Heart failure
Symptoms of heart failure: breathlessness and fatigue
Heart failure has many symptoms, including breathlessness, low energy, congestion in the chest, swollen feet and ankles, bouts of dizziness and fainting, nausea, persistent coughing, feeling bloated, being unable to sleep, and palpitations (see also 'Symptoms of heart failure: oedema, palpitations and wakefulness').
Many of these symptoms occur in other illnesses, and so are not necessarily linked to heart failure. However, people with heart failure may experience one or more of these symptoms, and most can be relieved with the appropriate medication.
Breathlessness
Breathlessness (or dyspnoea) is considered a 'hallmark' symptom of heart failure as it is a very common symptom.
Some people we spoke with experienced breathlessness or were short of breath when they tried to do too much in a day, took too much exercise (e.g., walking, hill climbing, gardening, line-dancing, and fishing), or tried to lift things.
Avoiding certain activities and taking things slowly worked well for some people, and medication was also a help (see also 'Home life and everyday routines').
Those with more severe cases of heart failure also experienced breathlessness when they were lying down and resting.
One man said that being short of breath when resting had worried him and caused him to go and see his doctor.
He becomes aware of his heart beat and gets breathless if he lifts things.
He becomes aware of his heart beat and gets breathless if he lifts things.
He noticed he was breathless at night and went to see his doctor.
He noticed he was breathless at night and went to see his doctor.
Nobody told me that, well I was told that every time I had a heart attack the muscles in my heart died a little or were damaged, and that they wouldn't recover at that time and up to the present time there is no recovery, although they're working on it! And...the consultant, no not the consultant, the surgeon that actually did the thing said that he didn't think he would get rid of my breathlessness completely with this but it should do me. It should prevent any more heart attacks coming and should look after me for... I think approximately 10 years. And that was that. I had a triple bypass and I had a nurse come and take out the stitches and see me here, and then she went ill and I never saw anybody again for about 7' years.
When I started getting very alarmingly puffy, and especially alarming was getting breathless lying down in bed and I thought well this is not right, this is something wrong. And... it was then I went down to the local doctor and it was an emergency appointment so it was a lady doctor, who was very good, and she decided to send me for a scan in the [name of Hospital] the hospital. And there was an Irish lady doctor there, who had a good look at everything and said there hadn't been any great deterioration in my heart, but it might be a good thing to see the consultant.
Several people described experiencing breathlessness in the lead up to getting treatment and diagnosis for heart failure.
One woman said her breathlessness had gotten worse in a short span of time and she had thought at first that she had a chest infection.
Others who had had heart failure for several years said sometimes they felt very short of breath as well as tired, and these symptoms could be triggered by less strenuous ‘everyday’ activities such as tearing up bread for feeding birds or having a shower.
She thought her breathlessness was a chest infection at first.
She thought her breathlessness was a chest infection at first.
Anyway I didn't get to the 2 days; the next night I started breathing really heavily, I couldn't get my breath at all and I sat down and I tried to breathe easily and I thought well if this a panic attack then I need to keep calm. So I tried to keep calm and I tried to breathe easily and I couldn't. And my husband came in and he didn't think that I should wait any longer and he actually called Q-Doc.
Having a shower can make him feel as though he's run a marathon.
Having a shower can make him feel as though he's run a marathon.
Can you describe the tired, it's not tired like I'd feel tired is it?
No it's like exhaustion. You'd run a marathon and that's how you feel after, well I feel like that just getting a shower. You'll feel dizzy, sometimes nauseated, basically just really really breathless, and you can feel your heart pumping as well. You can feel it thumping you know, it's weird, it's a weird feeling so it is. It's basically tiredness like when I say running a marathon, well I have that with a shower which is a big big difference.
Weariness and fatigue
Feelings of weariness, fatigue, or tiredness made many people want to slow down or stop what they were doing and rest.
Being very tired could cause people to experience what they called a 'bad day', where they felt listless and tired on and off all day (see 'Bad days, anxiety and depression').
Others described weariness in relation to losing physical strength; for example, they said they had less strength in their arms and found it difficult to lift or carry as much as before.
‘Energetic gardening’ was something people often said they missed due to these symptoms (see also 'Sports, hobbies and activities').
Tiredness makes her feel everything is an effort.
Tiredness makes her feel everything is an effort.
And when you do sit down when you feel like that, how long does it take before you feel better again?
Oh I only need a few minutes. It just depends what you're doing, I think. If I'm just in the room, in the kitchen doing something and I come and sit down, just 5 or 10 minutes and then I'm up again. I don't want to sit, especially if I've got something to do, I don't want to sit. I want to get up and do it and then I want to sit.
Some described a general loss of interest in things that they had previously been passionate about.
One man who had always loved cars and caravanning said he had not connected the lack of interest he was experiencing in these activities with heart failure, and said he felt much better once his drugs were altered.
He lost interest in his hobbies for a time but felt better once his medication was changed.
He lost interest in his hobbies for a time but felt better once his medication was changed.
I called in the doctor and I'm afraid I didn't, there's something I find very strange, I didn't appreciate that I had heart problems. He didn't seem to spell it out to me although maybe I should have known that I was taking remedies for. My main trouble is that my heart is not pumping fast enough and even, well just a few weeks ago, when I had my iron done at the hospital before they started the operation they checked all those things, and they said, 'Oh it's very low'. And they went so far as to phone up the surgery here to see what they said about it. And then again, about the same time we had our annual health check and the nurse, she commented so I'm a wee bit worried that my heart is still, you know I might want to go a bit faster! But the difference in me now to 6 months ago is just fantastic. Well I lost interest in everything. Normally I'm mad about cars, motor sport, caravans. I've got books come in every month and I just stopped reading them. You know, it sounds strange, although I didn't realise it was happening very much, did I? [looks at wife] .
For more information on heart failure refer to the British Heart Foundations website, which has a number of useful publications which explain heart failure in more detail (see ‘Resources and Information’).
See also ‘Symptoms of heart failure: oedema, palpitations and wakefulness’.
Last reviewed: August 2025.
Last updated: April 2016.
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