Chemical Stress Test

Tomorrow I have to have a stress test.. I did the first part about a week ago but had an emergency and had to leave after they took the pictures of my heart resting.. So now tomorrow I have to go back to have the second part done.. I'm really scared of having to have the chemical test done.. They said they will let me try on the treadmill first but if I can't get my heartbeat up to 153 then I have to get the chemical.. I got on a treadmill a couple days ago and tried to get my heartbeat up to 153. I only got it almost to 100.... So I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need the chemical but I'm really scared..I want to just refuse the chemical if that's the only way to do it but I feel like I shouldn't, like the scheduled me for the rest because they think I need it.. Buuuut they scheduled the test because I was having some chest pain..I told them I wasn't sure if it was chest or breast pain..I had a mammogram also and now have to go to a breast surgeon next week to see if I need a biopsy because they saw "something" on my mammogram so now I'm wondering if that "something"could be what was causing the pain and I also haven't had the pain anymore.. It was only for like 3 days off and on. Ok so that's all the info. My question is, who here has had the chemical stress test and how did it go? Any problems? After they give you the chemical to speed up your heart, how long before it slows back down and you feel normal again? Anybody have side effects? Anybody have any emergency during the test? Any info would be great.. Thank you everybody.. I'm just a big baby and scared of everything.. btw I'm 100% paced and have had two open heart surgeries to replace a valve (same one twice-tricuspid).. Pacemaker was on the left, taken out and a new one put in on the right with the second surgery.. also had a hole repaired in my heart with the second surgery.. so with all this yes I know the test is important I'm just so scared.. Help please....

2 Comments

Three other commments

by donr - 2018-02-07 20:32:35

Below arethree other comments from about 2 yrs ago.  First is mine.  This is the Lexiscan version of the test.  Lexiscan does NOT accelerate the heart - it dilates the coronary arteries to simulate the stressing of the heart.

Word of warning - If there is NOT a "Crash Cart" close by, like w/i reach of the ooperator, SPRINT, don't run, to the nearest exit.  Don't come back.  The frirst time I took it, there was no cart in sight.  Second time, it was right at the foot of the chair bed I was lying on & the nurses operator commented on how close it was - almost in her way.  This is not considered a dangerous test, but when things happen, apparently they happen fast.

DonR

 

"Lexiscan

by donr

2016-04-12 09:04:38

Conditions, Meds & Tests

554 views

2 comments

Edit

Sometime in the last month someone asked about the Lexiscan chemical stress test. Well, I just had one on Mon, 11 Apr (2016) & made a mental note to give some details about it for those interested.

Apparently everyone reacts differently to the test & an individual's reaction may NOT be the same in successive tests a year or so apart.

I had my last one THREE yrs ago & it was a real disaster - the most unpleasant experience I've ever experienced in testing. The effects came on in a rush & were most unpleasant - very bad SOB & a very light headed feeling for several minutes, followed by a headache.

I did NOT look fwd to this one & became very stressed out about it over the three week run-up to the test.

Here's what happened: I was first in the queue Mon AM. There were 4 of us, all multiple time victims. One of us was in for their THIRD go-round. Her experience was different on each of the first two, so she had zero idea what to expect this time around.

They use an artificially made radioactive tracer element called Technecium w/ a half-life of 6 hours, so it is all expelled from your body in about 5 half-lives - about 30 hrs. The tracer is used in several different scans & is mixed w/ different meds for the different parts of the body being scanned. They told me the name of the med used for heart muscle, but I cannot recall it.

They give you a small dose of it IV to start, you sit for 30 min for it to be absorbed by heart muscle & then lie on a scanner bed while a large head rotates about the chest scanning for the radioactivity from the heart muscle. It creates a whole slug of images showing where the Technecium gets absorbed while the heart is unstressed.

now comes the exciting part! they hook you up to an ECG & BP monitor & bring in two hypos - one w/ a second dose of Technecium & the other filled w/ the Lexiscan med. Here's how fast this goes: The nurse injects the Lexiscan into your IV, (the IV is in the back of the hand) followed by a small slug of saline to ensure all of the Lexiscan is in you. Then IMMEDIATELY the nuclear tech gives you the tracer.

It takes about 7 - 10 seconds for you to feel the effects & they are DRAMATIC! Suddenly you become very SOB & struggle to breathe. Then your BP drops like a stone as the Lexiscan med dilates your coronary arteries. You feel VERY light-headed & fuzzy. Also pretty darned weak. This lasts for perhaps a minute & you start coming back. W/i 5 min you are pretty near back to normal. You feel pretty washed out at this point & well may have a headache of variable severity, due to the arteries to the brain also being dilated. A decent cup of coffee clears that up in short order.

You sit for a while & then it's back to the scanner for a "Picture " of where the blood went while the heart was stressed & dilated. This time they hook you up to an ECG machine while taking the images.

The scans take 13min each. Total time for me was 3 hours from registration to walking out the door to leave.

For me this one was nowhere near as unpleasant as the first one - but I'm not volunteering for another one any time soon.

Donr

 

2 Comments

Lexiscan Victim !!

by donb - 2016-04-13 09:04:36

Hi Don !! Congratulations !! You survived, as I've been patiently looking forward reading someone posting on this procedure. You may remember my experience a few years ago & I did not have the "heart" to cover the procedure at the time.
I went online at the time & found very sound procedure to be complied while being given this test. In my case not one item complied with administering this drug.
Presently both my wife & I are due for this test & all the prior drugs are no longer used & our local GP even evades.
I haven't even had the courage to check online to see what the guidelines are now, also fatality figure is ??
Quite a day !! Wife Sharon (retired cardiac nurse) just came home as she took another nurse co-worker back to her Cardio
Doctor for after effects she's having from her Cardio Stress test 2 days ago.
I'll end this now on a happy note !! Lexiscan is now tops in Cardiac tests and more precautions are being used.
As I don't want to go into more detail but I was very fortunate to not fall into the 5% Fatality.
DonB

Me too!

by tammyjk1021 - 2016-05-26 05:05:51

I put this test off as long as possible until my husband threatened me with bodily injury lol. I was very comforted by the low fatality rates and in fact asked my test giver "how many people have issues". I was told "only those with very serious problems have issues and you have nothing to worry about." That helped.

I knew from my pacer checks that I needed to occupy my mind while under the stress of this test. Since it was mother's day, I took the card my daughter had made me to read. It helped soooo much. My biggest advice to anyone is to ask questions that bother you, keep your mind occupied and breathe breathe! Breathe through your mouth and out through your nose. That will also help."

Why worry?

by Gotrhythm - 2018-02-08 14:41:38

I had the chemical stress test several months ago. I'm 100% paced. The doc was trying to get at the root of my exercise intolerance.

It was pretty close to a non-event. Needless to say I was being monitored, one tech at my side, one tech to watch the machines. When I began to experience real discomfort, the tech administered the anti-dote. I felt better immediately. 

The whole thing didn't take more than five minutes. It took a lot longer to get ready than to do it.

No trauma, No drama. No ill effects after.

I rarely talk about it or even remember it because there's nothing to say.

You can be in charge of what you worry about, or you can let your worries be in charge of you. Your choice.

 

 

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