Just received a letter from hospital saying appointment on 19th jan for a stress echocardiogram ie treadmill intravenous medication to increase heart rate and ultrasound scans and ecg anyone had all of these.
UMore tests : Just received a letter... - British Heart Fou...
UMore tests
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Dear Radars,
Well this is another part to your journey and yes I, like many on here , have had the procedure.
Mine was not with the treadmill as they said my heart was to poorly, which was a shame as the treadmill one tells them a lot more than just the stress mri that I had.
To be honest with you I had a bad time with it and found that the drug they pumped into me caused me as much stress as it did my heart.
Now having said that many have sailed through both methods.
Even though mine was { to me } very uncomfortable it is only for a short time so there is very quick recovery from it.
Enjoy your Christmas Radar I know your your heart problems are a worry to you, but please if possible put t them to one side for both yourself and loved ones.
Take great care
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What exactly does your letter say? I seriously doubt they would introduce a drug like Dobutamine if you were on a treadmill! Also an echocardiogram would be near impossible if you were wired up for an ECG...
I only had the treadmill- basically walked and walked as they made the treadmill steeper and faster, until I reached maximum heart rate. I was all wired up whilst they did this, then quickly moved to a couch for an ultrasound before I had time to rest. I think I then did a similar thing on a treadmill whilst they measured my VO2 max. I never had symptoms and was doing 5 classes a week at the gym at the time so they obviously judged me fit enough for that type of test. At the time I had a prolapsed mitral valve and they were deciding whether to operate or not. I’m now all repaired and my heart is back to normal with an EF of 55%
I’ve had 3 lots of those procedures, although all mine were on a recumbent cycle. My first one was with a large amount of fatty food eaten before hand and a radioactive substance to help show up now clearly. The other two didn’t use the radioactive substance. Nothing to worry about. You will probably be told to drink lots of water and walk up and down the corridor first😏