Your body doesn’t get sick overnight. Before an emergency appears, it usually sends small warning signs that most confuse with tiredness, age or stress.
Heart failure is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in adults, and the most dangerous thing is that its early symptoms often go unnoticed.

Here are 13 early signs that may indicate that your heart is starting to fail.

1. Shortness of breath when performing simple activities

If walking a few blocks, climbing a staircase or going to the mailbox leaves you breathless, it’s not just a lack of physical condition.
It happens because the heart no longer pumps enough oxygen to the muscles.

2. Needing more pillows to sleep on

Sleeping almost sitting up in order to breathe is a sign called orthopnea.
When your heart isn’t pumping well, fluid builds up in your lungs when you lie down.

3. Waking up at night drowning

If you wake up suddenly with a feeling of suffocation and must sit up to breathe, it may be nocturnal dyspnea, a serious alert of the heart.

4. Extreme tiredness

It is not normal tiredness.
It is a deep fatigue that does not improve with rest and that makes simple tasks exhausting.

5. Swelling in ankles, feet, or legs

When the heart fails, the blood stagnates and fluid leaks into the tissues.
Shoes are tighter at the end of the day and marks are left on the skin.

6. Rapid weight gain

Gaining more than 2 kilos in a few days is usually fluid retention, not fat.
It is a clear sign that the body is accumulating water due to heart failure.

7. Urinating a lot during the night

When you lie down, fluid accumulated during the day returns to the blood and is eliminated by the kidneys.
If you get up several times a night, it may be an early sign.

8. Dry cough or wheezing when lying down

A cough that appears during sleep, especially with a bubbling sensation in the chest, may indicate fluid in the lungs.

9. Palpitations or irregular heartbeats

The weakened heart may beat chaotically or rapidly.
It feels like thumps, jumps, or vibrations in the chest.

10. Dizziness or feeling faint

When the heart doesn’t send enough blood to the brain, dizziness, blurred vision, or a feeling of falling appear.

11. Abdominal bloating and lack of appetite

Blood pools in the liver and abdomen.
This generates a feeling of rapid fullness, nausea and heaviness.

12. Shortness of breath when bending over

If you run out of breath when tying your shoes or leaning forward, it’s a sign called bendopnea, very specific to heart failure.

13. Cold hands and feet

When the heart doesn’t pump enough force, the body prioritizes the brain and vital organs, leaving the extremities cold.

Why These Symptoms Shouldn’t Be Ignored

Heart failure rarely comes on all at once.
It builds slowly while the body compensates… until he can’t take it anymore.

Detecting it early can prevent hospitalizations, disability, and premature death.

Tips and recommendations

• Don’t ignore new changes in your breathing, energy, or weight
• Weigh yourself every day if you have swelling or a history of heart disease
• Avoid excess salt, alcohol and ultra-processed foods
• Walk every day, even if it’s just a little
• Sleep with your head slightly elevated if you’re short of breath
• If multiple symptoms appear together, seek medical attention

Your heart always warns before collapsing.
Listening to these signs can make the difference between dealing with a problem in time or dealing with an emergency.
Paying attention today can save you tomorrow.

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