that everything is over, but when I wake up in the morning, I wait in bed for about 15 minutes just to make sure if I am alive or not. Now, it has been about 3 months since I was diagnosed with this disease. I have only been outside the house two or three times. If the temperature rises, I feel that my breath is suffocating. I live in my house, which is less than 50 square meters. If the disease does not kill me, my fear of the unknown will kill me.

Hi @majeedmerzah, please note that I removed your medical imaging report from your post as is contains personal health information (PHI) and personal identifying information such as date of birth, patient number, etc. For your security and privacy, it is not recommended to upload documents that contain personal information.

I'm glad that you have access to health care in Vancouver. In addition to your cardiology care with a heart specialist, you might consider requesting a consult with a social worker or counsellor to help manage your fear and have someone to help you access any services and supports you might need.

Read more here: https://www.fraserhealth.ca/Service-Directory/Services/home-and-community-care/social-work-services

Your care team can arrange an appointment with a social worker. They are there to help in many ways. If there is a wait time for social work services, you can also contact Spiritual Services without a referral.
https://www.fraserhealth.ca/patients-and-visitors/amenities-and-services/spiritual-health-services

My name may not matter, and you may not remember my face, but today I write to you from a place I know all too well — a place of pain, silence, and waiting. I am a person living with heart failure — an invisible illness that steals away every moment of my life.
I never imagined that breathing could become a task, or that standing for five minutes could feel like climbing a mountain. Every morning, I open my eyes and ask myself: Will I be able to get up today? Will my body let me move? Or will this be another day of lying down and struggling to stay awake?

Heart failure doesn’t just rob you of your health — it takes away the little moments of life you once took for granted: a quick smile, a walk with a friend, or even making a cup of tea without losing your breath.

My entire life has changed. I no longer work, I no longer take the bus, and I no longer visit the people I love. Even sleep is no longer restful; I wake often in fear, holding my chest, counting my heartbeat, praying it doesn’t stop. I have been told bluntly: there is no cure for my condition. My heart is enlarged and weak, and any moment could be my last.

But the pain doesn’t stop at the body. There is a deeper wound — the feeling of loneliness, helplessness, of being a burden. I now have to ask for help with the simplest things, and sometimes no one is there to help. My world grows smaller, the voices quieter, and the hearts around me more distant — as if the illness frightens even those it hasn’t touched.

I do not write these words asking for pity, but for humanity.

Because I — like everyone suffering from this illness — am still a human being. I still have a heart, even if it is weak, and it still loves, hopes, and dreams. I do not seek a miracle, only a moment of dignity — a hand extended not in fear, but in compassion.

Every day, I learn how to live again — slowly, deliberately, and with great patience. I learn to find joy in a beam of sunlight through my window, a kind word from a nurse, or a message from an old friend who hasn’t forgotten me.

Heart failure is not the end of life — it is a different kind of life. A life lived slowly, with effort, but with all the strength we still have left inside.

And if someone one day reads this letter, I hope they remember: behind every tired face, there is still a heart that is fighting.