Furosemide
What it is
Furosemide is a water pill. It tells your kidneys to move extra salt and water out of your blood and into your urine, so there is less fluid for your heart to move around. Most people urinate more than usual for a few hours after a dose. Your discharge instructions say which dose you were sent home on and what time of day to take it.
Why it matters
Moving fluid out changes two things a hospital watches: your weight and how you feel when you stand up. The paperwork you were given says how often to weigh yourself, what change in weight to report, and who to call. This lesson repeats what is in that paperwork. It does not change it, and it cannot tell you whether anything you are feeling is expected for you. That is a question for the clinician who discharged you.
A daily reminder, if you want one
Your dose and time of day are on your paperwork. This adds one repeating reminder to your calendar — set the time to match your paperwork.
Your dose, your timing, your weight instructions and the number to call all come from your own discharge paperwork — not from this lesson.
QUESTION 1 OF 2
What does furosemide tell your kidneys to do?
ANSWER
The explanation appears here after you choose.
QUESTION 2 OF 2
Where do the dose and the timing for your own furosemide come from?
ANSWER
The explanation appears here after you choose.
THAT'S IT
You know what furosemide does, why you urinate more after a dose, and where the dose and the timing on your own paperwork come from.
OPTIONAL
Want to go over it once more?
Put four statements in order by sequence.
OPTIONAL
Want to go over it once more?
Put the four steps in order.
- Your kidneys move extra salt and water into your urine.
- A dose of furosemide reaches your kidneys.
- There is less fluid in your blood for your heart to move.
- You urinate more than usual for the next few hours.