My uncle has congestive heart failure

[monotonic]

Hi everyone. I learned this morning that my uncle went to the hospital for congestive heart failure. He is schizophrenic and doesn't have very good living conditions, but he manages to stay somewhat independent.

The doctor hasn't told us what kind of heart failure it is, whether his heart has become weak or if it has become stiff. According the nurse, the heart problem is causing the kidneys to not be able to release water, causing it to build up in the legs, abdomen, etc. He went to the hospital because he was having a lot of problems breathing.

He has had his gall bladder removed in the past.

Please give some suggestions about how to help him.

In another thread I noticed there were several people who had schizophrenic relatives. Since these conditions are hard to deal with, maybe we could make a list of schizophrenic relatives and ask the Cs for suggestions on how best to help them? For instance some cases of Schizophrenia can be healed or managed, we just don't know how.

 

[nicklebleu]

Hi monotonic,

Sorry to hear of your uncle's distress.

Did he ask for help? I am asking because helping others is generally a difficult and delicate point, even if they want to be helped. And even more so if they are schizophrenic (not that I have relevant experience with that).

In terms of his cardiac problem, it really depends on what the cause is. The hospital doctors most likely will put him on diuretics, which again have their own problems. But to treat the underlying cause is much harder. What is his diet like? Is he taking any meds that might interfere with his heart function (psych meds, statins etc.)? Is he taking any supplements that might improve heart function and mitochondrial dysfunction (like CoQ10, resveratrol etc.)?

So you might need to give us a bit more information about him and you.
:)

That's my take, anyway, others might have other ideas.

 

[monotonic]

That's a good point. He seems pretty resigned and hasn't asked for anything. I don't think he believes there is anything to do. His mother is sure to buy him some supplements whether or not he asks, and I'm guessing he will use them, but maybe it's not a healthy dynamic and it could be related to why his body is saying No.

He is also diabetic, but he says it's getting harder to manage it with his diet. I don't know much about his diet but I know it's not very good.

 

[Gaby]

He would be stabilized and compensated from his heart failure at the hospital, then he'll manage to breath and feel better.

I don't think it would hurt if he takes supplements that will support his body's physiology. He probably takes several pharmaceuticals. It is known that psychiatric drugs contribute to diabetes, heart failure and deterioration of health in general. If he could avoid gluten and dairy, that will be a plus. But I think some supplements will help him have a better quality of life.

Do you know which meds he take?

 

[MusicMan]

Hello Monotonic, you did not indicate your uncle's age, or weight or general condition.
A lot of people do not consider their posture, and leaning forward a lot puts a lot of pressure on the heart as well as other organs. So you could encourage him to sit and stand erectly.
The heart is connected intimately to the kidneys, liver and endocrine glands, and these are commonly attacked by all kinds of parasites, so a detox might help him. Depending on the type of parasite infecting him, the detox may also help with the schizophrenia.
The teeth are also implicated in heart problems, so a dental check may be in order.
FWIW.

 

[theos]

Hello Monotonic,

While your uncle is in the hospital there is not much you can do -- especially if he's not asking. Modern medicine stinks but there are times when major medical intervention is called for and this is one of those times. He really needs to get all that fluid pulled out of him. Once he gets home a major dietary intervention would be in order followed by supplements. But again, it would be up to him and he's not asking.

Are you close enough to him to have a conversation on how he feels about his state of health? Is he even mentally stable enough to fully comprehend what would be involved or be able to implement any changes?

 

[monotonic]

He experiments with his diet and for a while was able to control his blood sugar. So I suspect the potential is there. But his schizophrenia probably isn't conducive to a strict diet, and he would be dependent on someone else to fetch the food for him.

I think if we regularly showed up with food, he would eat whatever we give him.

Part of the trouble with talking to him would be plain old stubbornness and part of it would be his tendency to get distracted and to rant. But I think he could understand us if he was interested in what we had to say, and if he was on his meds. He will take those occasionally or when in the hospital but usually not when alone.

 

[Mark]

But his schizophrenia probably isn't conducive to a strict diet, and he would be dependent on someone else to fetch the food for him.

There are numerous articles on SoTT related to schizophrenia, you might do a search and see if anything might be useful for your uncle.

 

[monotonic]

The events recently have been weird. A few days ago a neighbor and "friend" of the family fell and hit her head, and we watched the ambulance take her away. I wake up the next day to find out my Uncle has been hospitalized for congestive heart failure. Now, I've just learned he has left the hospital against the doctor's orders. And so has our neighbor. On top of that, they had recently had a falling out with each other. They weren't in the same hospital, but I suppose there are other ways they could influence each other.

 

[monotonic]

These things happened a few months ago, but I will write what I remember just to give an update.

Our uncle was in distress with severe swelling with inability to urinate, and his mother did not want to take him to the hospital. Instead she wanted to give him Dolomite. She had seen this work previously with her own mother, and she believes the hospital was at fault when her mother finally passed away. The doctors would say they couldn't do anything but she would recover when she was given dolomite.

We were apprehensive about her ideas since we didn't know the full story. It was a very tense moment where we were trying to convince her to take him to the hospital, and we could give him something there. What ended up happening was that we brought him our jar of powder Magnesium Glycinate, since she couldn't find dolomite in any store.

That seemed to work and he is fine so far. The entire jar quickly got used up in a few days, who knows how, so we gave him as well as her another jar and ordered a larger bag to restock ourselves.