water on lungs in elderly?

[moljam]

my mil has been told she has water on her lungs and that the water tablets shes been taking arent helping and they cant do much else.what does this mean?she was also told her hearts getting worseand she sounds like shes giving up

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i dont know,dont think she really knows

she has heart problems,diabetes,asthma and this water on the lungs thing

Oh I am sorry,

I went through this for a very long time. When I nursed my grandmother.

I assume she is on something like frusimide(sp)?

Unfortunately it can become uneffective.

The only thing she can really do is to keep her feet elevated to help drain the fluid and to keep as active as she can. Even if it is arm chair excercises. How's she feeling?

HTH

yep shes on furosimide(sp?lol)she trys to walk around front room with frame but gets exhausted quickly.she has commode but refuses to use it at the moment so atleast she gets excersise walking to bathroom!shes coughing/choking constantly.and as i said seems to have given up.
can you be honest with me and tell me your experience of it?

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If she reduces her fluid intake too much whilst she is on a diuretic, it can cause her kidneys to fail, especially as she is diabetic.
I would suggest that if you are concerned that this may be terminal then you should ask your MIL's permission to speak to her GP-she will need to speak to her GP first-about how serious this is.
There are other medications that can be used as well as/instead of furosemide and that work in different ways.
If she is becoming depressed about it , her GP may not know this so it may help the GP in caring for her.

Hope that helps.

You can write a letter stating "I give permission for my daughter in law .............. to discuss my medical condition and treatment with Dr.... and get her to sign it. She has to print her name, then sign and date it. Once they have this you will find it easier to get the information.

There are a variety of drugs available to treat congestive heart failure, but it sounds as if you need to get more info from her doctor.

HTH

moljam - my dd has suffered from congestive heart failure in the past. There are certainly other meds available than just the frusemide although the diabetes will rule some of them out. Also they do sometimes restrict fluids but I wouldn't do that without medical supervision as it can affect the kidneys and the electrolyte balance which can further affect her heart.

Sorry - she does sound like she's suffering

thankyou everyone for your help,i will speak to her about speaking to gp again.