I hope you have acid reflux.
But I think you should request a scan test, with radiographic scans sandwiched around a stress test. I had that last summer, after which I had two stents inerted around the blockage.
If that test shows nothing, good.
Warmup, and cooldown. You might back off of hard intervals meanwhile.
tingling in chest after long row
I wet through a round of tests (stress etc) last year when I was having shortness of breath when exercising. Turned out to be the increased dose of bp med I was taking.
I also sprang for a Heart Scan/Coronary Calcium Scoring exam, which I had to pay for. It shows a small blockage. I eat right and exercise a lot but my family stroke and heart attack history isn't good.
The most important thing about the test was the peace of mind it gave me, knowing I wasn't likely to fall over on the rower just yet.
grams
I also sprang for a Heart Scan/Coronary Calcium Scoring exam, which I had to pay for. It shows a small blockage. I eat right and exercise a lot but my family stroke and heart attack history isn't good.
The most important thing about the test was the peace of mind it gave me, knowing I wasn't likely to fall over on the rower just yet.
grams
(great) grams 71 yo 5'3"
5 kids, 6 grandkids, 1 great-granddaughter
Marathon mugs available at http://www.zazzle.com/grammms Profits go to charity
5 kids, 6 grandkids, 1 great-granddaughter
Marathon mugs available at http://www.zazzle.com/grammms Profits go to charity
Shannon, there are two types of stress tests. The first type has you exersize on a treadmill to approx. 85% of predicted max heart rate, covered with electrodes so they can moniter your heart response via an EKG. An EKG looks at the electrical impulses generated by your heart, it can change with adequate ischemia (decreased oxygen to an area of muscle caused by decreased blood flow).
It is not as sensitive and specidic as the second type, to which LJWagner refers: The stress thallium. In this test actual perfusion of the myocardium ( blood flow to heart muscle) is evaluated. A small amount of thallium, a rapidly cleared radioactive atom (radiopharmaceutical) which mimicks potassium, is injected intravenously at rest, then you are scanned with a special detector camera to detect the very low level radiation. This shows blood flow to all parts of your heart at rest.
Since normal arteries dialate with exersize to allow greater blood flow to working muscle, and areas with plaque cannot dialate, any area with plaque will create reduced blood flow with exersize to the muscle downstream from the plaque. Like trying to run with a turniquet on your leg. Heart muscle in that area doesn't get as much blood, so thallium isn't delivered to that area.
After the resting scan, you do the stress test, just like before. When you finish the stress test, they immediately inject another small dose of thallium intravenously and do another scan, called the stress scan. This time you can see areas that are not getting as much blood flow as they should be, and are at risk for infarction (heart attack).
Computer generated data analysis allows evaluation of the heart in all three planes, and motion analysis, ejection fraction, etc. Normal heart shows the same amount of perfusion by blood in all areas of the heart both at rest and during stress. Reversible ischemia, (reduced blood flow to an area during exersize) will look like normal perfusion at rest, and an area or reduced or no perfusion to the area on the stress (exersize) scan.
Some people can have large reversible perfusion defects with no symptoms during the stress test, and no EKG changes. Yet this portion of the heart muscle is not getting enough blood during stess, and at risk for heart attack.
Hope that helps clarify the difference between the two types of stress test for heart. Hopefully all you have going on is GERD. Let us know how you do with the new meds. I suspect they have already given you the "no smoking, chocolate, caffiene" advice, and don't eat within 4 hours of going to bed. I don't have reflux often, but find that if I roll on my right side for about 10 minutes I can go back to sleeping on my back again without further problems. The stomach emptys into the duodenum (first part of the small intestine) on the right side. I am essentially using gravity assist to empty my stomach into my intestine with this manuver. Stuff doesn't reflux from your intestines, only from your stomach. Stomach empty, nothing to reflux. Laying on your back pools stomach contents next to your esophagus, if the lower esophegeal sphincter doesn't close tightly, gravity is happy to run stuff out of your stomach and up your esophagus.
Let us know how you do!
Pam
It is not as sensitive and specidic as the second type, to which LJWagner refers: The stress thallium. In this test actual perfusion of the myocardium ( blood flow to heart muscle) is evaluated. A small amount of thallium, a rapidly cleared radioactive atom (radiopharmaceutical) which mimicks potassium, is injected intravenously at rest, then you are scanned with a special detector camera to detect the very low level radiation. This shows blood flow to all parts of your heart at rest.
Since normal arteries dialate with exersize to allow greater blood flow to working muscle, and areas with plaque cannot dialate, any area with plaque will create reduced blood flow with exersize to the muscle downstream from the plaque. Like trying to run with a turniquet on your leg. Heart muscle in that area doesn't get as much blood, so thallium isn't delivered to that area.
