	What Is COREG CR?
	Risks & Side Effects
	COREG CR for High Blood Pressure
	Taking Care of Your Heart
	Heart-Health Tools
	COREG CR for a Heart Attack that Reduced How Well Your Heart Pumps
	COREG CR for Heart Failure

Treating Heart Failure with COREG CR

Living with Heart Failure

How Heart Failure Happens

Talking with Your Doctor

Tips for Caregivers

	Staying On Track with Treatment

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COREG CR for Heart Failure

Many people do not know what heart failure is—only that it sounds scary. In fact, it is a serious health problem. The good news is that heart failure, if diagnosed, can be managed. Taking medication and making lifestyle changes can help you start to live a healthier life.

If you have heart failure, COREG CR can help. COREG CR is a type of medicine called a beta-blocker. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat mild, moderate, or severe heart failure. COREG CR helps to lower the heart rate and makes the heart pump better. COREG CR is proven to help people with heart failure live longer and stay out of the hospital.

What is heart failure?

Heart failure is also known as "weakened heart." It does not mean that your heart has stopped. It means that your heart is not able to pump enough blood to all parts of your body.

Your heart is a muscle that pumps blood. Blood carries oxygen to your cells. When your heart does not pump enough blood, your body does not get enough oxygen. Because you are not getting enough oxygen, you may feel tired (fatigued)
When your heart does not pump strongly enough, blood may back up into your lungs
A weakened heart may also cause a build-up of fluid. This may cause your ankles, feet, and legs to swell
Heart failure happens when the heart muscle has been damaged, often by high blood pressure or heart attack

The causes of heart failure

Heart failure happens when the heart muscle has been damaged over time. This damage can happen from high blood pressure or heart attack. The damage may continue to get worse.

The causes of heart failure include:

High blood pressure
Diabetes
Heart attack (coronary artery disease)

Heart failure versus heart attack

Heart failure is a serious heart problem that slowly gets worse. Over time, your heart grows weaker and pumps less blood through your body. One cause of heart failure is a heart attack that has damaged the heart muscle and reduced how well it works.

Symptoms

How do you know if you have heart failure? Signs of heart failure may include:

Shortness of breath not due to physical activity
Swelling or weight gain
Coughing that does not go away
Tiredness (fatigue)
Lack of appetite or a sick-to-your-stomach feeling (nausea)
Confusion, disorientation

Women and heart failure

Heart problems are often thought of as a "man's disease." But in fact, more women than men have heart failure. Women should take heart failure seriously. Call your doctor right away if you have any of the symptoms listed above.

See Important Safety Information below

The information on this Web site is designed to supplement the information provided by your doctor; it is not meant to replace it. This information is not meant to provide medical advice. Your doctor should always be your main source of information about your condition and how to manage it.

COREG CR is approved for the treatment of hypertension, which is also known as high blood pressure.

COREG CR is approved to reduce the risk of death in patients who had a heart attack that reduced how well the heart pumps.

COREG CR is approved to increase survival in patients with mild to severe heart failure.

Important Safety Information

It is important for patients to take their medicine every day as directed by their doctor or health care provider. If patients stop taking COREG CR suddenly, they could have chest pain and/or a heart attack. If the doctor decides that a patient should stop taking COREG CR, the doctor may slowly lower the dose over a period of time before stopping it completely.

Some common side effects associated with COREG CR include shortness of breath, a slow heartbeat, weight gain, fatigue, hypotension, diarrhea, increases in blood sugar, dizziness, faintness, or runny nose/sore throat. People taking COREG CR who have any of these symptoms should call their doctor. Additionally, if patients experience fatigue or dizziness, they should sit or lie down and avoid driving or hazardous tasks. Beta-blockers may mask the symptoms of an overactive thyroid or low blood sugar, or may alter blood sugar levels. People with diabetes should report any changes in blood sugar levels to their physician. Contact lens wearers may produce fewer tears or have dry eyes. As with any medicine, patients taking COREG CR should first tell their doctor what other medications they are taking. COREG CR should be taken with food.

Some people should not take COREG CR, including those with severe heart failure who are in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the hospital. Also, people should not take COREG CR if they take certain intravenous drugs that help support their circulation (inotropic medications). Other people who should not take COREG CR are those who have (1) asthma or other breathing problems, or (2) a very slow heartbeat or certain conditions that can cause the heart to skip a beat (irregular heartbeat), (3) severe liver problems, or (4) serious allergic reactions to Coreg^® (carvedilol).