Tests for the heart.

Thank you luckygirl, and yes, I agree!! Xx

Oh well done - good old NHS! - and good old you!

Thank you Tee time xx

Well done bubbly1960 glad that part is over and you now have some confidence in yourself and your medical team.

Thank you Oopsadaisy 12 xx

So pleased that your tests went well. Hope the results are also good.
Well done for gritting your teeth and getting through it.?

Good morning. I wanted to update those of you kind enough to respond to my question.
I have had the stress test of Myocardial Perfusion imaging scan. It was the first of two appointments, and took about three hours.
Yes I was terrified! But the staff were supportive and I cannot fault them. They understood my fears. The worse part was the injection of the medicine to stress my heart. As the effects took hold, I was also pedalling a semi reclining exercise bike. The effects are unpleasant, flushing, pressure in my throat, chest, and horrid tummy, and quickly extreme fatigue felt quite obviously in my legs. I was attached to an EEG machine, and my blood pressure was constantly monitored. After 4 minutes I was counted down, and the effects wore off quickly. Then I was injected with a radioactive medicine, with no effects. I then went to recover, given a lovely cup of tea. After an hour I was called in for the scan, it took 15minutes. Then I went home, to continue recovery, with advice to avoid young children and pregnant ladies for the rest of the day, and drink like a fish!!!!
I was and still am depleted, but proud that I did the test, and thank those who have me that push and encouragement to do it.
I go back next week for the resting scan. No stressing medicine this time!!!!!
Thank you all.

Actually, rocknroll, I never had an operation.
Long story, but after a few days in Durham hospital with doctors wondering why I was in there over Easter just with backache, someone came who could read the xrays and mri scans.
They found an ambulance very quickly and sent me to intensive care in the Freeman. Intensive care for a week with all sorts of drugs, then a ward for another three weeks while they decided whether to operate or watch and wait.
They then sent me home to my son's. I wasn't allowed to do anything, no carrying anything above 5kg, about ten different tablets, painkillers, statins, three for blood pressure, aspirin for thinning the blood, and a bleeper in case anything happened again.
Lots more tests in outpatients, and eventually after a year they told me the dissection had closed completely. The surgeon said I must have an angel looking after me, as he'd only seen it once before.
Have cut down on the tablets now, and bought a lightweight vacuum cleaner straight away, weighing less than 5kg.
I didn't know anything about this condition before it happened. There is a website, which my son found out about, but wouldn't let me look at for ages.
Aortic dissection doesn't get a mention on NHS choices.
When I first went to see my GP after I came out of hospital he said, "See you after the operation, I hope."
Haven't seen him since.
The other thing you get out of is shopping. You cannot push a heavy trolley, as that strains you too much, so you have deliveries and ask them to put all the shopping in a place where you can pick things up easily.
No constipation, either!
When I was in hospital I had an alarm for if my blood pressure went up over 130 or down below 100, and when it went off I was often sitting on a bedpan. Very embarrassing.

Rocknroll5me my husband had an aortic aneurysm 2 yrs ago his was abdominal and found during a screening for Triple AAA it was 7.9 when they found it. After a very scary episode he was successfully operated on and recovered really well. He has check ups every year. He had no symptoms either.

Wow Durhamjen does that mean you have had a replacement aorta - open heart surgery? Must have been very scary. I have an aortic aneurysm and have to be scanned every six months - the last was a cardio mri which took 45 minutes very noisy playing dreadful music and computer keep telling me to hold my breath. Not good. I have elected for a ct scan next time which is more intrusive with X-rays but less claustrophobic but will give good pics. It was discovered through a routine echo which is no prob at all. You just have to put your dentist head on and bear with.
What I’m fearing is the elective operation to stop the aorta dissecting or rupturing.
I am presently having to wear a heart monitor for a month. Really uncomfortable and I don’t have any symptoms. ... but hospital are checking for AF. I suppose it’s worth it. I occasionally get rapid heart beat which can wake me up that’s all. But the 4.9cm aneurysm above my heart just before the arch is something else [glum]

ps the test is called Myocardial Scintigraphy,.

