1. < Heart & Blood Health

Congestive heart failure- Overmedicated?

Posted by Danette Valadao @daniquinn, Jan 29, 2018

Hello- my fiancee is 52yo male. He was hospitalized last summer with pneumonia at which time it was discovered he has congestive heart failure. The medical services provided in our area of California leave MUCH to be desired for those with government insurance (partnership). He currently takes:
Lisinopril 5mg 1 tablet 2x daily
Tamsulosin HCL 0.4mg 1 capsule daily
Carvedilol 6.25mg 1 tablet 2x daily
Spironolactone 25mg 1 tablet daily
Furosemide 40mg 1 tablet daily

We are having problems getting answers from both the family Dr and the cardiologist as to why he needs all these as the only reason he needed the water pills to begin with was to assist the water from his lungs when he had pneumonia last year. He hasn't ever has any water retention issues other than that. They have done very little testing- a couple of x-rays- some blood work- and an echocardiogram. Does this strike anyone else as odd or minimal at best??
Is there something we should ask for or demand or something??
Any help or guidance would be so very appreciated!

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oldkarl | @oldkarl | Jan 31, 2018

@daniquinn Hi, Danette. I have chf as well, and I take Ffurosemide, 2x/day, Metropolol 1.5 pills daily, Isosorbide mononitrate, 2x. Plus vitamins, calcium, super tylenol generic 4,000, simvistatin, folic Acid, baby aspirin. These I take are all tier one insurance meds, very inexpensive. I also take novolin R and N for diabetes 2, very inexpensive. I do not have any idea why your man is taking the others. I also have hATTRwt with psoriatic and rheumatoid and oster arthritis, many other issues of skin, organ, bone, brain, cornea, thyroid, etc.

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sherylb | @sherylb | Jan 31, 2018

Wonder if there is a cause identified for his chf
I had tricudpid valve replacement last year and the valve problem is what caused the right heart failure. I am on bumex twice a day. Spirilsctone daily and zaroxlyn 4 go 5 tomes a day. Converned that my wt seems to be increasing despite all the meds

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colleen00 | @colleen00 | Jan 31, 2018

I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane causing subaortic stenosis. I currently take Furosemide, Metoprolol and Eplerenone daily which seems to be working for me right now. There is talk of replacing the valves and cutting away the membrane but from what I am reading here, those that have had surgery seem to have a lengthy recovery time, along with other issues, before feeling like their old selves again. Would love to hear some additional post-op stories that perhaps I can question my cardiologist about.

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3 replies
teresa008 | @teresa008 | May 23, 2018

@daniquinn The same thing that happened to your fiance happened to me last month. They kept me in the hospital for a week. We're still not sure what caused it but I had pneumonia and then congestive heart failure. I'm on the same meds your fiance is, except for the Tamsulosin. They did an echocardiagram at the hospital and plan to do another at the three month mark. My ejection fraction was at twenty percent. They also did an angiogram while I was in the hospital which showed my arteries had no blockages. I've had two cardiologist visits since I left the hospital on April 21st and my next visit is set at the six week mark. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them, if I can. My only suggestion would be to try to get them to do an echocardiagram now, since it's been quite a while since the incident. Also, please don't let him consider stopping meds without the doctor's keeping a close eye on him. I hope this helps. Edited to add: Oh, and I turned 58 while I was in the hospital and have never had a heart or lung issue before so it was a shock.

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lioness | @lioness | May 23, 2018
In reply to @colleen00 "I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane..." + (show)
@colleen00

I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane causing subaortic stenosis. I currently take Furosemide, Metoprolol and Eplerenone daily which seems to be working for me right now. There is talk of replacing the valves and cutting away the membrane but from what I am reading here, those that have had surgery seem to have a lengthy recovery time, along with other issues, before feeling like their old selves again. Would love to hear some additional post-op stories that perhaps I can question my cardiologist about.

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@colleen00 Jumping in here about valve replacement My friend had to have a mechanical mitral valve she was doing fine tell she developed breast cancer they did radiation on her and it fried the mechanical valve so she ended up having open heart surgery again replacing her valve with the pig valve she was o.k. after that even though she had more radiation it didn't effect the pig valve so if you do have to have a valve replacement just wanted you to know what can happen if God forbid you need radiation.

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johnjms | @johnjms | May 23, 2018
In reply to @colleen00 "I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane..." + (show)
@colleen00

I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane causing subaortic stenosis. I currently take Furosemide, Metoprolol and Eplerenone daily which seems to be working for me right now. There is talk of replacing the valves and cutting away the membrane but from what I am reading here, those that have had surgery seem to have a lengthy recovery time, along with other issues, before feeling like their old selves again. Would love to hear some additional post-op stories that perhaps I can question my cardiologist about.

Jump to this post

Wow great tip...demonstrates that people need to be their own best advocate, and seek advocates who hav
e great knowledge.

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sherylb | @sherylb | May 27, 2018
In reply to @colleen00 "I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane..." + (show)
@colleen00

I have severe tricuspid, moderate to severe mitral and aortic regurgitation along with a subaortic membrane causing subaortic stenosis. I currently take Furosemide, Metoprolol and Eplerenone daily which seems to be working for me right now. There is talk of replacing the valves and cutting away the membrane but from what I am reading here, those that have had surgery seem to have a lengthy recovery time, along with other issues, before feeling like their old selves again. Would love to hear some additional post-op stories that perhaps I can question my cardiologist about.

Jump to this post

I had tricusp I'd surgery 1 1/2 year ago 2 months to get a0nt energy. Dr told me 1 month. Got pacemaker which I hadn't anticipated. Hoarder than I thought. I thought I would be back to normal but i think surgery just stopped continued damage. Still on diufectic. Regjme

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