People with heart failure may find that they often feel cold in their arms, hands, feet, and legs (the extremities). This happens because the body is circulating most of the available blood to the brain and other vital organs to compensate for the failing heart's inability to pump enough blood to the entire body.
Warning signs and symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, chronic coughing or wheezing, swelling, fatigue, loss of appetite, and others. Heart failure means the heart has failed to pump the way it should in order to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
A heart attack might also cause cold sweats, a racing heart, pain down the left arm, jaw stiffness, or shoulder pain.
In the early stages you may experience flu-like symptoms, including: Body aches. Fatigue. Fever or chills.
Chills are your body's way of raising its core temperature. Cold temperatures, viruses, infections and other illnesses can bring on chills. When you shiver, your muscles relax and contract. This involuntary movement warms your body.
Some people also described breathlessness, a tight-chested feeling, nausea, clammy skin, cold extremities (e.g. hands and feet), and chest pain.
If you are feeling that cold, shivery feeling, accompanied with general weakness or tiredness, you can bet that you are coming down with some kind of viral or bacterial infection. A cold, the flu, a respiratory infection — anything that can cause a fever will likely also cause the chills.
Cold sweats or chills can be one of the first signs of a heart attack. If these occur almost immediately after having extreme chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations, then best to seek emergency medical help right away.
Some people naturally tend to feel colder than others without any discernible cause. However, cold intolerance can also indicate an underlying medical condition, such as hypothyroidism, anemia, or peripheral artery disease.
Heart failure symptoms may include: Shortness of breath with activity or when lying down. Fatigue and weakness. Swelling in the legs, ankles and feet.
Stage I is considered “pre-heart failure.” High-risk individuals include patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and coronary artery disease. A family history of alcohol abuse, rheumatic fever, cardiotoxic drug therapy, or cardiomyopathy can increase your risk.
If your heart rate is consistently above 100 beats per minute or below 60 beats per minute (and you're not an athlete) and if you are experiencing any symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, chest pain, breathlessness then you may need to visit a hospital.
Tachycardia – an abnormally rapid heart rate – can disguise itself as AFib, because it's often a symptom of AFib. Tachycardia can come from an infection, heart disease, congenital abnormalities, or a number of other causes, and can easily be mistaken for persistent AFib. Anxiety or panic attacks.
The most obvious symptom of atrial fibrillation is heart palpitations – where the heart feels like it's pounding, fluttering or beating irregularly, often for a few seconds or possibly a few minutes.
Lack of vitamin B12 and iron deficiency can cause anemia and lead you to feel cold. Good sources of B12 are chicken, eggs and fish, and people with iron deficiency may want to seek out poultry, pork, fish, peas, soybeans, chickpeas and dark green leafy vegetables.
Chills are a common symptom of infections like pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTI), and malaria. Besides chills, an infection can also cause symptoms like: Fever.
Chest Discomfort
If you have a blocked artery or are having a heart attack, you may feel pain, tightness, or pressure in your chest. "Everyone has a different word for that feeling," Chambers says. "Some people say it's like an elephant is sitting on them. Other people say it's like a pinching or burning."
Bradycardia can be a serious problem if the heart rate is very slow and the heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the body. If this happens, you may feel dizzy, very tired or weak, and short of breath. Sometimes bradycardia doesn't cause symptoms or complications.
Bradycardia can cause you to feel faint, dizzy, short of breath, fatigued or have chest pain. Bradycardia can have a variety of causes including heart problems, medicines, or electrolyte imbalances. Treatment depends on what is causing your bradycardia; sometimes you may need a pacemaker to raise your heart rate.