IF you have CHF then often you have edema too. I came back from Mt. Shasta not having taken furosemide the previous 3 days which was a mistake. Also, usually I take a scale with me to see if I'm retaining too much water weight which can be hard on your heart. If I gain 5 pounds of water weight from edema I'm usually in trouble for a few days.
So, After I drove south from Mt. Shasta I was tired from the Travel south as well as from the problems associated with edema. So, I took Furosemide and potassium at the right amount to come back from this problem. Though we drove south from Mt. Shasta on Tuesday I'm still in a process of recovery. However, I have been able to lose 3 pounds of water weight so I"m starting to feel more normal and better.
The other thing I have learned is to sleep instead of eating when you want to recover and not to drink any water at all unless my mouth is dry or I need to take medicines. So, for example, if I take furosemide and Potassium (so the furosemide doesn't drain all the potassium out of your body and kill you in a month from taking furosemide ongoing that long) I start to lose the water weight and start to feel better again.
Edema causes your heart to work much harder and I think could potentially make you so sick you might die if you don't treat it soon enough. The other problem is salt in your diet and make your edema worse. So, it's important to give up salt as much as possible until you recover more fully from a full on edema episode if you want to stay alive through it.
I have been dealing with CHF since at least 2012 or earlier but it is survivable if you treat it seriously and don't make any mistakes in diet or exercise or furosemide or potassium intake.
I will be 77 next month or so so I feel very fortunate to still be alive and kicking.
By God's Grace
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