Stress test

[Purpled]

Has anyone had a dobutamine stress test and how was it ? Just been referred for one.

[junik53]

I had one recently,its all a bit of a pa-lava its not a pleasant feeling when drug really kicks in ,ie. fast heartbeat ,but doctor has it all under control ,and it wears off in about 5-10 minutes.the bit that was a bit painful is where doctor has to press quite hard around your left boob,and for us ladies that can be tender.But its all do-able and takes about an hour .Hope this helps,good luck

[Purpled in reply to junik53]

Thankyou for the reply I didn’t like the drug to slow heart down for ct scan so really not looking forward to this.

[Tj1960]

Hi.

I had one back in January this year. Mine was organised by the dvla to see if I was fit to drive. I had to attend a different hospital for it. I was a bit nervous because they didn’t know me or my history. The process is well controlled by a consultant and a top cardio nurse. Won’t go into all the details,but it was stopped early because I wasn’t fit to carry on. Needless to say,I failed and lost my licence.

It does feel very weird but it is done with expertise and they did an amazing job during and afterwards to which I am grateful for.

Sorry to go on a bit but hope it helps

[Purpled in reply to Tj1960]

Thankyou for the reply not looking forward to it.

[dunestar]

With the benefit of about 8 months gap since I had mine, looking back it wasn't too horrendous. Mine was done lying down pedalling on a bicycle. It's not the most comfortable of positions and my main concern was that I was going to fall off. You are well looked after though. The main thing is not to stop pedalling suddenly. If you are reaching your limit tell them and they can then take the picture while you are still pedalling. Good luck!

[Purpled in reply to dunestar]

Thanks for the reply but I don’t think I will be peddling as the drug induces the stress x

[seasider18 in reply to Purpled]

I had the drug and the bike ride. They must have wanted to test me to the limit

It indicated two partially blocked arteries. I told them that it would be a false positive as two previous stress ECG's had been but it took another angiogram to prove me right.

[Purpled in reply to seasider18]

So is there much point in doing it if it’s not accurate?

[seasider18 in reply to Purpled]

Evidently a 4/6 chance of being of showing an actual problem. if you are a gambler like me on my second stress EGG I offered to bet the registrar a months wages that it would be wrong but he wouldn't take it.

If a stress test is positive, it is showing heart problems such as rhythm abnormalities, high blood pressure or chest pains. False-positive results are identified when the stress test is followed up with a cardiac catheterization procedure that does not show heart problems. Since stress tests are only 60 percent accurate, according to Kathy Magliato, cardiac services director at the Santa Monica Saint John's Health Center, it is not uncommon for a patient to be given medications unnecessarily or to undergo surgeries he doesn't need. A false-positive result may also be caused by a known EKG segment abnormality, by use of the heart medication digitalis, by an enlarged heart ventrical or a disease of the heart muscle.

False-Negative

If you receive a negative result from your stress test, your heart is considered to be of normal health. If a heart attack occurs, or blocked arteries are found during a follow-up procedure, the results are then changed to false-negative. The problems with a false-negative are obvious and serious -- you may not get the help you need for undetected heart conditions, which can lead to complications such as a heart attack.

Test Protocol

A false-negative result may be a problem with the test itself. The stress test employs a gradual warmup which may give the patient with narrowed arteries time to adjust to the increase in work load. The body adapts to the exercise and the narrowed arteries may not show up during the short-duration test. A nuclear stress test, in which a small amount of a radioactive substance is injected into the veins for imaging, may provide a better testing option if you receive a false result, but false tests results can occur with this type of testing, too. According to the "Journal of Family Practice," in some treadmill cases, the cardiac workload never gets high enough to show a problem, such as lack of blood flow to the heart.

Female Effects

Women have a higher prevalence of false results from stress tests. One of the reasons is that, when women have heart disease, it often affects the smaller veins and arteries in the heart which go undetected during a stress test. Another reason is that breast tissue can set off a false-negative result. If that isn't enough, the presence of estrogen also has an effect on the heart

[dunestar in reply to Purpled]

Sorry about me keep jumping in. It can show if something is not right but not always exactly what. In my case the echo showed "fairly global ischaemia" so they thought I had multi vessel blockages. Come the angio my main arteries were clear apart from mild atheroma in one vessel. So the diagnosis was microvascular angina. The microvessels don't show up on the angio.

[seasider18 in reply to dunestar]

If is does not show up do you really think that you have angina. After my first two stress ECGs I was told I had angina. but never ever needed the spray. My GP later said that from my lifestyle it is obvious that I do not have angina.

[dunestar in reply to seasider18]

Sadly I cannot dodge the evidence. My stress echo showed extensive ischaemia. The fact that nothing showed up on the angio is down to the fact that the resolution of the pictures is not high enough to see what is going on with the microvessels. Researchers have recently proposed a protocol to immediately undertake further testing in such cases to establish whether the functioning of the microvessels are impaired.

I'm sure good lifestyle choices always benefit us. But it isn't the case the you can always rule out cardiac issues if your lifestyle is exemplary. In the case of microvascular angina nobody has been able to pin down exactly why it develops. One theory is it's something to do with the menopause, but nobody knows for sure.

[seasider18 in reply to dunestar]

So men are safe from it ?

[dunestar in reply to seasider18]

No, there are men with microvascular angina, so menopause is not the whole story.....

[seasider18 in reply to dunestar]

So not one I can completely cross off my list.

[dunestar in reply to Purpled]

What what???? I could have avoided the pedalling .....?? They were giving me some drug at the same time but not entirely clear what it was

[Alison_L]

Hi Purpled. I had one in May. It was just like a normal echocardiogram, but with drugs being injected through a cannula, and one technician doing the echo, and another keeping an eye on your blood pressure, heart rate, etc. It was called a Dobutamine Stress Echo. Not the same thing as Dunestar had.

[Purpled in reply to Alison_L]

Yer this is the one, are the drugs a sudden rush or a build up, I sort of have panic attacks with the sudden rush, lol

[Alison_L in reply to Purpled]

No, it certainly wasn't a sudden rush for me. The doctor/tech tells you you may feel various sensations (or you may not). In my case, my lower jaw came over all pins and needles, but it wasn't sudden or painful, you just realise it's there. At one point they said to me "can you feel your heart racing now?" to which my reply was "er, no"!

Once they finish, you get straight back to normal almost immediately.

[Qualipop]

I was due one last year but was so scared of it it was cancelled. 3 weeks later I had a heart attack. Go for it!

[Purpled in reply to Qualipop]

Oh blimey, I better had then 😧

[Qualipop in reply to Purpled]

It was a young, out of hours doctor who picked up on my breathlessness possibly being heart related. In discussion with my GP he decided my breathlessness was muscular so the test wouldn't be necessary. He was wrong but it did leave me worried later that the test itself might have precipitated the attack. I had one artery 100% blocked. As it was, I was stented immediately and damage was "minimal". However, the test would probably have picked that up and I'd have got the stents without the heart attack. If tests are ordered, they are needed.

[Lizzie20]

I was fine with the drug, make sure you drink plenty of water after to flush it out of the system.

[Beachmist]

I had this done 3 years ago, I was really petrified before hand but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. You are told what to expect all the way through and are well looked after. I agree with Lizzie20 make sure you drink plenty of fluids afterwards.

[Purpled in reply to Beachmist]

Thankyou for the reassurance x