After the resting scan, you do the stress test, just like before. When you finish the stress test, they immediately inject another small dose of thallium intravenously and do another scan, called the stress scan. This time you can see areas that are not getting as much blood flow as they should be, and are at risk for infarction (heart attack).
Computer generated data analysis allows evaluation of the heart in all three planes, and motion analysis, ejection fraction, etc. Normal heart shows the same amount of perfusion by blood in all areas of the heart both at rest and during stress. Reversible ischemia, (reduced blood flow to an area during exersize) will look like normal perfusion at rest, and an area or reduced or no perfusion to the area on the stress (exersize) scan.
Some people can have large reversible perfusion defects with no symptoms during the stress test, and no EKG changes. Yet this portion of the heart muscle is not getting enough blood during stess, and at risk for heart attack.
Hope that helps clarify the difference between the two types of stress test for heart. Hopefully all you have going on is GERD. Let us know how you do with the new meds. I suspect they have already given you the "no smoking, chocolate, caffiene" advice, and don't eat within 4 hours of going to bed. I don't have reflux often, but find that if I roll on my right side for about 10 minutes I can go back to sleeping on my back again without further problems. The stomach emptys into the duodenum (first part of the small intestine) on the right side. I am essentially using gravity assist to empty my stomach into my intestine with this manuver. Stuff doesn't reflux from your intestines, only from your stomach. Stomach empty, nothing to reflux. Laying on your back pools stomach contents next to your esophagus, if the lower esophegeal sphincter doesn't close tightly, gravity is happy to run stuff out of your stomach and up your esophagus.
Let us know how you do!
Pam
Great report, but 4 hours! Holy Toledo — three hours is bad enough for me. GERD completely dominates my life at this point. The "GERD diet" is a very effective one — it never gives you time enough to eat. Not only does it mean trying to finish dinner before 6PM (I rarely make it) so that I can try to be in bed by 9, but in the morning it often means that breakfast is delayed until 11AM or noon, even as late as 2 in the afternoon. Why? Because my daily routine includes a set of stretches and exercises (prescribed by physical therapists for lower back and knee problems) and part of them have to be done with the torso horizontal. As a result, the ingestion of anything other than plain water has to wait until these, along with any morning erg workout have been completed. I suppose that, with a little dicscipline, like not turning on the g-damn computer in the morning, I could get the important things done earlier. I did make one good move recently in dropping out of the UK C2 Forum. That was a champion time waster. Well, that's enough ranting for today. Fortunately, breakfast is over, but there probably won't be any lunch because I want to get in a 10K sometime today. With proper warmup and cool down, that's going to take well over an hour and it will be late afternoon before I can get going on it.Widgeon wrote: Hope that helps clarify the difference between the two types of stress test for heart. Hopefully all you have going on is GERD. Let us know how you do with the new meds. I suspect they have already given you the "no smoking, chocolate, caffiene" advice, and don't eat within 4 hours of going to bed. I don't have reflux often, but find that if I roll on my right side for about 10 minutes I can go back to sleeping on my back again without further problems. The stomach emptys into the duodenum (first part of the small intestine) on the right side. I am essentially using gravity assist to empty my stomach into my intestine with this manuver. Stuff doesn't reflux from your intestines, only from your stomach. Stomach empty, nothing to reflux. Laying on your back pools stomach contents next to your esophagus, if the lower esophegeal sphincter doesn't close tightly, gravity is happy to run stuff out of your stomach and up your esophagus.
Pam
Bob S.
Thanks, I'll ask for the additional test. I was confused by the term radiographic chest scan, which I understood to mean chest x-ray (and that's what the cardiologist thought too). I'll mention this other method. I don't like to leave questions unanswered.
He just gave me a month of samples and did not mention lifestyle changes. However, I mentioned them during the history portion of the exam, as to things I was doing for the reflux I've experienced.
Thanks,
Shannon
He just gave me a month of samples and did not mention lifestyle changes. However, I mentioned them during the history portion of the exam, as to things I was doing for the reflux I've experienced.
Thanks,
Shannon
Tests may not show the entire picture
About five years ago I began experiencing chest pain, 4-5 years previously I had a triple by-pass. I just did not want to acccept that my arteries might be going south again. Went in to see a gastro-whatever guy, he gave me one of the popular prescription meds and they did seem to help, even had a scope down my throat into the stomach and nothing spectacular was found.grams wrote:
The most important thing about the test was the peace of mind it gave me, knowing I wasn't likely to fall over on the rower just yet.
grams
Continued on another six months, finally gave in and was given a stress test. I got through the thing with NO heart/circularatory problems, but of course I was pretty pooped.
Now the point: Finished and sat down to rest (appratus still connected) and I began to feel chest pain. The doc still had the equipment turned on and saw NOTHING to be concerned about.
Six months later had a angiogram. Three very blocked arteries!
Moral to the story for me: Double check. YMMV
Bob