help understanding treadmill test

[mich492]

hello, I had my treadmill test yesterday could you please help me understand it all a bit,

I am not sure when I reached 85% of my target hert rate , but was very breathless at end of stage 2 , In stage 3 the lady doing the test said I had reached 100% and anything else was a bonus , I had to stop shortly after as I had extreme breathlessness , this was at stage 3 at 7 1/2 minutes ,
I gave it my all + some !,
I am a 41 year old female ,

Is a positive test , only when the person doing the test see's something and stops's the test , or can you still have a positive test , if they let you go to your max+,

the only other info i have was my bp was 160/100 before the test and perfect after at 125/86

any personal experiences shared would be appreciated or advice on results
kind regards

[mich492]

Thank you so much for your reply , I find it very stressfull waiting for results , I think I may have pushed myself a bit to much in this test my chest has been sore and I have had a chesty cough as well since the test with the usual chest pains & ectopic's :-/ ,
I made it to about 7 minutes 30 seconds in stage 3 , do you know how many mets this would be , as this seems to be an important factor in these results , kind regards

[CCFHeartMD17]

Generally speaking, the person running the treadmill test will encourage you to safely exercise to a pre-determined heart rate (this is calculated based on your age).This allows the doctor reviewing your test to comment on your exercise capacity and your heart’s ability to cope with the extra demands of exercise.
If the exercise technologist (the person running the treadmill test) sees abnormalities before you reach the target heart rate, he/she may stop the test and notify the doctor.
Based on the scenario you have described, it sounds as if you exercised maximally and the exercise technologist was satisfied that they had enough information to make an assessment of your heart’s function with exercise.
The test will now be reviewed by your physician who will determine whether it is normal (a negative test) or whether some abnormalities exist (a positive test).

[mich492]

Hello , Thank you so much for your reply , waiting around for the results is also such an anxious time ,

can you still get a treadmill test which shows up a problem or is a positive test , if the test person has not seen anything to stop the test ?

[ed34]

The stress test is designed to make things difficult, it's a good test for your circulation, heart and lungs. At 9 mins the treadmill for me was very steep and going fast, I complained asking if they thought I was spiderman or someone. There is also a false positive to consider, this could be for example when a Patient complains of pains and demands the test is stopped, yet nothing odd is seen. There is also the possibility just lack of fitness could be the issue, causing the test to stop. It doesn't mean there's a problem with the heart. Looks like you did a good job. Your high BP before the test could easily have been nerves, everyone gets anxious at such tests.
With regards to them stopping the test, if they see a problem on the monitors, they will stop the test because they won't want to damage your heart or put you into arrhythmia. I don't think your breathlessness is a concern at the stage you reached and the time, how many of us walk up such steep inclines at that kind of speed.