Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering if you ever had a thallium stress test how long did you last on the treadmill?

I'm a 38 year old female, 5'3 and 117 lbs and I reached my heart rate at 7 minutes and 30 seconds. I asked the tech if that was bad and all she would say is everyone is different but I'm thinking I'm in bad shape.

Just wondering how everyone else did?

Thanks for you help. :)

Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering if you ever had a thallium stress test how long did you last on the treadmill?

I'm a 38 year old female, 5'3 and 117 lbs and I reached my heart rate at 7 minutes and 30 seconds. I asked the tech if that was bad and all she would say is everyone is different but I'm thinking I'm in bad shape.

Just wondering how everyone else did?

Thanks for you help. :)

I have had 2 Thalliums in the past. First one I reached HR in 4 1/2 minutes and the second one in about 7 minutes. I was told the longer one can go to reach their HR, the better "physical shape" (not heart shape) they are in. With the last Cardiolite, (11/2004) I reached HR in 4 minutes 56 seconds. My SIL just had his done yesterday and reached HR in 9 minutes. But, he works out 3-4 times per week. Personally, I do not think the tech meant anything negative about your work-out. I wish I could go 7 1/2 minutes.

I had the stres without thallium and I went the full time...12 minutes on that increasing incline treadmill (HATED IT) was what my cardiologist wanted. I was complaining of pain but he kept up with "just a little more" about 18 times.

Hi -

Thanks for your replys. Wow Lenin you are in great shape!! Macymaid I pushed so hard just to go the 7 1/2 minutes, so don't feel bad. I hate that test.

I don't do any cardio but I guess I should start.

Thanks again for your help. Have a good day! :wave:

Hi -

Thanks for your replys. Wow Lenin you are in great shape!! Macymaid I pushed so hard just to go the 7 1/2 minutes, so don't feel bad. I hate that test.I don't do any cardio but I guess I should start.
Thanks again for your help. Have a good day! :wave:

If you do not have a good pair of walking shoes, get some. Walking is one of the best exercises for all round health. Talk to your doctor. I started out slow and built up and still building up. Also learning to belly breathe is very helpful as so many people do chest breathing. Also, a good forceful laugh is great for opening up heart arteries as is a forceful cough. The old saying, "Laughter is the The Best Medicine".

Good Luck to you.

I was on treadmill for 3 minutes and HR was 180bpm and they said it was normal results.

Leslie

I was on treadmill for 3 minutes and HR was 180bpm and they said it was normal results.

Leslie

Hi Leslie, I know there is a formula for age and HR but the Cardiac Rehab place I use ( I wear a monitor) will not let patients go over 30 BPM of the start up HR when they enter the exercise program. If my HR is 84 before I start they will not let me go over 114. My Cardiac doctor is more givng. I can go to around 150-160 bpm. :nono: but he is standing right there. I had the adenosine twice which I hated. It caused severe breathlessness so now even with a chipped knee cap, I get on the threadmill and pray I "did good". :D so they do not have to inject.

Good Luck To You.

I recently had a stress test. Time is component that is combined with exertion calibrated in METS. One METS is sitting without symptoms. METS are increased by inclining the track.

The results of my stress test and EKG interpretation: Baseline EKG reveals normal sinus rhythm at 61 beats per minute with left axis deviation and no-specific inferior T-wave change. The patient exercised for a total of 4 minutes and 20 seconds equivalent to 7.2 METS. The patient stopped exercise secondary to fatigue. There was no chest pain. The patient had 1mm ST segment depression (depressed ST segment is deprivation of oxygen rich blood to the heart) horizontal and down-sloping in the inferolateral lead that resolved 5 minutes into recovery. One minute heart rate recovery was 115 beats per minute.

With only time as a factor doesn't reveal important information. How much exertion in what period of time? What was the recovery time? Was the heart muscle receiving the normal flow of blood at all time...this may distinquish whether there is a heart problem or bad conditioning! etc.

Hi Kenkeith -

I don't know the answers to those questions until I get my results back, which probably won't be until Monday.

I was just wondering how long people lasted on the treadmill. I just thought my time was horrible and I was wondering how everyone else did.

