Fluid retention

Dear Ask The Doctor: I had a heart attic in april of 2010,every since then i have been retaining fluids i taking 40mg. lasix twice a day but it not working what can i do to remove the fluid

Dear Jimmie: You may be retaining fluid because of impaired left ventricular function of the heart. This is most likely as a result of damage to the heart muscle secondary to the heart attack (myocardial infarction). Other common causes of impaired left ventricular function include; ischemic heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), valvular heart disease and cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart). I would advise an up-to-date echocardiogram to assess the left ventricular ejection fraction or LVEF which is a measure of the pumping ability of the heart. The LVEF value for a person with no heart damage is usually around 60 percent or greater. You may benefit from high-dose furosemide therapy, along with the addition of an ACE inhibitor, digoxin, and referral to a heart failure specialist.