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Lexiscan during stress test

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Posted 10/4/2011 11:36 PM (GMT 0)
I usually post on the Crohn's, ulcerative colitis and osteoarthritis forums but it is looking like I may be fitting into all categories at this rate, lol. ANyway, I am due to have surgery on my knee and had to go to my cardiologist for clearance prior to surgery and after my 12 lead EKG read that I had a septal infarct, I was put through a chemical stress test with Lexiscan. I have had issues in the past with SVT from  IV drugs and warned the techs that it may happen but they insisted Lexiscan never induces SVT. Well, they were wrong. 5-10 seconds after they pushed it, I was in SVT with a heart rate of 175 beats per min. The Dr. said it happens but the tech said it never happens. ANyone ever experienced this after Lexiscan?
Posted 10/5/2011 6:09 AM (GMT 0)
 

Hi pmedic,

I have never been given lexiscan but I totally know what you are going through when it comes to intollerance to iv meds. I was in the er a couple months a go and they gave me a combo of benadryl, promethazine (for nausea), and ketorlac (anti-inflammatory) I had been on all 3 of those meds before and never had a problem. Within 10 seconds of administrating the meds my heart rate was 165 bpm. I had never experienced anything like that before. It was completely terrifying. The dr's and nurses watch my heart rate for a while and it slowly came back down after several hours. The second time it happened was when I had a chest ct with contrast and within 10 min after the test my heart felt like it was going to explode. I stayed tachacardic for almost 2 days. I called my dr right away and he couldn't give me a reason as to why it had happened except maybe I had some sorft of allergic reaction or intollerance to the dye.. Since then I am extremely hesitant to take any meds both oral and iv or undergo any scans that have contrast with them. They diagnosed me with Sinus Tachacardia and told me to follow up with my cardiologist for further testing. I get my results from my heart haulter and echo tomorrow. I too also suffer from gi problems so maybe some correlation there. I still to this day have unexplained sinus tachacardia and they don't know what the trigger is. It feels like my heart is going to fly right out of my chest. The drs also told me in er that it was very "odd" to see that kind of reaction. Doesn't mean it can't happen just that they don't see it everyday I suppose.  Maybe you had an intollerance/allergic reaction to the contrast...

Posted 10/5/2011 1:29 PM (GMT 0)
nsearch212- thanks for responding. I had the same thing happen with promethazine(phenergan,demerol combo) I had a cardiologist tell me I needed to be evaluated for ablation but my regular cardiologist said no, just avoid triggers, which I try to do but some Dr.'s do not listen, as what happened yesterday. I am like you, I am cautious about pills to. Whenever I take a new pill, I start with breaking off a small piece and working my way up to taking the full dose. That feeling of your heart flying out of your chest is exactly as I feel and I start to panic whenever anyone starts coming at me with an IV medication. I have to have surgery, possibly multiple surgeries thanks to high dose prednisone giving me avascular necrosis of my knee so I am having to test several medications to see what I can safely take for pain. I worry someone will inject me with something while I am unresponsive in the operating room and it will cause this reaction and I worry they will then inject me with something else to counteract it and make it worse. Maybe I am just worrying too much but I know my body pretty well and I have very little faith in the Dr's.
Posted 10/6/2011 12:21 AM (GMT 0)
 

It is very frustrating I know. If you read the posts on my thread I might be looking at surgery if I have subclavian syndrome. I have to go in for an ultrasound first. That's in 2 weeks. Im just worried of course about being put under but if i can fix it with surgery and not have truly any heart problems I consider myself extrememly lucky. When do you get the results of your stress test?? My cardiologist wants to do the ultrasound first then proceed on to more heart related things if need be. I sure caught his attention when my arm started to change colors. He definately agreed that there is something not quite right. Have you always had an intollerance to certain meds or did you just develop it when your heart was acting up??

Posted 10/6/2011 1:29 AM (GMT 0)
I have a two page typed list of medications I don't tolerate, usual reaction is tachycardia. I make sure no one gives me IV Benadryl, although I tolerate the pills fine, because many IV meds I don't tolerate have sulfite, and it's often in liquid Benadryl. I make a bit of a fuss and insist on knowing what meds I will be given.

My tach is often triggered by my esophagus, both by foods and medicines. It's called cardioesophageal relfex or linked angina. Once it started a heart attack when the tach caused coronary vasospasm, and possibly a plaque rupture. I've had trips to the ER, once requiring adenosine conversion. I can usually get the tach stopped on my own with Valsalva maneuvers, Toprol or Atenolol.

