Heart Failure: Checking Your Weight
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Introduction
People with heart failure need to track their weight carefully. Checking your weight lets you know how much extra fluid your body is holding on to. Sudden weight gain may mean that fluid is building up in your body because your heart failure is getting worse. Knowing how your weight is changing helps you manage your heart failure.
It's not hard to track your weight. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Weigh yourself on the same scale every day, at the same time each day.
- Keep a calendar by the scale. Write your weight on it each day.
- If you suddenly gain weight, call your doctor.
What do you need to know about weight gain and heart failure?
Why do you need to check your weight when you have heart failure?
How do you check your weight when you have heart failure?
Where to go from here
You can find more information about heart failure in these topics:
Heart failure: Watching your fluids- Heart failure: Activity and exercise
- Heart failure: Eating less salt
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| Last updated: | August 25, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Robin Parks, MS |
| Reviewed By: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine, Robert A. Kloner, MD, PhD - Cardiology |
| Editors: | Marianne Flagg, Terrina Vail |
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