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Test Posting 1st time
This is my first post on this forum and want to be sure I'm doing things right before I submit questions in regards to CHF which tragically struck my mother in March. After almost 3 months in the hospital and 3 weeks in rehab, she is home but battles new problems everyday and I'm looking for help to help her.
** I assume when posting a question in the future I should include all medications and her current and past physical condition to get the best answer. Is there anything else I should include when posting a question?
Thanks in advance,
John
** I assume when posting a question in the future I should include all medications and her current and past physical condition to get the best answer. Is there anything else I should include when posting a question?
Thanks in advance,
John
So far my mother's diabetes is under control. I test her everyday before dinner and her test results are excellent. Once in a while she blood sugar reading will top at 140, but usually she is not higher than 115 so i don't think her rash is from diabetes. I will look up hypokalemia (I'll google it) to to learn about it.
Thanks!
John
Thanks!
John
Please disregard my previous post. surfgirl kindly pointed out that low K does not present with "skin rashes".
Because my mother has diabetes also, this was the most likely cause of her rash, the hypokalemia was merely coincidental. There are various diabetes related skin changes, especially on the shins & lower legs like Diabetic Dermopathy and Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum.
Best wishes!
Because my mother has diabetes also, this was the most likely cause of her rash, the hypokalemia was merely coincidental. There are various diabetes related skin changes, especially on the shins & lower legs like Diabetic Dermopathy and Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum.
Best wishes!
Concerning the rash: Make sure the doctor checks her potassium levels soon. After beginning diuretics my mothers potassium plummented (she also has diabetes), and she was hospitalized for a few days.
Her first symptom of hypokalemia was a rash like you described on her lower legs followed by increasing pain, weakness, and finally heart arrhythmia's and chest pain.
Best wishes to you and your Mom.
Wow, your Mom has been through a lot and even that is an understatement. Give her a little time to adjust to all the changes in her body and life. But I hear cardiac rehab is wonderful. Folks that have gone raved about it. Gives them back some strength and confidence even if there are some limitations to the new lifestyle.
As for sodium, most packages have the sodium content listed. But what do you do about a carrot or tomato? There are books out there that list sodium content for foods. That would be handy to have until you get a good feel for what's OK to eat and what to avoid. If the book doesn't have an item you can visit the US Dept. of Agriculture and they have a section on nutrition. Can't remember the exact name but it has a spot you can find all the "stuff" in a particular food from water content to fat, sodium, minerals, etc. I use it quite often for work. Kind of fun to look through. You just type in the food eg. salmon and it will give you many options, choose again, then it asks for portion size. Click, bing, information.
As for sodium, most packages have the sodium content listed. But what do you do about a carrot or tomato? There are books out there that list sodium content for foods. That would be handy to have until you get a good feel for what's OK to eat and what to avoid. If the book doesn't have an item you can visit the US Dept. of Agriculture and they have a section on nutrition. Can't remember the exact name but it has a spot you can find all the "stuff" in a particular food from water content to fat, sodium, minerals, etc. I use it quite often for work. Kind of fun to look through. You just type in the food eg. salmon and it will give you many options, choose again, then it asks for portion size. Click, bing, information.
I know it is not nice to ask a woman's age, but how old is your mother? And it is quite an adventure. My doctor likened it to a roller coaster, some days it is a smooth ride, then uphill, downhill, round the circle etc etc
Multiple replies:
Viennaustria -
I'll try to post a link leading to a picture of the rash in the next few days (most likely friday or saturday). I can get space for pictures from many sources, but some forums frown on linking within posts.
Surfgirl -
My mother did not wear the stockings while in the hospital and her lower legs, ankles, and abdomen areas were extremely bloated until her water was better managed. She does have potassium pills in addition to about 11 other pills which must be taken twice a day. I'll compile a list of medication and dosages for a future posting.
Just a word or two of my mother's problems that lead to CHF - She had high blood presure for years but ignored the doctor and refused to take medication. As a matter of fact, my mother would not take asprin. She had bleeding in the eyes due to extremely high and prolong blood pressure and had lazer treatments to stop the bleeding withon the eyes and still refused to take medication. Within 2 years after this incident, CHF struck. She had a 100% blockage near the heart, many smaller blood vessels plugged due to diabetes, and a hole blew through her heart because of the dead muscle tissue from the heart attack. Doctors tell us the heart attack happened several days before the hole blew through the heart muscle.