Good luck Bubble I can’t add anything helpful as never been for any of those tests but I hope all goes well for you

I had the radioactive cardiac scan last April. I was apprehensive about it but in the end there was nothing to worry about.
I thought I would have to go into one of those 'tunnels' but all it was:
after the injection, which was ok, you wait a while, then in another room lie on your stomach and a special camera passes back and forth over you. I seemed to doze off, perhaps there was a sedative in the injection. It shows if there are any blockages in heart arteries.
TG mine was good, I hope yours is.

Well, there are some brave souls about! Thank you all for the further responses. Despite my feelings I can see the sense in saying I should go ahead with the test, I plan to speak to Cardiology when I go for the Echo on Feb 8th, to ask about whether I take my medications first ( I take quite a few).I promise to let you know how I get on. Just so wish I wouldn't panic, it really doesn't help.......

I had the isotope injection followed a couple of hours later by the scan. I was frightened however for me it really wasn’t too bad - and I am not a brave sort at all. The worse bit was laying in back in like a dentists chair and having three people hovering over me whilst the injection went in. I felt hot with a slight pain in the back of my neck the nurse said it was all normal reaction. What helped was they counted me down as it only lasted about 6 minutes I think in total. Yes it was uncomfortable,yes it was not the best experience in my life but I just concentrated on my breathing and nothing lasts forever. After the injection I was told to go and have high calories snack ( the best bit) then after two hours had the scan which was a doddle. Good luck with yours.

I had an arrhythmia that could well have been fatal so had to go for loads of cardiac tests. Fortunately they were then able to discover that my heart was healthy in itself and it was just the electrical system which had gone awry. It was a very scary few weeks but I was so glad to have got through all the pokings and proddings for peace of mind. I then went for an ablation when they have to upset the rhythms to know where to zap to correct them but despite lots of adrenaline etc my heart behaved beautifully and just wouldn’t perform. It was exhausting, not being sporty I had never put it through that sort of workout before!

So I think you need to be brave and go for it. The not quite knowing what’s wrong is more scary so I think you just need to tell yourself that if your symptoms do get bad whilst you are undertaking the tests at least you are in the safest place with crash teams immediately to hand and will have a fast track to diagnosis.

Best of luck, let us know how you get on.

I would have them. I've had both those tests and more.
Unfortunately, I had to have an aortic dissection first, which is far worse than any test I have ever had.
I had no symptoms that there was anything wrong. You have had the warnings.
An aortic dissection gives you a 50/50 chance of reaching A&E and a 50/50 chance of being alive to reach the ward.

You have the choice, yes, but I wish I'd had warnings. I know which choice I would have made.
I had nothing wrong with my blood pressure.

Thank you all for your replies.
I am not too worried about the echo. Its the more invasive one that affects the heart rythm. The reported side effects of finding it hard to breathe, pressure on the chest, and possible heart attack fill me with horror!! I take rizatriptan for migraine and that makes my chest feel tight for a while, its scary. I do thank you again for the responses.

I would echo the above. No pun intended!The echocardiogram was painless and the time passed very quickly.

Not had the isotope examination but I did have an Echocardiogram when my heart murmur was discovered. I was terrified! All things medical spook me and I arrived at the hospital a gibbering wreck. There was no need. The operator who did the scan was very calm and reassuring, put me at ease, made sure I was comfortable on the couch with a couple of lovely, snuggly pillows and I came close to falling asleep! Afterwards, the picture was discussed with a cardiologist and I left the hospital feeling infinitely better and calmer than when I arrived. In the OP's position, I'd certainly say yes to an Echo scan and hope it goes well for you.

Yes I have had an ECHO which is an ultrasound. So just like you see women having their baby bump scanned so no pain at all there. As for the isotopes I have had that for kidney investigations - so not sure if its similar. It was just an intravenous injection and then scanning. Will your GP be able to give a mild sedative to take before the procedure? Is there someone to go with you and help you do some deep breathing exercises. I would definitely have it done if I were you. I hope you will and that it all goes well.