Did you get a copy of your test? I want to get a copy of mine.

Thanks for you help. :)

I don't know how many minutes I went on the treadmill, but on my first one I got to the point that I was jogging without any chest pain or shortness of breath. I appeared to be very healthy. Although the test didn't pick up on it I had a potentially fatal blockage at the time. It was 6 weeks later that it was diagnosed with an angiogram so anything can happen during a stress test. To this day I don't know how I was able to do what I did. :bouncing:

Hi Ninelives -

What good are these stress tests!! I haven't gotten my results back but I have a feeling they are going to tell me everything is okay and I know somethng is wrong, I can feel it. It isn't normal to have all this chest pain.

Why did they end up giving you an angiogram?

I just want to know for fact what is going on and from everything I've read or heard the angiogram is the only true way.

Thanks for your response and help. :wave:

At age 35, two days after my MI and with blockages in the LAD and RCA, I lasted <5 min walking.

The most recent one in December I made it to level 5, 14:38 (I think that was the time?). However, I run 5K+ and bike 30 min+ just about every day. So, yes, some benefit will come from consistent exercise, but just to be able to do anything without being limited from CHD is worth more than anything else. I am also only 38--so I (we) have some advantages there with respect to exercise tolerance.

Me too,

My cardiologist said I passed with flying colors but my BP went too high. In reality I had a 99% blockage of the main right coronary artery.

AEQ
In some people the stress test is helpful in diagnosing heart blockage. The nuclear imaging is suppose to make it more accurate in diagnosing women. Because of my history I would not have a secure feeling that I'm fine just based on that test. The reason I had an angiogram is because my symptoms continued and I kept returning to the ER and to my family doctor. I think maybe the cardiologist felt that they really needed to rule out the heart. He did tell me while I was on the cath table that he was very surprised to find heart blockage so he did the test not thinking that he would really find something.
The angiogram is the best test for diagnosing heart disease but it also carries some high risks so it's difficult sometimes to get a doctor to go forward with the test when the others are not indicating a problem. Be persistent if you think there is really something going on with your heart. I had that gut feeling that it was my heart and I kept telling the doctors "I'm afraid you're going to send me home and I'm going to have a heart attack and die." This was when they were telling me we think it's your stomach or we think it's anxiety or we think it's asthma.

Hi NineLives -

Thanks again for writing back. :)

I have been told too it's anxiety, stomach and the famous "it's all in your head". Until I got the EBCT scan, which I paid for myself, and I had proof there was something there my doctor wouldn't even listen to me. It was everything but my heart.

I will keep being persistent. I have a very strong family history and it all seems to start around my age.

I'm still waiting for the results maybe he will call today.

Thanks again for all your help!

Hi aeg,
Yes, I requested and received the report. For reference 7.5 METs would be roughly equivalent to walking a mile in 18 to 21 minutes. Medication for BP and HR has to be considered. Nevertheless, the test is an important tool for diagnosing CAD, evaluation of prognosis, and determining functional capacity (useful info for an exercise program). The test output may be individualized to meet one or more of these objectives.

I have been reading through this and found it very enlightening to know that there are other people out there that have had rough times with the doctors.

Back in October out of the blue I started having severe chest pains. Well I went straight to the Doctor. My BP was high and my heart rate was extremely high. Well they sent me to a cardiologist. As soon as he saw how young I was he pretty much blew me off. He did a stress test with the injection and I did have the Echo done but everything came back normal except the stress test did show mild sinus tachychardia. I still don't feel right but they put me on Toprol to control my heart rate. My heart rate was already 115 before I even got on the treadmill. I stayed on for about 2 minutes before my heart rate hit 170.

My doctor said that he thought all this was due to anxiety and put me on Effexor which made me so sick that I refused to keep taking it. That was 4 mos ago.

Now I am being seen by a neurologist and have been having seizures and they have started me on seizure meds. My EEG showed abnormal brain waves and I have had 3 seizures in the last 2 mos.

It just shows that you need to be persistent.

Hi Kenkeith -

I got my results back and I can't understand any of it. Is there a website I can go to that would help me understand it? All the doctor said was I passed. I swear I couldn't have a worse doctor.

