Congestive Heart Failure
Symptoms May Be Your First Clue
To A Serious Condition




Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms: More Diverse Than Its Causes.


Congestive heart failure symptoms may relate to the condition(s) causing CHF. Or They may be a result of the damage. As if that is not confusing enough…
Some heart failure is asymptomatic.

Some patients will not experience congestive heart failure symptoms until certain other factors appear. For instance a patient may have CHF and not know it until he or she also presents with an infection including a high fever. Other examples may include…

  • Anemia
  • Arrhythmias
  • Hyperthyroidism (excessive functional activity of the thyroid gland marked by increased metabolic rate, enlargement of the thyroid gland, rapid heart rate and hypertension)
  • Kidney disease
However, there are a plethora of conditions that do relate to CHF and can be indicators that there is a problem. For example:
  • Weight gain
  • Swelling of legs, ankles and abdomen
  • Shortness of breath during rest or exercise
  • Loss of appetite and nausea
  • Persistent cough often containing a small amount of blood
  • Feeling of fatigue and weakness
  • Chest pain
  • Swollen veins in neck
  • Cold, clammy skin
  • Rapid and irregular pulse
  • Feeling of confusion or restlessness
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Sensation of heart palpitations
  • Decreased urine production
  • Need to urinate at night
  • Infants may sweat during feeding (or other exertion).
Obviously many of these congestive heart failure symptoms can also be signs of other ailments or conditions. That is why…
It is imperative for a doctor to diagnose the problem.
A general list like this may be more confusing than helpful. Therefore it is well for us to consider a little more closely which congestive heart failure symptoms may be connected to a particular type of CHF. Specifically, let’s consider the indicators of left-sided heart failure in contrast to those of right-sided failure.




Symptoms of Left-Side Heart Failure
Left-sided congestive heart failure symptoms relate primarily to left ventricular failure. When the left ventricle fails to pump properly there is a back flow of pressure and blood to the lungs.

The causes of this condition may be…
  • Valvular heart disease (failure of any heart valve)
  • Cardiomyopathy (general failure of heart muscle mass)
  • Anemia
  • Atrial myxoma (very rare cardiac tumor)
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Congenital heart disease (heart disease present from birth)
Because left-side failure often results in lung congestion, one will normally feel fatigued and out of breath after mild exertion. As the condition worsens fluid in the lungs builds up causing a bubbling sensation when one breathes.
The patient may feel as if he, or she in drowning.
Patients may also experience a cough producing a pinkish froth from blood mixing with the fluid. Symptoms may also include a wheezing similar to asthma and a dry cough that occurs while lying down.

In about 50% of patients with left-side failure there is the phenomenon of central sleep apnea (cessation of breathing). With this condition the brain fails to send a signal to the muscles to "breathe" during sleep. In more extreme cases the apnea becomes so acute that the patient wakes in the night with a feeling of panic.

In advanced cases the skin can become clammy and pale, even appearing blue. These latter symptoms indicate a dire (life-threatening) situation requiring immediate attention. The patient should, at this point, seek emergency care.


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Symptoms of Right-Side Heart Failure
Right-side failure results in a reduced blood flow causing a build up of pressure and fluid in the veins. The external symptoms of this build up include swelling in the…
  • Feet
  • Ankles
  • Legs
  • Sometimes abdomen
Internally the build up of fluid can affect the stomach, liver and lungs.

The extra fluid can cause the patient to make more trips to the bathroom, especially at night. The damage, however, may be more than just inconvenience. The excess fluid can be injurous to the kidneys affecting a person’s ability to dispose of water and sodium ultimately leading to kidney failure. Fortunately the kidney damage is reversible once the congestive heart failure is treated.


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