When the hole blew in her heart, she dropped and was brought to the hospital. The blockage was opened but the doctors knew there were other problems. After several tests, they discovered the hole. Open heart surgery was needed to patch the hole and she had a bypass too. Within a week after surgery, she crashed because of a blood clot the size of an apple which delveloped near the heart. Major organs shut down because of the clot. To fix the clot, it required open heart surgery again. She was on a ventilator, ballon pump and dialysis as well as many medications for a long time. During the surgery she had a minor stroke which was confirmed when comparing cat scans when she was admitted and after the surgery. She basically went through hell.
Curently, she is home but can not walk more than 50 feet without major fatigue (she can walk w/o a cane, but requires a wheelchair when she goes to the doctors office). She refuses physical and occupational therapy beyond her stay in rehab and has problems with depression. She is now on lexapro for depression. Before she had CHF, she was very independent so I can understand why she is depressed.
Well, that basically what we battle as a family and everyday is a new adventure. We will be consulting with other CHF people on this forum for help. Hopefully as we learn we can pass on the knowledge to other newbies.
Once again, thanks to all-
John
Viennaustria -
I'll try to post a link leading to a picture of the rash in the next few days (most likely friday or saturday). I can get space for pictures from many sources, but some forums frown on linking within posts.
Surfgirl -
My mother did not wear the stockings while in the hospital and her lower legs, ankles, and abdomen areas were extremely bloated until her water was better managed. She does have potassium pills in addition to about 11 other pills which must be taken twice a day. I'll compile a list of medication and dosages for a future posting.
Just a word or two of my mother's problems that lead to CHF - She had high blood presure for years but ignored the doctor and refused to take medication. As a matter of fact, my mother would not take asprin. She had bleeding in the eyes due to extremely high and prolong blood pressure and had lazer treatments to stop the bleeding withon the eyes and still refused to take medication. Within 2 years after this incident, CHF struck. She had a 100% blockage near the heart, many smaller blood vessels plugged due to diabetes, and a hole blew through her heart because of the dead muscle tissue from the heart attack. Doctors tell us the heart attack happened several days before the hole blew through the heart muscle.
When the hole blew in her heart, she dropped and was brought to the hospital. The blockage was opened but the doctors knew there were other problems. After several tests, they discovered the hole. Open heart surgery was needed to patch the hole and she had a bypass too. Within a week after surgery, she crashed because of a blood clot the size of an apple which delveloped near the heart. Major organs shut down because of the clot. To fix the clot, it required open heart surgery again. She was on a ventilator, ballon pump and dialysis as well as many medications for a long time. During the surgery she had a minor stroke which was confirmed when comparing cat scans when she was admitted and after the surgery. She basically went through hell.
Curently, she is home but can not walk more than 50 feet without major fatigue (she can walk w/o a cane, but requires a wheelchair when she goes to the doctors office). She refuses physical and occupational therapy beyond her stay in rehab and has problems with depression. She is now on lexapro for depression. Before she had CHF, she was very independent so I can understand why she is depressed.
Well, that basically what we battle as a family and everyday is a new adventure. We will be consulting with other CHF people on this forum for help. Hopefully as we learn we can pass on the knowledge to other newbies.
Once again, thanks to all-
John
It sounds, like Thatch said, like a contact dermatitis............did she have to wear those awful stockings while in the hospital? I have always been told, if I take an extra lasix, I need an extra potassium. I do use salt substitute, in fact I have it in my hand bag.....it is pure potassium, and helps with my craving and my potassium levels..........I use unsalted butter, and I found that the bakery at the grocery will make unsalted bread if you give them 24 hours notice...it has 5 mg per slice compared to 200 or more............not bad either, if toasted.
I don't think you can , but if you open an account at ..... http://photobucket.com/....and put the link here..people can see the picture.....but I don't know, I am new here too, and it sounds to me no links are allowed, so try if you think and see what happends.
I acutally typed up a long response but at the time I posted my comment, I was prompted to log in and subsequently lost my response (went blank).
