Can You Live with Heart Failure?

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A heart failure diagnosis is difficult news to hear.

Heart failure can affect your physical and mental health in significant ways. Even so, it’s possible to live with heart failure. A combination of medical care and lifestyle changes can help you manage your heart failure symptoms.

Learn more about living with heart failure, including treatments and everyday life tips to manage your condition.

What Is Heart Failure?

Heart failure occurs when your heart doesn’t pump as well as it should. As a result, the rest of your body doesn’t get the amount of blood (and oxygen) it needs to thrive.

Usually, heart failure occurs when another medical condition damages your heart. It can happen suddenly or develop over time, and it can affect one or both sides of your heart.

Heart failure is a serious, chronic condition that can lead to other medical problems over time.

About 6.7 million American adults have heart failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

What Is Life Like with Heart Failure?

Heart failure can take a toll on both your physical and emotional health.

When your heart doesn’t pump properly, the rest of your body doesn’t get the oxygen it needs to function normally. Heart failure can cause symptoms like:

• Chronic coughing and wheezing.
• Confusion.
• Fatigue.
• Loss of appetite.
• Nausea.
• Shortness of breath.
• Swelling of the fingers, legs, ankles, abdomen, and feet.
• Weight gain (from fluid buildup).

In addition to physical symptoms, many people with heart failure suffer from anxiety, depression, and stress.

The effects of heart failure can make it difficult to perform routine everyday activities. But there are ways you can manage your symptoms.

How Do People Manage Heart Failure Day to Day?

Despite the difficulties heart failure causes, you can live a normal life with heart failure. A combination of medical care and lifestyle changes can help you manage your symptoms.

It’s important to talk to your doctor about their recommendations. They can give you advice and help you manage your symptoms as much as possible.

Medical treatments for heart failure

From a medical standpoint, there’s plenty you can do to manage your symptoms, including:

• Medication.
• Mental and emotional health support.
• Surgery.

Medication for heart failure

Your doctor may prescribe many different medications to manage your heart failure symptoms. These include:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors — Widen your blood vessels, leading to lower blood pressure. They help reduce the strain on your heart.
• Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) — Have the same function as ACE inhibitors.
• Angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs) — Widen blood vessels like ACE inhibitors and ARBs but also help to control blood pressure.
• Beta blockers — Help slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure. They help reduce the stress on your heart.
• Diuretics (water pills) — Help to remove extra fluid and sodium from the body through urine.
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) — Help your body rid itself of excess fluid and sodium.
• Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors — Help lower your blood sugar. Originally developed for diabetes, they can also treat heart failure.

It’s important to take your medications as prescribed. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends using a weekly pill organizer to keep track of your medications. They also recommend taking medicines at the same time each day so it becomes a routine.

You may also need medications for any other medical conditions you have. It’s important to discuss all your medications with your doctors to ensure you can take them together.

Surgery for heart failure

If your heart failure becomes severe, you may need surgery to help your heart. Potential surgeries for heart failure include:

• Biventricular pacing — This procedure involves placing a special pacemaker that helps both sides of your heart contract at the same time. It’s also known as cardiac resynchronization therapy, or CRT.
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) — A device that doctors place to track your heart rate. It uses electrical pulses to fix abnormal rhythms and can prevent sudden cardiac death.
• Ventricular assist device (VAD) — A mechanical device that helps your heart pump. People can use them long-term, or they can be a bridge to a transplant.

If a heart condition is causing your heart failure, you may have surgery to fix that problem. Examples include:

• Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).
• MitraClip®.
• Open valve replacement or repair.
• Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as angioplasty.
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

If your heart failure becomes life-threatening, you could be a candidate for a heart transplant. More than 4,000 Americans undergo heart transplants each year, according to the AHA.

Heart failure emotional support

Medication, surgery, and lifestyle changes can help treat heart failure’s physical symptoms. But it’s also important to address your mental and emotional health.

