Learning to live with Furosemide in relation to Edema

Learning to deal with CHF and one of the symptoms which is edema is hard.

Over the past few years I have been taking Furosemide periodically to stay alive with CHF and Edema.

So, here is what I have learned so far. I don't like taking it at all because it can make you hallucinate especially at night if you are taking it regularly. 

So, a Japanese doctor who put in my defibrillator pacemaker in that can restart my heart if it stops said to me one day:" Just stop drinking water and you won't have to take furosemide at all!"

At the time I thought what he said was just cruel. However, over time I realized he was right. So, now I only drink water if my mouth is dry or something like that. By NOT drinking water almost at all I have solved most of the problems of Edema which is water weight related.

So, what I have found is that by reducing salt intake which causes water retention and by not drinking water I only need to take furosemide if I'm lucky once a week now to reduce my water weight about 5 pounds  whenever I use Furosemide. However, if I use it I'm kind of out of it the next day from urinating for 6 or 8 hours straight.

I had a friend who took this twice a day and was always wetting his pants but didn't learn what I have learned about it and died at age 81. 

However, I'm 77 and still alive (Thank God!)

However, it is also true he was single and lonely (except for his dog and cat) when he passed away so I kind of understand what that would be like not to have someone to care for you and to care for them to keep each other alive and to have a good companion too.

I understand this because I didn't meet someone like this until I was 46 years old and we have now been together 31 years December 1st 2025 and married 30 years this December.

So, learning how to survive is a long experimental process which many people (not scientifically minded) often die in the process of.

My cousin is 81 and I'm 77 and we are the longest living males of my present generation in our family. Mostly I have watched most of my peers and friends pass away especially since the year around 2000. It started with my wife's mother in 1999 and that year I almost died too but God seems to want me alive to help people. 

By God's Grace 

The worst year for me and my wife watching people pass away was 2008.

That year first my Aunt passed away (my father's sister) in June.

Then in July my wife's father passed away.

then next my Mother passed away.

Then next my favorite Female Cousin passed away.

Luckily, I had my wife and children in my life and my friends because this was a hard year to get through for both my wife and myself.

Then this year 2025 my wife's biological mother passed away which was hard too. She was adopted by a family at her birth in the San Francisco bay area. 

So, learning how to navigate your health when you get older and learning to live with yourself in your life as you get older is a lot.

However, what actually prepared me the most for this is getting married and raising children to adulthood.

The same self discipline you need to raise kids and be married and stay married and run businesses is also what keeps you alive when you are older too.

The hardest thing is to watch your relatives and friends pass away one by one as you get older.

But, I think as long as I have my wife and children and friends in my life I might just keep going maybe to 100 or more.

However, it's a moment by moment thing living forever.

Only by living each moment are you alive truly in the next moment.

This is just Living 101. 

It's like taking a class on living in college. The college of hard knocks and real experiences.