Anyway, the informnation posted is ALL VERY USEFUL! Thanks.
Over the next few days, I will be in "sponge" mode. In other words I'll be reading as much as I can to learn what I can.
I have one more question - Is there a way to post a picture on this forum? I'd like to post a picture of the leg rash I described in my opening post. As we know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe if someone seen the rash and recognised it, they could offer me some advice.
John
Anyway, the informnation posted is ALL VERY USEFUL! Thanks.
Over the next few days, I will be in "sponge" mode. In other words I'll be reading as much as I can to learn what I can.
I have one more question - Is there a way to post a picture on this forum? I'd like to post a picture of the leg rash I described in my opening post. As we know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe if someone seen the rash and recognised it, they could offer me some advice.
John
to add one little wee bit to what T mentioned on googling the drugs. Type in drug interaction on your search bar and choose one of the sites that let you list what meds are being taken so that you can check for adverse interaction.
"Most things contain sodium naturally." as Thatch pointed it out . That is very important to remember, you need a list of all food and calculate every meal. One meal never should have more sodium then 400 mg.
I just wanted to say something like this. :) great post. I myself never could go under 1600 mg sodium per day, but I was and I am only on 20 mg water pill, very occasional 40 mg.
I have never had a rash that relates to my meds. If she hasn't been in contact with anything it could be an allergic reaction to something she is taking now.
Standard meds include typically a diuretic, potassium. ACE inhibitor, probably beta blocker beta blocker. You should type the name of each of her meds onto Google and find out just what it supposed to do. There are a lot of them out there and I for one might not recognize a name of a med but know exactly what a ACE inhibitor does because I have been taking one twice a day for close to 17 years, real close.
Once she has the fluid off it is much better to keep it off by controlling the diet than by using drugs but it takes some learning. Use fresh or frozen vegetables, no salt added tomatoe products, don't salt the water when making pasta, make your own salad dressing, limit cheese, avoid bread.......it is very hard. Since she is diabetic you have to make some diet changes anyway, might as well do them all.
A good salt substitute is to buy Morton's Salt Subsitute and cut it with table salt till you have an 85/15% mix. You can season soups, salt no salt peanuts, no salt popcorn etc with it. No ham, bacon, sausage, very few canned fish, most canned vegetables, salted butter, cottage cheese, the list goes on. No fast food at all. I hope you know how to cook.
Things that are good to eat with CHF, maybe not diabetes, are raisins, fresh fruit, fresh and frozen veggies, fish, chicken and meat cooked without salt. Use grapeseed oil (best) or olive oil to cook with and make salad dressings with. Most things contain sodium naturally. Eating no salt does not mean no sodium. Optimum sodium intake would be between 500 mg and 1 gram per day. This is very hard to do. It is impossible to unless you prepare foods yourself. I can even get no salt added tuna in the can so that after I add the lowest salt mayo and whole grain mustard I can eat tuna salad, but not in a sandwhich. Average slice of bread is minimum of 200+mg/sodium, so a tuna fish sandwhich with no salt added tuna would be pushing a gram of sodium which is a days intake.
Travel with a pepper grinder, keep lemons around, carry salt substitute, if eating out if you can't get food cooked with out salt, get her a salad and use your own dressing. Tomatos have salt in them and I find high acid foods more satisfying. Candy is salted, candy bars have lots of salt. Nutritional labels have to be read on every single thing eaten. Frozen prepared foods are always high in sodium. Read the labels on every thing in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
No added salt does not mean no flavour. High quality ingredients will make taty and nourishing food but there needs to be an awareness of how much sodium is in every thing.
There are glucose level books available. I think it is called glycemic index. That might be a good place to start. Illiminate foods that have high glycemic levels, then go on to things high in sodium and see what is left. Be aware that a diuretic not only takes sodium and potassium but every single mineral in the body will be stripped. If they are not replaced there will be concequences best avoided by diet and supplementation. She abosolutely needs a very good multi vtamin. I recommend getting one that is whole food based so that the B vitamins are better absorbed. A bit more money but it will be worth it. A good multi mineral and extra calcium/ magnesium on top of that are a must. And remember the more the diuretic is used the more it will strip her bones. These things are dangerous for long term use and even short term expect depression from chemical and mineral imbalances. This is best treated with nutrition, not anti depressives. There are amino acid mood enhancers if needed. An anti depressent will not correct low calcium. Low calcium will lead to arrythmias. This is best corrected with calcium, not anti arrythmia drugs. Treating symptoms caused by drugs with drugs benefits only the pharmacutical companies.