I told the nurse I was still having the chest pains and they seem worse. She asked the doctor about it and he just said to quit smoking, which I did two weeks ago. Having the EBCT scan and that finding calcium in my artery woke me right up and I quit that day and I told the idiot that!!

I asked the nurse if he would give me a referral to a cardiologist but I have a strong feeling he won't do it. This guy doesn't take me or any of this serious.

Anyway if you know of a website to help me understand this test I would appreciated it.

Thanks again.

Post your results here. Lenin and some others are very good about interpreting test results. I know of other websites but the post would be deleted.

Thanks NineLives. :) Thanks to anyone for helping me read this test.
I appreciated it so very much. I can't understand any of this and I don't trust my doctor at all. Thanks again. :bouncing:

Protocol:
After the IV administration of 10mCi of Tc 99m Tetrofosmin, resting tomographic images of the heart were obtained. At peak excerise, the patient was injected with 27.6 mCi of Tc 99m Tetrofosmin. Stress tomographic images of the heart were obtained 15 minutes after stress.

Nuclear Perfusion Findings:
The overall quality of the study was fair. There was no evidence of abnormal lung uptake. The left ventricular cavity size was normal on the stress and rest images. The right ventricle was normal in size and tracer uptake. SPECT images demonstrate a homogenous radioisotope trace uptake throughtout the myocardium with no evidence of perfusion defects on the stress or rest images.

Nuclear Gating Findings:
Global systolic function is normal. The ejection fraction calculated at 68%.

Conclusions:
Technically limited study due to a subdiaphragmatic activity (bowel) on the resting images.
No evidence of significant ischemia or scar on imaging study.
Normal global systolic LV function and wall motion.

Aeg,

Basically, what the results indicate is that your right ventricle tissue was fine both at rest and during exercise (that one minute period they had you exercise at your target heart rate after injection).

The last few lines indicate that you didn't have any imaged areas indicate a reduction in oxygen (technicium delivery), nor did you have any observable areas that would indicate a prior heart attack.

Your ejaction fraction was estimated to be at 68%, well within the normal range, and closer to the high end.

Congratulations.

Aeg,
Your report has a different format. Headings for my report: INDICATION FOR PROCEDURE; TECHNICAL DATA; EXERCISE TECHNIQUE; STRESS TEST RESULTS; EKG INTERPRETATION; SCAN FINDINGS; TOMOGRAMS; GATED IMAGES; IMPRESSIONS.

Your very good EF beats my 50%. :) Normal chamber sizes. Mine is almost back to normal with medication. Normal wall motion indicates no heart muscle damage.

The significance of "technically limited study...." would have to be explained to me by the doc. Findings (at least some) were based on resting images!!

Thank you all so much!! I'm so glad I found this website. You guys really helped a lot and I really do appreciated it very much.

I just one more question, the reason I'm getting all this testing done is because the EBCT scan shown hardening calcium in my left anterior descending artery. Does my stress test say anything about that artery? Sorry to be such a bother about this but knowing I have that calcium in that artery is scaring the heck out of me. Thanks again.

Have a good night. :wave:

It sounds like the bowel may have blocked part of the view during the resting portion. Probably had to do with lying down. The fact that no ischemia is stated is a good thing. I remember on my stress test slight ischemia was mentioned but it was thought to be an attenuation of the left breast meaning that the left breast (maybe causing a shadow) was not allowing them to get a good view. I believe my EF has always been above 60 and in fact I pretty certain it was 63. The results sound good. Even though it doesn't say LAD anywhere I'm sure they observed that portion of the heart and did not see any lack of oxygen to that left side or bottom area of the heart. I would ask the doctor. You payed for the service or will pay and you deserve to have your questions answered. I would ask point blank. What about the calcium observed in the LAD?

Hi Ninelives -

Thanks for replying. The LAD is what I'm most worried about and I still haven't gotten any answers on it. The doctor knew my concerns and just had the nurse call to say everything was okay. I will be switching doctors hopefully as early as Thursday.

Thanks again for all your help! Have a good day!