Signs and symptoms of heart failure

Main symptoms of heart failure

• breathlessness (dyspnoea) when you're more active than usual or sometimes when you're resting
• extreme tiredness and weakness
• swelling in the legs, ankles and feet (oedema)
• being woken up in the middle of the night gasping for breath (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea)
• a cough that will not go away
• nausea (feeling sick)
• lack of appetite
• weight loss
• confusion or difficulties in concentrating  

These symptoms can sometimes be because of a different condition. But they are signs that you might have heart failure. Your doctor should be able to rule heart failure out. The sooner that you are diagnosed the better you may recover.