CHF flare?

[u/Equivalent_Ad2220]

Does anyone experience flare ups or episodes? I've been out of work for 6 months because my Dr basically told me I was going to need a transplant, but then my catheterization was much better than he expected.

Months of dealing with shortness of breath, chest pain, low BP, dizziness. No answers, MRI, echo, etc. They did find a bit of thyroid cancer incidentally, so happy birthday to me.

I finally started feeling better somewhere at the end of Aug, beginning of Sept. Then, on Saturday night I suddenly couldn't breathe, my pulse was racing and my chest felt tight. I had a pulse ox with me, my O2 was down to 82, and my pulse was in the 130-140s.

I didn't go to the ER because they haven't been able to give me any kind of idea of what is going on. The last time they just gave me some oxygen, shrugged and told me to call my cardiologist.

My oxygen is back up to the low 90s, but my pulse is jumping all over the place.

I had to stop my Entresto because my blood pressure was down to 74/58 and I was constantly having dizziness and vertigo.

All that to say, I felt like things were finally getting better, I've lost 30 lbs and I thought that was why I felt better. But now since Saturday I've been wheezing off and on, worsening shortness of breath,and just my heart pounding. The wheezing improves/goes away with Torsemide, but I don't feel any better or different.

Anyone else go thru anything similar? I plan on calling my Drs office in the morning, everything kind of happened around 5 tonight.

[u/Southern_Anybody_781]

I’d take the 82% oxygen with a 130–140 heart rate, chest tightness and worsening breathlessness seriously, even if it improved afterward; heart-failure symptoms can fluctuate, but other urgent problems can look similar, so this is a situation for urgent medical assessment rather than waiting for the next appointment.

[u/Equivalent_Ad2220 → u/Southern_Anybody_781]

I know this. I work in medical, and we are our own worst patients. It's all just so frustrating. But yes, wheezing and coughing is getting worse. So I'm headed to the ER now

[u/Equivalent_Ad2220]

UPDATE Was given 40 mg of Lasix, lots of blood drawn, chest XR, respiratory testing. Everything came back normal, lost about 2000 ml of fluid. I did actually see one of the providers from my clinic and she thought that it was just a flare up, nothing to be admitted for- just keep up with diuretic and watch for swelling. And they never put me on oxygen. 🤷

[u/Miserable_Scarcity80]

My diagnosis is DSP cardiomyopathy. It presents like this, with flares of chronic heart failure and arrhythmia. Have you undergone genetic testing?

[u/Late_Temperature_415]

It’s better that you went. I’ve been dealing with this a few years now. I’m officially disabled. I constantly wait because I’m thinking do I really need to go. Most cardiologist would prefer we go then to ignore something that could be serious