Heart Failure

[MTbowels]

I was diagnosed with Heart Failure over two years ago and have spent around 14 weeks since the beginning of 2013 in hospital being drained of fluid due to ascittes and oedema.

For the last couple of months, I've been experiencing severe, toothache-like pain in both my upper and lower arms which sometimes, include my hands. The pain seems to emanate from the very bones in my arms and is so severe that only Tramadol relieves it.

The ward sister during my last admission said that the pain could be attributed to the heart-failure, but I don't understand why. I can find nothing on the internet about it.

The only other thing I can add is that I'm on Bisoprolol, Digoxin, Bumetanide, Ramipril and Fluoxetine and have recently stopped taking Metalozone, Candesartan and Spironolactone. These were stopped because of problems with my kidneys arising from U&E's

Thank you

[Sqad]

I am assuming that the ascites and oedema that you describe are due solely to "heart failure" and as such the pains in your arms and hands could well be due to vascular insufficiency ( the heart not being strong enough to maintain an adequate circulation to your upper limbs).
This situation is often seen and made worse by exercise in states in which angina is not uncommon.
You could ask if you could try trinitrin spray or sublingual tablets to support or demolish my explanation.

[Sqad]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Body-and-Soul/Question1240727.html

Is that you?

[anneasquith]

you poor thing, im not a doctor! but is the pain worse on exertion ?

[MTbowels]

Yes Sqad! The cardiologists don't seem to be making a big issue of the cirrhosis any longer. The fluid build-up is continuing. I've just spent 11 days in hospital, seven days of which I was on IV furosemide but my weight starting increasing again the day after I came home.

I'm really frightened now as my Heart Failure nurse was convinced it was the Metolozone that was most effective in getting rid of the fluid yet the cardiologists took me off the drug due to out- of- range creatinine and other clinical chemistry readings. They said my kidneys were not coping with all the diuretics. I'm trying to get back in to see my other cardiologist at a nearby teaching hospital, who ironically told me not to let "anyone" tamper with the diuretic dosage he prescribed.

I just don't know what to do next. If it is vascular insufficiency and I try the GTN, I take it the GTN will diminish the pain? Many thanks for your help.

No ann, the pain is there all the time and isn't made worse by exertion. Thank you

[anneasquith]

MT, why are you in cardiac failure ?

[MTbowels]

I've no idea anneasquith. Hypertension and cardiac problems are present in the family. The weight gain due to fluid was misdiagnosed by my GP over 20 years ago, who claimed that I needed to see a dietician! All in all, I wasted around two years with dietician appointments to no avail. I was also diagnosed with asthma and spent years using inhalers when the real problem was something called cardiac asthma which apparently comes with the heart failure.

[nazia08]

Low bp in this setting can be caused by a number of things:
I assume they are managing his ventilator properly...that could cause bp drops, but I think you can safely eliminate that
Low bp can be caused by sepsis, (bloodstream infection) but I also assume they would know if he had that, so eliminate that
I'm thinking the most likely reason is that his heart is not pumping well enough to get up a good pressure.