I am new here and finally need support somewhere

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello friends. I am new here and finally need support somewhere. My story is that my wife of 50 years of age has CHF. Had it now for over 10 years. Linda was on disability for most of this time til recently, but it was time for the state to decide, and of course with the Cardiologist reports that she can go back to work. Mine you during here disability she was doing just fine. But since late last year things have progressively gotten worst. In and out of the hospital and ER's her last stay last year was to implant a defibrillator. Her med's runs the gamut. A heck of a long time to figure out the right potassium and digoxin doses. I as of right now am still not confident it still correct, hopefully its the side effects of the potassium or digoxin?. Since October of last year she stays in bed. All the symptoms of end stage. Poor thing. It hurts to see her like this. Now just this past week she has been getting nauseated and throwing up. I fear that her time is close. We're going to the Doctors tomorrow, And I have to ask some tough questions as " lets be honest" or finally ask the question about her EF rating, ( 10 years ago it was less then 20) it had gone up to 30 a few years back and her blessed heart ( no matter what condition)showed no more scarring. but i'm afraid that she's entering renal failure? I don't know what to do anymore. I really never did like her Cardio Doc' and I had explained this to our Primary doctor that I wanted to have her see a different Cardiologist. But he convinced me to stay with him for a while longer, or at least til she starts improving, basically stating he's been working with her for this long and knows her history, don't start over now. This what she is currently taken daily:

What should I ask her doctor? We're going in tomorrow to deal with the nausea. Thanks for any comments. I'm scarred.

  • Fluoxetine: 20mg 2x daily.
  • Digoxin: .25mg every other day. Monday: Wednesday: Friday.
  • Forosemide: 40mg 1ea in the morning 1/2ea in the evening.
  • Carvedilol: 25mg 2ea x daily.
  • Potassium CL 20MEQ ER 1 daily
  • Losartan: 50mg.
  • Tudorza Pressair

when needed:

  • Prednisone:
  • Promethazine DM syrup 1 teaspoon every 6 hours
  • Avelox: 1 daily
  • Codine cough syrup 1 tablespoon every 4 hours

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

First things first: we aren't allowed to give specific medical advice on this forum. That being said I'm sorry to hear that your wife of fifty years of age is having some problems. I think it is great that you are going to be speaking with the physician fairly soon about this, and I think you should definitely have a very frank discussion about her symptoms and what medication she is on and where she is at clinically. The reason I say that is simply because her symptoms could be side effects of medications, could be a reaction to something new in her environment, could be almost anything. It could be that she is becoming more sensitive to her medications or for that matter she could be becoming less sensitive to her medications. That is why you need to have a good solid and frank discussion with the physician about what is going on.

Please do not take this as anything other than simply advice for you and your wife to have a discussion with her doctor about this.

I think you're going to have a lot of people here on this forum say the same thing about this.

The other thing is please do not take this as us being uncaring or anything of that sort. For a variety of reasons, mostly legal, we just do not give out medical advice.

I wish you and your wife all the best!

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

I am sorry you and your wife are going through this. I did a quick google search on "CHF support group" and it appeared there were quite a few options. You can also ask your provider if they can refer you to similar support groups.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Please ask your doctor for a referral to a home health agency that has a telehealth or CHF program..

Here's news story about one program: Mercy Home Health Telemedicine reducing return hospital visits

Heart failure - overview (CHF)

A Caregiver Guide to Congestive Heart Failure

CHF online support group:

Per our Terms Of Service we can not offer individual advice.

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