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Patient Instructions

Your heart is a pump that moves fluids through your body. Heart failure is when fluids do not move well and get stuck in places in your body they should not be. Most often, fluid collects in your lungs and legs. This is usually because the muscles of your heart are weak.

Below are some questions you may want to ask your doctor or nurse to help you take care of your heart failure.

How do I check my pulse and blood pressure? How should I check my weight? When should I do these checks? What supplies do I need? How should I keep track of my blood pressure, weight, and pulse?

What are the signs and symptoms that my heart failure is getting worse? Will I always have the same symptoms?

• What should I do if my weight goes up? If my legs swell up? If I feel more short of breath? If my clothes feel tight?
• What are the signs and symptoms that I am having angina or a heart attack?
• When should I call the doctor? When should I call 911?

What medicines am I taking to treat heart failure?

• Do they have any side effects?
• What should I do if I miss a dose?
• Is it ever safe to stop taking any of these medicines on my own?

How much activity or exercise can I do?

• Which activities are better to start with?
• Are there activities or exercises that are not safe for me?
• Is it safe for me to exercise on my own?

Do I need to go to a cardiac rehabilitation program?

Are there limits on what I can do at work?

What should I do if I feel sad or very worried about my heart disease?

How can I change the way I live to make my heart stronger?

• How much water or fluid can I drink every day? How much salt can I eat? What else can I season my food instead of salt?
• What is a heart-healthy diet? Is it okay to ever eat something that is not heart healthy? What are some ways to eat healthy when I go to a restaurant?
• Is it okay to drink any alcohol?
• Is it okay to be around other people who are smoking?
• Is my blood pressure normal? What is my cholesterol, and do l need to take medicines for it?
• Is it okay to be sexually active? Is it safe to use sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), or tadalafil (Cialis) if I’m a man?

What to ask your doctor about heart failure; HF - what to ask your doctor

Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.