Question:
Has anyone not been able to complete the stress test given on a treadmill.

Were there any alternative tests and were you able to still have surgery?    — Mary Lou C. (posted on May 5, 2003)

May 5, 2003
Thank God I didnt have the treadmill test...I would have colapsed I am sure!!! They just did the EKG on me. My surgery was March 11th. Lap/RNY
   — Jenny B.

May 5, 2003
Yes there is an alterntive to the treadmill stress test. I had it done do to asthma/heal pain. The place I went to had me lay down on a table then gave me some medication thru and IV (I forget what it is called). I was monitored by a tech, a nurse and doctor, as they increaded it and took my BP the whole time. The tech started the drip and came back in after a few minutes to turn it up more. After a few more minutes he came back and asked if I felt like I was running a race yet and I sure did. He said good and turned it up more. By the time he had the IV wide open I could feel/see my heart beat in my eyes and it felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. VERY strange feeling to have without working at it, or breathing hard, you almost want to breath hard because of it. My heart rate still wasn't up enough for my age so they had me pretend to ride a bike to get it up. When it was up to where they needed it to be they stoped the IV and with in minutes I was back to normal. Just my experince with the alternative. Just glad I didn't have to kill my feet to do the treadmill.
   — Beth E.

May 5, 2003
I had the dobutamine chemical test and they nearly gave me a stroke. It is entirely different from the thalluim test. They had to stop it becasue of my high b/p and the impending stroke so I ended up going back the next week and just walking on the treadmill a little after they injected thalluim in my iv, Didn't stop my surgery.
   — Delores S.

May 5, 2003
Yes I did manage to survive the treadmill stress test. I actually had a cardiolite stress test which takes pictures of the heart from a normal resting state and from after exercising. <p>I sucked air real bad for about a half hour after the surgery. I had just found out I had asthma. I guess one could say I have exercise induced asthma. The good news is the test came out fine and I was able to have surgery. Like others said if you do not feel you can do the treadmill portion they can do a medication induced test to give them similar results. <p>In my case, which I think is normal, They cranked the incline up to 10 right away and were trying to get my heart rate to 155. Since I was a little to healthy for a SMO person, my heart rate wasn't climbing as fast and they were not sure it would get to 155, so they sped up the treadmill. That's when I thought I would die. It finally hit 155 and then they have to wait 1 minute for the medication to get in your system and work it's way through. I'm not used to walking at an incline of 10. Even now 93 lbs lighter I would not attempt to do that.
   — zoedogcbr

May 5, 2003
The stress test is indiviualized. If you are having it done with thallium, you need to let the person doing the test know when you think you can only go on for another minute. It's not a matter of how long you are able to stay on the treadmill, but when your heart muscle is stressed. If you are MO, it just won't take long. They then inject the medication and give you time to recover,checking your B/P and pulse, and scan your heart again. By the way, get through it now, and then, after you have lost weight and have been exercising, ask your doctor about a repeat test. I just had a GXT with thallium done at 6 months post op (I'm 47, and my PCP thought it was time for a baseline) - and I almost ran out of time! I was at 98% of the amount of time allowed for the test, and still able to walk and talk, but getting a little "breathy"! I "aced" the test - ejection fraction of 65% (high normal) with no signs of any abnomalities. (My dad had coronary artery disease and suffered with high cholesterol and high lipids no matter what he did, and he was normal weight, so that's in my gene pool!) As long as a cardiologist will give you clearance for surgery, you should be okay.
   — koogy