You have some studying to do. And don't worry, with a bit of effort things will improve. CHF does not have to greatly change a life as long as a few habits are changed.
Thatch
Standard meds include typically a diuretic, potassium. ACE inhibitor, probably beta blocker beta blocker. You should type the name of each of her meds onto Google and find out just what it supposed to do. There are a lot of them out there and I for one might not recognize a name of a med but know exactly what a ACE inhibitor does because I have been taking one twice a day for close to 17 years, real close.
Once she has the fluid off it is much better to keep it off by controlling the diet than by using drugs but it takes some learning. Use fresh or frozen vegetables, no salt added tomatoe products, don't salt the water when making pasta, make your own salad dressing, limit cheese, avoid bread.......it is very hard. Since she is diabetic you have to make some diet changes anyway, might as well do them all.
A good salt substitute is to buy Morton's Salt Subsitute and cut it with table salt till you have an 85/15% mix. You can season soups, salt no salt peanuts, no salt popcorn etc with it. No ham, bacon, sausage, very few canned fish, most canned vegetables, salted butter, cottage cheese, the list goes on. No fast food at all. I hope you know how to cook.
Things that are good to eat with CHF, maybe not diabetes, are raisins, fresh fruit, fresh and frozen veggies, fish, chicken and meat cooked without salt. Use grapeseed oil (best) or olive oil to cook with and make salad dressings with. Most things contain sodium naturally. Eating no salt does not mean no sodium. Optimum sodium intake would be between 500 mg and 1 gram per day. This is very hard to do. It is impossible to unless you prepare foods yourself. I can even get no salt added tuna in the can so that after I add the lowest salt mayo and whole grain mustard I can eat tuna salad, but not in a sandwhich. Average slice of bread is minimum of 200+mg/sodium, so a tuna fish sandwhich with no salt added tuna would be pushing a gram of sodium which is a days intake.
Travel with a pepper grinder, keep lemons around, carry salt substitute, if eating out if you can't get food cooked with out salt, get her a salad and use your own dressing. Tomatos have salt in them and I find high acid foods more satisfying. Candy is salted, candy bars have lots of salt. Nutritional labels have to be read on every single thing eaten. Frozen prepared foods are always high in sodium. Read the labels on every thing in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
No added salt does not mean no flavour. High quality ingredients will make taty and nourishing food but there needs to be an awareness of how much sodium is in every thing.
There are glucose level books available. I think it is called glycemic index. That might be a good place to start. Illiminate foods that have high glycemic levels, then go on to things high in sodium and see what is left. Be aware that a diuretic not only takes sodium and potassium but every single mineral in the body will be stripped. If they are not replaced there will be concequences best avoided by diet and supplementation. She abosolutely needs a very good multi vtamin. I recommend getting one that is whole food based so that the B vitamins are better absorbed. A bit more money but it will be worth it. A good multi mineral and extra calcium/ magnesium on top of that are a must. And remember the more the diuretic is used the more it will strip her bones. These things are dangerous for long term use and even short term expect depression from chemical and mineral imbalances. This is best treated with nutrition, not anti depressives. There are amino acid mood enhancers if needed. An anti depressent will not correct low calcium. Low calcium will lead to arrythmias. This is best corrected with calcium, not anti arrythmia drugs. Treating symptoms caused by drugs with drugs benefits only the pharmacutical companies.
You have some studying to do. And don't worry, with a bit of effort things will improve. CHF does not have to greatly change a life as long as a few habits are changed.
Thatch
Thanks for the replies and the information within.
Momto3, I attempted to post to the "Patient-to-Doctor Heart Forum" but found out that it was not excepting new posts today. Thank you for explaining why.