Many people with heart failure deal with anxiety and depression. Coping with anxiety and depression after a heart failure diagnosis can be difficult, but it’s important. Anxiety and depression can actually worsen your heart failure symptoms.

If you feel anxious or depressed, reach out for mental health support. A mental health professional can recommend medications, therapy, or other treatments to help. Your caregivers can also offer emotional support.

Heart failure lifestyle changes

It’s important to make lifestyle changes after a heart failure diagnosis. Adapting to a healthier lifestyle can help you manage your symptoms. Examples include:

• Eating a healthy diet.
• Exercising regularly.
• Getting enough sleep.
• Managing stress.
• Managing your weight.
• Quitting smoking.
• Staying away from alcohol.
• Staying up to date on medical appointments.

Diet for heart failure

What you put into your body can have a major effect on your heart failure symptoms. Your diet should emphasize whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and healthy proteins. You should limit sodium, added sugars, and saturated and trans fats.

The AHA recommends the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet for people with heart failure.

Tracking your hydration is also key. You may need to limit your fluid intake to prevent fluid buildup in your body. Talk to your care team about what they recommend for you.

It’s also important to keep track of your potassium levels. For example, diuretics can lead to low potassium levels, while other medical conditions or medications can lead to elevated potassium levels. The AHA recommends talking to your care team about how much potassium you should eat.

Exercising with heart failure

Regular, moderate-intensity cardio exercises can help strengthen your heart. Examples include:

• Biking
• Swimming
• Walking

Even everyday activities like using the stairs or raking leaves can be beneficial, the AHA says. Your care team may recommend supplementing cardio work with balance, flexibility, and strength exercises.

Note: Everyone with heart failure has different needs and abilities. You should always talk to your care team before starting to exercise. Ask for suggestions about healthy exercises for you.

Getting enough sleep

Rest helps your heart pump better. You should aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night. Getting rest during the day can be beneficial as well.

Many people with heart failure may struggle to sleep at night. If that’s true for you, talk to your care team for tips on how to sleep better.

Sleep apnea is also common in people with heart failure. It’s important to get treatment for sleep apnea, as it can put strain on your heart.

Managing stress

Like anxiety and depression, stress is a common mental health symptom for people with heart failure. Stress can worsen your heart failure symptoms, so managing stress is important.

Try finding a healthy outlet for your stress. Pursuing a hobby like cooking or gardening can help. Or you could try mindfulness meditation or yoga.

Managing your weight

When you have heart failure, awareness of your weight is important. Sudden weight gain can indicate that fluid is building up and your heart failure is getting worse.

The AHA recommends weighing yourself every morning after urinating and before eating and drinking. This habit can help you monitor your weight for sudden changes.

You should also work to lose weight and/or maintain your weight. Healthy eating and exercise can help you manage your weight.

Quitting smoking

Smoking is dangerous for your heart. It can raise your blood pressure and heart rate and worsen your heart failure symptoms.

If you smoke, talk to your care team about quitting.

Avoiding alcohol

Like smoking, alcohol can worsen the effects of heart failure. It can also worsen or increase your risk of other medical conditions.

If you have heart failure, you should limit or avoid alcohol altogether.

Staying on top of your health

When you have heart failure, you should make sure to do everything you can to manage your health. That means staying up to date on visits with your primary care provider and heart care team. You should also stay up to date on your vaccines, such as the flu and COVID-19.

People with heart failure may also have other health conditions, like diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease. It’s important that you manage these conditions along with your heart failure.

How Long Can You Live with Heart Failure?

Every person with heart failure is different. In general, your prognosis depends on how advanced your heart failure is. People with severe or advanced heart failure usually have a shorter life expectancy than people with less severe symptoms.

However, with proper treatment and lifestyle changes, it’s possible to live for many years after a heart failure diagnosis. If you have symptoms of heart failure, it’s important to talk to your doctor. They can help you get the care you need.

The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute is a national leader in cardiovascular care. We provide advanced diagnosis and treatment options for a wide range of cardiovascular issues.

For more on our services, visit our website.