I had a regular stress test that was abnormal and now the dr. is having me get a dual isotope stress test that is supposed to last for 2-3 hrs, with rest in between and eating. Has anyone ever had this type of test with the injection? I'm worried about the stuff that is injected making me sick. The say it's not contrast dye though and I shouldn't worry.

I had a stress test with an injection and I don't think that you should be worried, it went ok for me.

It's a very good test to show the condition of your coronary arteries and the blood flow to and from your heart.

Good luck.

The test is called either a Thallium stress test or simply a nuclear stress test. They use a very small amount of a radio active isotope, less then the amount of an exray. The isotope adheres itself to the red blood cells. They inject you with it just before you are ready to get off of the treadmill. You will then lay on a table and they will start to read the amount of red blood cells going into the heart using a machine that looks like an exray machine. That takes about 30 minutes. Then you can go eat and relax and when they tell you to be back, they will have you lay on that table again and read the cells again. this tell them how much blood has gone into and gone out of the heart in a certain time frame and from that they can also tell if there are any area's in the heart that is not getting enough blood, possibly indicating any blockages. Please don't worry, I have had several of them and the whole thing absolutely painless with no side effects. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Jim