Treating Heart Failure: Why Progress Beats Perfection

When it comes to your treatment plan for heart failure, you may have to make certain lifestyle changes in order to slow the progression of your disease. But you don’t have to be perfect. Instead, be honest with your healthcare provider about your habits, so that they can adapt treatment to fit your lifestyle.

“It’s very, very important to have a close relationship with your cardiologist when you have the diagnosis of heart failure,” says Pilar Stevens-Haynes, MD, Cardiologist with South Nassau Community Hospital in Oceanside, NY.

Do you need to be perfect during heart failure treatment?

It may be better to work progressively toward your treatment goals than it is to cut out everything you enjoy, only to backslide later when it’s too hard to maintain long term. 

Here’s how to keep moving forward with your heart failure treatment:

1. Don’t be afraid to be more honest with your provider. 

For example, say you want to go to a baseball game with your grandkids, and while you’re there, you’d like to have a hot dog and a beer. It may help to talk to your provider about it, who may be able to work with you on figuring out a bigger plan that incorporates items that are most important for you in the healthiest possible manner. 

2. Your care team can help balance your treatment with your lifestyle.

Dr. Stevens-Haynes says that by communicating openly with your provider about what you’re up to, they can help you adjust your medication accordingly or to watch your weight after a particular event.

“I want you to have a good quality of life,” explains Dr. Stevens-Haynes. “If your quality of life is tied into enjoying a baseball game with your grandson, I want you to be able to do that.”

3. You can play an active role in your treatment. 

Know that you have a say in your heart failure treatment plan. This way, says Dr. Stevens-Haynes, your care plan becomes more like co-management together, rather than your provider just telling you what to do.

4. Being honest may help your doctor give you the most relevant guidance. 

If you don’t eat certain types of foods, have a tight budget, or don’t like to cook, let your provider know that. They can help you come up with alternatives without judgment.

5. Good communication with your provider may improve treatment outcomes.

If you’re playing an active role in your care plan, you’re more likely to stick to it, too.

“The more you’re able to recognize your symptoms at home and quickly communicate that with [your provider], the better off we’ll all be,” says Dr. Stevens-Haynes.

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Written by:

Marisa Taylor Karas

Marisa Taylor Karas is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn who has covered health, gender, and technology for 15 years. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera America, among other publications, and also served as managing editor of the Mellon Foundation in New York City.

Reviewed by:

Alexandra Schwarz, MD

Alexandra Schwarz, MD, is a board-eligible sleep medicine physician and a board-certified family medicine physician. She is a member of both the AASM and the ABFM.

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