Heart and Lung Transplant Symptoms

Heart failure occurs when your heart is not able to pump enough blood to the tissues of your body.

One of the first symptoms you will notice is shortness of breath.

• Initially, shortness of breath occurs only with vigorous exertion or strenuous exercise. As the disease progresses, shortness of breath will occur with less and less effort, and finally at rest.
  
  
• You may find that you need to use more pillows at night because you get short of breath when lying flat (orthopnea).
  
  
• You may wake in the middle of the night very short of breath, needing to sit or stand upright (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea).

Other symptoms include the following:

• Nausea and vomiting
  
  
• Weight gain
  
  
• Confusion
  
  
• Swelling of your arms and legs (edema)
  
  
• Severe fatigue and tiredness
  
  
• Decreased urine

The main symptom for lung disease is shortness of breath.

• You may have coughing or wheezing.
  
  
• The shortness of breath becomes so severe that it limits your exercise and daily activities.
  
  
• If you have severe lung disease, you may need medicines, such as inhalers or steroids, or even oxygen to be able to function.
  
  
• In cystic fibrosis, recurrent pneumonias and excessive sputum production is common.
  
  
• Fatigue and tiredness is common.
  
  
• Cyanosis or bluish discoloration of the skin and lips is common.