Dh has arrhythmia, and now his ankles have pitting odema.

[Fluffycloudland77]

What will the GP do? He’s coughing a lot of stuff up on his lungs too.

He’s also got aortic stenosis, leaving valve, regurgitating mitral valve and awaiting ablation.

Hiya @Girliefriendlikespuppies! He’s not breathless. His ankles are less swollen tonight.

He had a heavy salt day when it happened @AlternativePerspective, coincidentally I’ve just bought Tesco low salt.

We’re going to have the blood test, see if his kidneys are ok.

I’ll tell dh to ask for a ref to the heart failure nurse. We could do with some help.

He needs a referral to the arrhythmia nurse too if he hasn't already had one and no salt might be good idea. Lo salt still has salt and sodium, we cut it out completely and used herbs and oils instead for flavour.

There’s an arrhythmia nurse?.

There is in every hospital I have visited or worked in, which health authority are you in. PM me if you prefer,

If you google your hospital cardiac services or the cardiac dept it will tell you what nurses and clinics they have

I had an ablation at 26 and it was a real game
Changer for me

Glenfield cardiology.

If you look up their site there seems to be a cardiac rhythm management nurse within the cardiac team at Glenfield hospital Leicester 0116 258 3848

Can you link to what you found please?. I’m on the website and can’t see it.

It’s ok I found it, thank you. I’ll ring them tomorrow.

I’ve left an answer machine message with them.

They’ve rung, they said to keep elevated and see what the blood test shows.

But surely the kidney function blood test will only show how his kidneys are coping - not how is heart is coping with an increased fluid load which is where the odema is coming from? I would be wanting an echo and a cardiology appointment to review.

Sorry OP, sounds like you are really struggling to access good care. Is there any possibility of getting a private cardiology consultation? We have done this in the past to speed things up with DHs ablation and subsequent ICD device surgery.

But surely the kidney function blood test will only show how his kidneys are coping - not how is heart is coping with an increased fluid load which is where the odema is coming from? I would be wanting an echo and a cardiology appointment to review. Ideally those tests should all happen simultaneously, but the kidney function will need to be assessed first off because diuretics also have an impact on kidney function so if this is impaired then the medication needs to be guided from there.

OP does your DH have known kidney issues already?

The kidney function tests are absolutely vital - cardiac failure (if that’s what is causing the peripheral oedema) and kidney impairment are a common combination and the balancing/optimising of both are rather more complex than some of the bolder posts on this thread might suggest. The electrolyte element of the renal function tests also may help with any dysrhythmia management too if that’s what’s causing things to get worse.

It doesn’t look like any/many HCPs have posted on this thread and I wonder if that’s because of insight that the OP partner’s condition is clearly rather complicated & not something that it’s easy to advise about on a forum like this.

OP, things must be really frustrating, but i really think that the hcp’s who have access to your DH’s previous tests/trends are in a better position to give advice about his problems than a bunch of (albeit well meaning) people who can’t see him/assess his rhythm or volume status on the internet. Hope he gets the help he needs and some answers with the bloods tomorrow.

Well the nurse isn’t worried so I’m reassured by that & we know we can ring now which is good because I’d rather have there opinion than the drs who told him arrhythmia is perfectly normal 🤨.

I’ll ring out of hours if he deteriorates.