Stress test

[Supernerogirl]

Not sure what this means went for stress test this morning where they inject you with a drug. They were going to abort as mid way I had ST elevations ? But they carried on and now I go back tomorrow for 2nd halve if the test. The stress test made my heart rate go high no high then it crashed and by went to low they said and heart rate went to low ? Does this mean I’ll need a pace maker ? Felt like rubbish to be honest and won’t be having another one for sure.

[Quila5741]

I have had multiple stress tests throughout my life time from being born with a complex cardiac condition.

Depending how complex your cardiac condition is, they don't put in pacemakers unless absolutely necessary. They also wont put you through the stress test unless they feel it will be valuable to evaluate your condition better and typically how it affects your physical ability and life.

Only your cardiologist will be able to advise if you need a pacemaker and i can only speak from personal experience. After your test i'm sure you'll likely have a sit down review of the results of your stress test with your cardiologist.

If you were given a drug that alters your heart rate or rhythm it was likely the drug that caused your HR to jump around more than what the med staff perhaps expected. This is not necessarily a bad thing its all dependent on a individual case basis.

The change in your HR probably just suggested to the medical staff doing the test that it was better to exercise caution and split the test over two days just to ensure your safety and not to put you through too much in one appointment.

Which when I was about 6/7 y/o the exercise (stress)test was much different and admittedly it seems your health care worker are much nicer than the ones I had as a child in the hospital. My one and only bad experience with stress tests was I was made to run on an exercise machine until i collapsed from exhaustion and passed out. However I was a easily influenced child and was eager to prove I could run for as long as the med staff needed me to so they could get a good test result. So i pushed myself to please the adults in the room assessing me, until i realised that it probably wasn't beneficial as they thought my exercise ability was way over what it was growing up and when i reached 16 i did another stress test where i couldn't even walk for a minuet and a half uphill.

To put your mind at peace I've had a pacemaker for the last 11 years of my life, and I am 21. I have had only one problem related to the pacemaker and that is only because in my personal case there is a lot of scar tissue on the Left Ventricle from the surgeries i had as a child. The surgeon couldn't find any scar free tissue for the wire the pacemaker to transmit through until recently the 3D imaging scans i had in my last oblation revealed that there was a small viable piece of tissue on the Left Ventricle chamber that looked like they could use it. So i am awaiting that and my third valve replacement surgery. I've never had any complaints about my multiple pacemakers, never ran out of battery, it was a fairly painless surgery, pacing appointments are usually the nicest because how short and quick they are so much more benefits to pacemakers. Also cut down the amount of medications i take which i thought was a brilliant outcome of having one.

[Supernerogirl in reply to Quila5741]

Thanks my last ecg showed st depressions but this one was showing ST elevations and they were going to abort it but carried on after they went to see the dr with trace

[Quila5741 in reply to Supernerogirl]

If they ran the trace by the doctor they would probably have just been double checking what they thought was right. Always do ask your cardiologist directly as they are who’s qualified to give diagnosis info your ecg tech, and excercise test staff and nurses that just do tests will dance round the answer as they’re not qualified to give you the review of the result. So I always by pass them and if you have questions don’t be afraid to ask. For a long time I was too shy as a kid to ask so nodded when people asked if I was ok and if I understood. It took me way to long to realise You’re totally within your rights asking your cardiologist to explain things as it’s important you understand and it’s important your aware of what’s going on in your own body. I hope you get the correct treatment you require and take care!

[Supernerogirl in reply to Quila5741]

Thanks 😊