- Nausea (feeling sick in the stomach) and loss of appetite
- Pain in your abdomen (area around your stomach)
- Swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, abdomen, and veins in your neck
- Needing to pee often
- Weight gain
Diagnosis
Your doctor will diagnose heart failure based on your medical history, a physical exam, and test results. Your doctor may also refer you to a cardiologist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating heart diseases).
Medical history and physical exam
During your exam, you should bring a list of your symptoms to your doctor’s appointment, including how often they happen and when they started. Also, bring a list of any prescription and over-the-counter medicines you take. Let your doctor know if you have any risk factors for heart failure.
During your physical exam, your doctor will:
- Measure your heart rate, blood pressure, and body weight.
- Listen to your heart with a stethoscope for sounds that suggest that your heart is not working properly.
- Listen to your lungs for the sounds of fluid buildup.
- Look for swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, liver, and veins in your neck.
Treatment
Heart failure has no cure. However, the proper treatment can help you live a longer, more active life with fewer symptoms. What treatment your doctor recommends will depend on the type of heart failure you have and how serious it is but usually includes heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines. You may need a procedure or surgery for some types of serious heart failure. Because heart failure often gets worse over time and causes complications such as kidney or liver damage, malnutrition, an irregular heartbeat, leaking heart valves , or sudden cardiac arrest and pulmonary hypertension; it is important to discuss your long-term treatment goals with your healthcare team.
Your healthcare team will also treat any medical condition that may have caused or worsened your heart failure.