Heart Failure @ 49?????

[Carol329]

Hello,  I am a 49 year old woman with shortness of breath and a burning sensation in my chest sometimes with exertion.  I have gained 30 lbs in the last 2 years, since I was terminated from my full time job.  I now only work 15 hours per week.  I blame my symptoms on weight gain and being severely out of shape.  I am 5'6" and 210 lbs, I told my dr of my symptoms and he had an ECG done.  It came back and says "there is abnormal diastolic function".  I looked this up and figure it is not good.  My ef is 65%, no problem there.  then I had a nuclear stress test.  They did not put me on the treadmill like I had expected.  the gave me something through the iv.  It caused the same chest symptoms that I get, but someone called and said the stress test was fine.  I was diagnosd with atrial septal aneurysm years ago and have been hospitalized a few times for supra ventricular tachycardia with afib and I have sleep apnea.  Am I adding diastolic heart failure to my list?????

[Carol329]

thank you......I have a follow up with the cardiologist in 2 weeks.  I'm figuring your're right about reducing risk factors.  Fortunately I do not smoke, drink or do drugs.  That would leave me with my problems with chocolate and mashed potatoes...lol.  

[Flycaster305]

An EF of 65% should give you a lot of confidence that your heart is pretty healthy.  It sounds to me that you are worried about your pulmonary artery function, something that is best diagnosed with an Echocardiogram.  An ECG is a great test to determine a heart attack, but not a diagnostic tool.  Smoking, being overweight, taking drugs, diabetes and certainly sleep apnea can all cause problems with the pulmonary artery.  I'd reduce risk factors.  Keep us informed.