Heart failure - home monitoring

What to Expect at Home:

Knowing your body and the symptoms that tell you your heart failure is getting worse will help you stay healthier and out of the hospital. At home, you should watch for changes in your:

• Heart rate
• Pulse
• Blood pressure
• Weight

When you are watching out for warning signs, you can catch problems before they get too serious. Sometimes these simple checks will remind you that you forgot to take a pill, or that you have been drinking too much fluid or eating too much salt.

Be sure to write down the results of your home self-checks so that you can share them with your doctor. Your doctor' s office may have a "telemonitor," a device you can use to send your information automatically. A nurse will go over your self-check results with you in a weekly phone call.

Throughout the day, ask yourself:

• Is my energy level normal?
• Am I getting more short of breath when I am doing my everyday activities?
• Are my clothes or shoes feeling tight?
• Are my ankles or legs swelling?
• Am I coughing more often? Does my cough sound wet?
• Do I get short of breath at night?

These are signs that there is too much fluid building up in your body. You will need to learn how to limit your fluids and salt intake to prevent these things from happening.

See also:

• Heart failure - fluids and diuretics
• Low-salt diet

Checking Your Weight:

You will get to know what weight is right for you. Weighing yourself will help you know if there is too much fluid in your body. You might also find that your clothes and shoes are feeling tighter than normal when there is too much fluid in your body.

Weigh yourself every morning on the same scale when you get up -- before you eat and after you use the bathroom. Make sure you are wearing similar clothing each time you weigh yourself. Write down your weight every day on a chart so that you can keep track of it.

Call your doctor if your weight goes up by more than 3 pounds in a day or 5 pounds in a week. Also call your doctor if you lose a lot of weight.

Checking Your Heart Rate and Pulse:

Checking Your Blood Pressure:

When to Call the Doctor:

Call your doctor if:

• You are tired or weak.
• You feel short of breath when you are active or when you are at rest.
• You are wheezing and having trouble breathing.
• You have a cough that does not go away. It may be dry and hacking, or it may sound wet and bring up pink, foamy spit.
• You have swelling in your feet, ankles, or legs.
• You have to urinate a lot, especially at night.
• You have gained or lost weight.
• You have pain and tenderness in your belly.
• You have symptoms you think might be from your medicines.
• Your pulse or heartbeat gests very slow or very fast, or it is not regular.