Treadmill Stress Test Tomorrow

[purple]

Yup, tomorrow it's my turn on the treadmill. Should be interesting. The last stress test I had was a chemical test because the test prior to that I passed out in the middle of the treadmill portion.

But that seems to matter not to this idiot of a VA cardiologist (the same one who told me that women's chest pain is all stress-related)...as he told me I'd be fine on the treadmill. Okie-dokie doc.

I've never even received any instructions in the mail for this test. Those morons. Luckily I've had several of these and already know what to do--hopefully nothing has changed.

Wish me luck!!

[Josephine]

Purple,

Here is wishing you lots of luck.

Let us know how it went when you return home.

Always,

Betty

[carlie]

Hang in there.

carlie

[purple]

Yup, that will be me....problem is I'm really kinda nervous about the test. If I were having it in a real hospital (non-VA type), I wouldn't be nervous. But the VA just scares me. Last time I had a stress test there (the chemical type), they didn't even have a doc anywhere in the area!!

Each time I've had a stress test in a real hospital, there has been a cardio-doc in the room in case things went bad (like the last time I had this done in a real hospital and fell out halfway through the test). I just don't trust the VA.

[purple]

OK...I did the stress test. I survived...it was pretty worthless. Why? It wasn't the thallium stress test. All they had me do was walk the treadmill, until my heart reached it's target rate of 150. 150? My heart beats at 105 just standing up!! I told them I have SVT (which makes my heart beat unusually fast anyway)....duh. So I reached 150 really, really fast.

I have to tell them my cardiac history (the SVT, the ablations) everytime because they never bother to read their fancy electronic records...same thing with meds...she had no idea what meds I was on.

And this time there was a cardio-doc administering the test.

She asked me what meds I took...I told her and she said I wasn't supposed to have taken my meds this morning since they are cardiac meds; I told her that no one told me that. She said they would do the test anyway.

She said the test was normal.

But she did send me home wearing a holter monitor for the next 24-hrs.

Oh.....and she did *scold* me for not doing enough aerobic-type exercise. I was so dizzy after coming off that treadmill they had to let me sit there forever for the room to stop spinning and she asked me that?

[john999]

Purple

If you were that dizzy after the test I wonder how normal your test was then? You can get the chemical stress test done to confirm the findings. It is a lot less painful and less risky.