How quickly does congestive heart failure progress?

My mom had a pacemaker and CHF at 90. She was in great shape before the diagnosis and meds and restrictive diet. ( of course we assumed she would die sooner without them). She went down steadily afterwards. At 97 she was worn out. She could go up and down a few steps but could not have handled stairs towards her later days. She could have at 90. She had therapy two to three times a week. Her right arm would not have functioned without the therapy to keep her strength up. Your husband would benefit from therapy if he isn't already getting it.
If your husband is in good health other than the CHF and pacemaker I would move houses to get away from the stairs unless he has a bed and bath on the first floor. My mom also had a hospital bed and a lift chair that helped her. She probably started using the bed at about 93. A walker at about 95. An oximeter is also helpful because it will reassure him of his ability to breath or alert him that he needs to take some deep breaths.
How is your health? Do you have help caring for him? You might benefit from a one story home as well.
CHF requires constant monitoring of weight (fluid) and diet. A person can live a long time with CHF with the proper care. My mother spent a lot of time in her chair but never in bed during the day. When she had CHF episodes I would take her to the ER and into the hospital to get the fluid off. She was very strict with herself and only had to go a few times. We started working with a heart transplant clinic that helped manage her care when the episodes came closer together. I had asked about hospice at that time and was told no. It's so much easier to exercise , eat right and keep the fluid off than to have to remove it with extra fluid medication. Much easier on the kidneys. At the end of her life she lost weight and it was harder to tell what her dry weight was. She was much thinner than I realized. We had a lot of good times between 90 and 97 but every one is different.

That is nice how someone told you no about hospice! My Dad had CHF and we were railroaded by a hospice that said that they could take care of him. The nurse admitted him right to the inpatient hospice house. He was comatose the next day and died 9 days later. They just gave him drugs without telling me what they were. I feel that they had their own agenda and we were lied to. It was horrible!

My DH @95 also has Pacemaker and received a TAVR Heart Valve (you can google TAVR) when he was 93. TAVR is less invasive as they go through the artery and it is not Open-Heart surgery to replace the valve. He had more trouble with the Warfarin/Coumadin than anything else.

I met Ray when he was 63 and he was looking at buying a 2-story house and I said no. I told him at 63 he shouldn't be looking for a multiple story dwelling and we did wind up buying a house without any stairs; I think they're called Ranch Houses?

A Lift-Chair would help him immensely; but they are costly because you really need one with Infinite Positions and a Zero Gravity position. You can also go online and buy a Caravan Sport Chaise Zero Gravity for under $40 @Amazon and @Walmart. 2 days in the chaise and you could noticeably see the swelling come down in his legs! He was breathing easier and I think he was thinking clearer. So I immediately went online and purchased him a Sleep-Lift Chair and even his physician is amazed at how much better he is breathing and the swelling (Venous Stasis Insufficiency) is practically gone most days. His lasix was decreased to every other day.

The moaning and groaning might be nothing - but I am not a doctor. It may not be his heart - try asking his primary physician and if you are using Home Health Services, tell them and together you should be able to find the problem. It could be something major and it could also just be muscle atrophy. Again, I am not a doctor or a nurse - I am just a wife who is learning as much and as quickly as possible. Being 30 years younger than Ray does make it easier for me to learn but after being together 32 years and counting, I want more time with him if at all possible.

Your cardiologist only knows his heart. Your General Practitioner handles a bit of everything and can refer you to the proper physician. In the meantime, he most likely needs Physical Therapy and please do look into a Zero Gravity chair - you won't be sorry. You can and should run it by your doctor to make sure it is ok. I now put Ray into ZG twice a day, during his regular naps. And he wears compression socks but now I don't feel it as mandatory and I give him a day free of them now and again.

Don't give up on your honey-bun and don't let him give up either. You could easily have many more years together.

Maybe you should look into a stair chair for ur steps. The stress of moving may not be a good thing for either of you. In todays market u may not be able to sell ur house at a good price. Is ur husband on oxygen? When the heart isn't working at capacity oxygen isn't getting to the lungs and other organs of the body. Just getting out of a chair can be hard. Have his pulse ox checked. If below 95 he isn't getting enough oxygen.

And the grunting...my Mom has Dementia and did this anytime she exerted herself. She now gets upset when they use a bloodpressure cuff when it startes to squeeze her arm. Like its causing lots of pain.

A place with no stairs would be great. It's must be hard for him to go up and down them all day, not to mention the chance of falling.

I think this would definitely take a period of years. I've only known of two people who had it but I'm unsure exactly how long it takes to progress. On my mom's death certificate, she had hypertension as mentioned and that lasted for years. Another person I used to know who since died had congestive heart failure and he had it for years. I don't recall how long he said he had it.

You might also want to do some research on the cures because I just found some videos out there where it can be cured. I would first listen to the ones with patient testimonials and those who went into remission

Someone here mentioned having a place without stairs, which would really be especially helpful. Another thing to consider is a stair lift or other type of elevator. Of course there's also another option of putting the patient's room downstairs. Years ago I knew someone who could no longer do stairs and she moved her bedroom downstairs into a sunroom porch. However, I noticed she eventually ended up sleeping in her chair. It must've been easier for her to breathe being so heavy as she was around 4-500 pounds. I've actually tried to sleep sitting up and there's a gravitational pulling down on my chest and  other areas and I actually breathe much easier laying down or at least slightly reclined. 

There are different conditions that cause people to avoid stairs, But there are ways around having to tackle them. 

You need to pursue a different cardiologist. Get one who will speak!

My dad lived about 2 years. He seemed perfectly healthy at first but the last 6 months were pretty bad. He was in home hospice for 9 weeks before passing. My mom really watched his diet but he was unable to remove fluids because of the heart. He had several trips to the er because of it.

My dad lived about 2 years. He seemed perfectly healthy at first but the last 6 months were pretty bad. He was in home hospice for 9 weeks before passing. My mom really watched his diet but he was unable to remove fluids because of the heart. He had several trips to the er because of it.

My Dad survived for 14 years.

But, he did not have a heart attack...they caught it before the actual attack would have occurred (just luck), so he had no scar tissue surrounding his heart to complicate things.

@joann29 Your reply made me laugh because you described my mom to a T.

My late mother never even spoke up about the fact that she had congestive heart failure 20 years prior to her diagnosis. She went on to live another 12 years with it.