what to xpect tomorrow..Nuclear Perf Stress test..scared!

hi! Im a 48 yr old female...have posted a few times...have had chesting burning and aching since I had the swine flu in Nov. NOT before that. Its bizarre. 1 dr and 1 ER visit diagnosed me with Pleurisy...but I still have it..although the pain has decreased about 85%. Also bizarre. But because I have heart risk factors; very overweight, high BP, mod high Choles...nothing else..no fam history..no smoking..no diabetes..but Im seeing cardio now..and I have a Nuclear Perfusion Stress test tomorrow..I actually had "Part 1" today..the resting scan today...with the dye injected and then the scan. What can I expect tomorrow? I know I walk on the treadmill...Im afraid that wont go too well--they took me off of my Metoprolol--and BOY can I tell it!!! I hate this feeling! I have PVCs and PACs..which is most of the reason Im on the Meto...and although Im not having too much of those...I can really tell by my heart rate that I havent had any today. It doesnt take anything at all--just a walk across the room to have my heart rate in the 80's...or low 90's...is that bad? Off the med I mean. Im used to it being 62...
Im afraid ... SO afraid that I will get on that treadmill tomorrow morning...a full 24 hrs off the Metoprolol, and my heart rate ( already me being very very nervous) will skyrocket as soon as the thing starts to move!
That would be failing, right? Or...how does a person "pass" or "fail" a stress test?
Im really nervous...because if it doesnt look good...then my next step is cardiac catheterization...and that terrifies me.
Any info...would be appreciated......

[ed34]

The idea of the treadmill is to get your heart to the optimum rate for you (which they will calculate). If I stand up, my pulse suddenly jumps to around 80-90 but that isn't a problem, it's good. It then quickly drops back down to about 74. The speed of reaction is what's important. The treadmill is fine, nothing to worry about and you have to remember they are monitoring your heart all the time because you are hooked up to an ecg monitor.
You could look at it as good exercise :)
If they see anything worrying, i.e. any changes in the ecg, they still stop the treadmill.

[ed34]

Just to add. I have had 2 persfusion scans. The first was using the treadmill and the second was using drugs to stress my heart because my angina was too bad for the walking. I can tell you I would choose the treadmill option every time if I could. Those stress inducing drugs sure can give you chest discomfort.

[erijon]

I understand your fears, but this really is not as bad as you fear it will be. First of, relax, that will help you more tomorrow than anything. I've had a couple of these and I really stressed over the first one, really not a big deal.


Secondly, don't fear the results. Remember, knowledge is power. Keep in mind, the evil you know is better than the evil you fear. Once you have the true knowledge of your condition, you can move forward. I would personally be more afraid of not having the test. You will most like find out nothing is wrong and just imagine what a relief that will be.

You'll do great! Let us know how it goes.

Jon

[asgardshill]

I didn't have any trouble with the stress test.  (They did both the resting and stress portions in the same day though.  I wish I had brought my Ipod to help with the three hour wait between tests). And they gave me a chemical instead of using the treadmill because I wouldn't have lasted three minutes with my angina.  That was weird - I felt like I'd just run a 5K without moving a muscle (but no angina to speak of).

As others have noted here though, you've nothing to worry about.  They monitor you very closely on the treadmill and will shut it down at the first sign of real trouble.