Surfgirl, one of the biggest battles, at the moment, is her water retention. She is taking medication, but she has recently gain weight (3 lbs in one week). Over the phone the doctor suggested an increase of her diaretic (sp?) to reduce her water retention which I fear will lower her potassium to a dangerously low level. After increasing her medication for water retention, she lost several pounds(GOOD!) w/o dehydration.
At the time of her CHF, it was dicovered she had diabetes, but is now under control. Her blood glucose level is an average of 110 before dinner. Her weekly blood tests at the blood center for Coumadin level is at 2.5 (good).
**My question that I seek an answer is as follows: My mother recently developed a red rash on both legs below the knees. The rash is small red spots that do not itch or hurt. The rash has not broken through the skin and each spot is no bigger than a pencil eraser (6 mm). The rash is not getting better, but is not getting worse too fast either. My mother is scheduled for a doctor's visit in about a week at which time the doctor will see the problem. I am wondering if anyone out here experienced the same red rash problem and if so, what is the cause and cure?
Thanks,
John.
Momto3, I attempted to post to the "Patient-to-Doctor Heart Forum" but found out that it was not excepting new posts today. Thank you for explaining why.
Surfgirl, one of the biggest battles, at the moment, is her water retention. She is taking medication, but she has recently gain weight (3 lbs in one week). Over the phone the doctor suggested an increase of her diaretic (sp?) to reduce her water retention which I fear will lower her potassium to a dangerously low level. After increasing her medication for water retention, she lost several pounds(GOOD!) w/o dehydration.
At the time of her CHF, it was dicovered she had diabetes, but is now under control. Her blood glucose level is an average of 110 before dinner. Her weekly blood tests at the blood center for Coumadin level is at 2.5 (good).
**My question that I seek an answer is as follows: My mother recently developed a red rash on both legs below the knees. The rash is small red spots that do not itch or hurt. The rash has not broken through the skin and each spot is no bigger than a pencil eraser (6 mm). The rash is not getting better, but is not getting worse too fast either. My mother is scheduled for a doctor's visit in about a week at which time the doctor will see the problem. I am wondering if anyone out here experienced the same red rash problem and if so, what is the cause and cure?
Thanks,
John.
Welcome......a few of us on here, myself included, have CHF and would be happy to help you help your mother manage her condition. One thing that is not emphasized enough is the low sodium diet..........many people think they should just avoid table salt, but butter, bread, cheese, processed foods, canned foods, etc are all wayy too high in sodium. She should be weighing herself every am as soon as she gets up, but after she pees, to keep track of her fluid retention..a weight gain of 3 lbs in one day or 5 in one week should be brought to the doctor's attention. Any questions or concerns, just ask. We are not doctors, but we have lived,and so far survived ,with this disease.
Hi John and welcome!
I'm very sorry to hear about the troubles your mom is facing. CHF can be tough to manage, but be sure your mom sticks with the regime and follows the doctor's orders. Hopefully, this is just a bump in the road and she is on her way to feeling much better.
If you post a question in the "Patient-to-Doctor Heart Forum, I think it would help the doctor if you posted the information about your mom's age, physical condition, a bit of cardiac history and medications, including dosages. The doctor answers two questions per day and they are generally posted early in the morning (EST).
You can also post your questions/comments on the "Patient-to-Patient" Heart Disease Forum. On that site (see the links above), other posters will chime in with their experiences and suggestions. The posters on the Patient-to-Patient forum are NOT doctors, they are just "regular" folks trying to help one another.
Good luck posting! Hope you and your mom have a nice day!
Connie
I'm very sorry to hear about the troubles your mom is facing. CHF can be tough to manage, but be sure your mom sticks with the regime and follows the doctor's orders. Hopefully, this is just a bump in the road and she is on her way to feeling much better.
If you post a question in the "Patient-to-Doctor Heart Forum, I think it would help the doctor if you posted the information about your mom's age, physical condition, a bit of cardiac history and medications, including dosages. The doctor answers two questions per day and they are generally posted early in the morning (EST).
You can also post your questions/comments on the "Patient-to-Patient" Heart Disease Forum. On that site (see the links above), other posters will chime in with their experiences and suggestions. The posters on the Patient-to-Patient forum are NOT doctors, they are just "regular" folks trying to help one another.
Good luck posting! Hope you and your mom have a nice day!
Connie
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