Medication

Your doctor may suggest COREG CR to treat your heart failure.

COREG CR is a beta-blocker that can help slow down how quickly the heart weakens:

• COREG CR helps to lower the heart rate and make the heart pump with less force
• It is proven to help people with heart failure live longer and stay out of the hospital
• COREG CR is the only beta-blocker approved to increase survival in patients with mild, moderate, or severe heart failure

Your doctor may also recommend that you take:

• Diuretics or water pills. These increase the amount of urine you excrete. This reduces the strain on the heart, because there is less fluid to pump
• ACE Inhibitors, a class of drugs that lower blood pressure. This reduces strain on the heart
• Digoxin/Digitalis, a drug that helps the heart pump more strongly. This can relieve some of the symptoms of heart failure

Your doctor has a number of different drugs that are well tolerated and have been shown to help patients with heart failure. He or she will pick ones that will best help your condition. Feel free to discuss these choices with your doctor.

Lifestyle Changes

To help you feel better and keep your heart failure from getting any worse, you must make lifestyle changes in addition to taking medication.

Your doctor may tell you to:

• Eat less salt in your diet, and limit your fluid intake (to avoid swelling)
• Engage in regular aerobic exercise
• Lose weight if you are overweight
• Limit alcohol intake
• If you smoke, quit
• Weigh yourself daily

Some of these changes may seem difficult. But making them is a small price to pay for treating your heart failure. With successful treatment, many people live a healthier life and enjoy much of what they enjoyed before their heart failure. Taking care of your heart is a lifelong commitment — to yourself.