Chemical Stress Test

Hi friends,

I need some input and advice. I had an echo on 11/5 due to the fact during my PM check they saw fast beats.

My EP called my today with the results. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of teaching my class of first graders so my mind was not fully understanding.

He told me that he didn't agree with the cardiologist that read my results. My EP was not as concerned with the results that the other cardiologist was. If I am understanding correctly, something showed with the flow of the blood or the input...???

So I am going to be scheduled for a chemical stress test. Is it true that this is a really difficult procedure?

I have read where it feels like you are having a heart attack?

Can anyone share their experiences with the chemical stress test?

Thanks so much,
Searching Woman

8 Comments

chemical stress test

by jmbjohnston - 2008-11-21 06:11:12

I had the chemical stress test a few months ago. Believe me it is so easy.....I worried about taking it too as I didn't know what it involved. I sat on a table swinging my legs while the test was done. No pain. I worried needlessly.
Good luck

JMBJ

the thing i felt most

by jessie - 2008-11-21 07:11:06

it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.it has been two years but i remember also having to have my hands above my head and stay in that position for half an hour. other than that absolutely painless. jessie

Piece of cake

by ted - 2008-11-21 07:11:25

The test is nothing to worry about. It gets your heart beating faster and stronger for a few moments as if you were exercising.

HELLO

by mytrose43 - 2008-11-22 01:11:09

Hi
My name is Valerie and i have had several chemical stress tests ,they are not that bad sometimes you might feel a little dizzy from the medication and you can feel your heart beat you might get a headache or a lttle bit nausous but as soon as the test is done they give you a medication to stop all these possible feelings and as soon as they give it to you ,you will feel fine again all in all its not that bad and it does not take very long to complete the test,i have had a couple with out any side effects at all ,hope this helps and good luck,
valerie

Why not just walk !

by Elke - 2008-11-22 01:11:38

HI there,
I had an experience with the stress test in sept.2007. My cardio ordered it because I was feeling dizzy all the time. Before the test I went on the internet and did not like what some people felt when given the chemical , so decided to just walk instead of taking the chemical. When I went for the test, the technician told me that since I had the pacemaker and it has the upper limit of 120, I HAD to take the chemical, because my heart rate would not go up over 120. She even said that she worked there for 7 years and no one pacemaker patient ever took the test without it. I knew that was not true, so I refused. I was told that I could wait until the cardio comes in and then ask him, so I waited for 2 hours !! to the suprise of the technician the cardio said that as long as I can walk on the treadmill and get the hr up to 140, no chemical was necessary.
To make a long story short..I hate to be cynical, but the chemical costs a lot and they make money on it. I guess in seven years no one other than me ever questioned their practice. Don't be a 'good" patient. Ask questions and don't take no for an answer , if you're sure they are wrong. -I got up to 145 in a few minutes and did fine.NO problems with my heart showed, and my dizziness ended up being a tumor in my ear, which was removed last January.

The real issue

by ElectricFrank - 2008-11-22 01:11:43

Things to consider:

1.Do you really need the test? Since you have a disagreement between the cardiologist and the EP it sounds like it isn't an open and shut situation

2. This is a common scenario and is one of those "profit centers" for the cardio and facility.

3. The procedure can lead to unnecessary and more risky procedures.

Take the experience of a friend. It started with a "slightly questionable" ECG. That was followed by an ultrasound which also was "slightly questionable". Then came the chemical stress test with the same results. The final test was a full cardiac catheterization procedure which came back totally negative..no blockage. He had been put through expensive and potentially risky procedures because someone read each of the tests knowing the results of the previous test. He actually just had a benign right bundle branch block which was readable from the original ECG.

If seeing some fast beats on a PM check was an indication for a chemical stress test, then most of us here would qualify for it. They put the pressure on me to have one for the same reason. The problem was that I could identify the date of the tachycardia. It was the day my wife died. I would expect that you would have a few spells of fast HR dealing with first graders!!

frank

My experience

by janetinak - 2008-11-22 01:11:59

I had a chemical stress test about a year ago & it was different but I did not have a bad experience. I had a Advanced Nurse Practioner, RN, a tech & another tech in charge of the nuclear part in the room. They monitored me very closely. Mine went over two days but only an hour or so each day. The chemical they give you is short acting & does make you feel strange. The RN warned me when it was given & I told her I felt different & she seemed to know it (I must have had a strange look on my face) but it ended very quickly.

The test that they do where you hold still & have your arms above your head (as Jessies said above) is like a CT scan & painless, did that on both days. Believe it was a before & after the chemical to see the differences.

Mine turned out OK & I didn't have to do anything else. It was reassuring in that aspect.

Hope this helps.

Janet

Chemical Stress Test....

by Bionic Beat - 2008-11-22 10:11:54

I've had one too and it ended exactly as Electric Frank stated.

Two cardiologists disagreed about the outcome of the test and while I was in having my pacemaker put in, a third cardiologist decided that my 'blocked artery' must be checked out.

Apparently there is a high danger of false positives with this test......it showed that I had a blocked anterior descending artery.....the most likely area for a fatal heart attack.

Turned out to be false.....my arteries are all clear.

I had NOT wanted chemicals poured into me unless absolutely necessary and ended up with all the risks of invasive testing for NOThing.

Won't be doing that ever again!!!

After some investigating, the cardiologist who ordered the test is a co-owner of the test facility!!!!


Bionic Beat

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