Heart failure brings with it a huge list of possible symptoms that your elderly family member needs to manage and track in order to stay as healthy as possible. Home health care can make symptom monitoring much easier for everyone involved. Here are just a few of the biggest symptoms to track if your senior has heart failure.
Weight Gain
Weight gain can be a bad sign if your elderly family member has heart failure. Changes in her weight aren’t necessarily because she’s eating more or because she’s doing anything wrong. Sudden weight gain, especially of around 3 to 5 pounds, overnight or over a couple of days can mean that she’s retaining more water than she realizes. This is directly related to heart failure and can mean that her medications aren’t working well.
Swelling in the Extremities
Swelling in the extremities, or edema is something else your elderly family member might experience. Edema occurs when there’s too much fluid in the body and it pools in the lower legs, feet, and even in the abdomen. The heart isn’t able to keep up with the fluid, which causes the buildup. Some medications can help to reduce edema, but suddenly experiencing swelling is a cause for concern and your senior’s medical team needs to know what’s happening.
Blood Pressure Levels
Blood pressure levels are also a good indicator of how your senior’s heart failure is progressing. Using a home monitor is easy to do, but home health care providers can remind your senior and help keep track of the results. Your senior’s doctor may want to adjust the medications that she’s taking depending on how blood pressure levels fluctuate.
Fluid Intake
Drinking plenty of water and staying properly hydrated is important, but for people with heart failure, there is such a thing as too much fluid in one day. If your elderly family member does drink too much, she runs the risk of overwhelming her kidneys and her heart. Tracking fluid intake and making sure that it hits that happy medium is vital.
Poor Sleep
When your elderly family member isn’t getting good sleep, her body is less able to keep up with the demands of her heart failure. Getting better sleep can feel more complicated than your senior is prepared for it to be, however. Addressing sleep hygiene issues, like making sure she has a sleep schedule and her bedroom is comfortable for sleep, can make a big difference.
Shortness of Breath
Shortness of breath is not a symptom you might associate with heart failure, but it is a symptom directly related to heart failure. Fluid accumulation and congestion in the lungs make it difficult for the lungs to do their job, and that places more strain on the heart. Shortness of breath while exercising is one thing, but it’s particularly concerning when it happens while your senior is at rest.
Being able to keep tabs on all of these symptoms on a regular basis is crucial for your senior as she battles heart failure. Home health care providers can help your elderly family member to keep her doctor informed about what symptoms she’s experiencing regularly.