Stress test and low blood pressure

[Papatty]

Hi. I just had a stress test today with perssantimun (spell) injection. The dr said he has never seen anyone where the medicine worked that fast. I ended up with headaches and major chest pain. The dr even commented on how red my face got.  My starting Bp was 132/62. During the test it went to 103/20.   Yes 20 .the dr stopped the test early.  They took my bp 6 times and it was always over 20 during the test. Afterwards when I got home the arm they injected got bright red and I ended up with hives. I called and took  2 rounds of benadryl. The hives are gone now. Do I need to worry? I have been out of breath lately and in my family doc office my pulse ox dropped to 90 when I walked to
The wall. I can not even walk upstairs without being out of breath. Not sure what to do next....any ideas?

[is_something_wrong]

Sounds like your blood vessels got very dilated, from your headache, pain and blood pressure drop. It may have been an allergic reaction towards the drug (it can cause symptoms like what you describe), but I can't say anything for sure. The fact that benadryl helped, may support this theory.

I agree with Jerry, if your symptoms get worse, you must go to the emergency room.

[Jerry_NJ]

Wow, sorry to read you are having such a rough experience with the stress test.  I don't know the chemical you mention, but I can say I have had three nuclear stress tests over the years and I have never had any side effects, or at least nothing like what you describe.

Do you know if the stress test was classified as nuclear?

I'd keep a very good record of what and when things happened in case I needed them when talking with a lawyer.  

The low BP could explain whey you are shot of breath, but what explains the continuing low BP? Are you an any medications, such as beta blocker?  These drugs are known to lower BP, in fact used to lower BP in people with hypertension (high BP).  

I would be ready to go to the emergency room if symptoms get worse, or if your doctor will not take action soon and give you a clear explanation of what has happened and what if any long term effects are to be expected.