Toneman

Hello Linda,

I am a 48 year old male and I have had two nuclear stress test in the past 14 months. The first on was done via a dobutamine injection due to a knee injury I had at the time. The second was a nornal treadmill nuclear stress test as my knee was in better shape.

When I had the test with the dobutamine, I was a little concerned as well, but it really was pretty easy and comfortable. Once they get you hooked up and relaxed on the table and have a stable heart rate and pulse, they inject the dobutamine. They told me the effect would be immediate and likewise when they stop the injection, the effect would stop immediately. When they did the injection I immediately felt like I had just finished cutting my lawn! I could feel the same sensation in my heartbeat and breathing that I had felt every Saturday afternoon of my entire life!. The only difference was that I felt a little flushed on my face. Your heart rate will increase and your breathing will feel like you just got done running.

It took just a couple of minutes for me to reach my targeted heart rate at which point they injected the Thallium. They waited one more minute and stopped the injection and the sensations stopped IMMEDIATELY, it was amazing. I went back to feeling completely normal, no residual effects at all. The entire time I had a cardiologist standing by to make sure everything went well.

As I said, my last nuclear stress test was a normal treadmill test back in late March. I can tell you from having done both it wouldn't matter to me which type of test I had, they were both pretty much the same. The important thing is that both came back normal so I can't complain!

I would not be a bit concerned about doing another nuclear stress test with dobutamine again if it was necessary, it really was not a big deal at all.

Good Luck!

Tony