I spent a long time, worked with an allergist to find out what my intolerances are. It is pretty weird. How in the world does gelatin relate to maple syrup? Sulfite. I react to flu shots and immunizations because they are usually preserved and suspended in gelatin. Keeping a good log or journal was the key to figuring it out.
Posted 10/6/2011 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
Alcie- the journal is a good idea. I already have a long list of medications I cant take and I always make sure I interrogate anyone coming at me with a pill or an IV med. I am just so tired of Dr.'s or nurses telling me "no, this drug won't cause tachycardia or SVT". After repeatedly trying to warn them of what will happen, I finally give in and stick my arm out to accept the injection and the subsequent tachycardia. I always bring my Paramedic husband with me and instruct him to sit close by with popcorn and junior mints and watch them freak out when I go into SVT. If it weren't so painful and scary, it would be hilarious. I have lost most faith in Dr.'s. I honestly have more faith in a well trained Paramedic.
Posted 10/6/2011 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
nsearch-I wish you the best of luck with the ultrasound and if you have to have surgery, I will be praying for a great outcome.
I went yesterday to get my results of the stress test and he approved me for surgery but told me to avoid any SVT triggers. Yep, that makes sense, LOL. Pretty hard to do when you are in the O.R. I plan on having a long talk with the anesthesiologist. In fact, my ortho said my case will probably scare the crap out of them. That really made me feel good...
My tolerance to certain medications started after I nearly bled to death. I have pretty severe crohn's and am an active bleeder which my GI decided to ignore. I was so sick, I would go to her office several times a week and she would blow me off and tell me I needed to take more prednisone and to wait till my insurance approved a higher tier drug. In the meantime, I was nearly bleeding to death. I, luckily, broke my toe and went to see my nurse practitioner who took one look at me and ordered labs and found me needing four units of blood immediately and two more less than a week later. I was told I should have died because my platelets were clumped and this could have caused a massive fatal blood clot. But, I eventually recovered but was left with this weird reaction to IV medicines.
Posted 10/7/2011 2:34 PM (GMT 0)
 

Wow Pmedic that is certainly very scary. My gi dr doesn't even want to to touch me with an egd scope until the cardiovascular thing is cleared up. The bad thing is my stomach has been killing me constantly the last couple of days. I have to be soo extrememly careful what I eat and I am just completely exhausted all the time. All I can manage to do is lay in bed sip some soup and keep  the heating pad on my stomach.

The pain sometimes radiates all  the way up to right under my heart. It's absolutely terrrible!! I get soo extremely tachacardic when I stand up and move around. I notice the tachacardia is extremely bad when my stomach is acting up.

 My gi dr has not formally diagnosed me with anything yet but he definately wants me to "hurry up" with this cardiology thing so he can do my scope. I noticed my intollerance to medications about 2 years ago and it was very gradual. It seemed to always relate to my stomach as well. If I was having a good stomach day then I could handle meds a little bit better if It was horrible then there was no way I would tolerate anything.

It actually was suppose to be a nice weekend for me and my husband since our daughter is at her grandparent's until sunday but I think I will probably be spending most of it in bed dealing with the pain. It's hard being married to someone who is chronically sick all the time. My poor hubby wants to go to the movies today and there is just no way I could make it.. Kind of makes me wish I had a stand in so he can go out and live his life. No fun being at home with sick wife :-( 

Posted 10/7/2011 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
I wonder if you have Crohn's? You sound so much like me! Maybe you can suggest they take tissue samples /biopsies during the scope to test for crohn's. I had a cardiologist tell me several years ago that in some cases, in crohn's patients, the vagus nerve is stimulated because of sores or scar tissue build up and this can cause bouts of SVT or PVC'S. I believe there is a correlation. This Crohn's disease has affected nearly all of my bodily systems. It is the disease that keeps on giving.

I am just like you with certain days are better for medication than others. I have been experimenting with Percocet to see if I can handle taking them post surgery and I am finding it depends on how my crohn's is doing that day on how well my heart tolerates it. I took it today and I am slightly tachycardic, not bad but the last 2 days I had no tachycardia with Percocet. It is so crazy. They had also given me Dilaudid because I had successfully taken it a few years ago but now I cannot tolerate it at all. I took 1/8th of the 2mg pill and had a resting heart rate of 130. I stood up and my HR went to 150. No more Dilaudid for me. Now they want me to try these Fentanyl patches. I have had them here for 2 days and am terrified to try them, LOL

I can totally relate to how you are feeling about not being able leave the house when you are feeling bad. I think you need to take it very easy until they figure out what is going on with you. I am sure your husband understands but I completely understand the stress you are feeling about it. I always feel so guilty and wonder if my husband feels tied down. He loves to go out and do things but lately I cant because of one medical issue or another. I find my health issues so surreal because my whole childhood, I was the sole caregiver for my father who had severe heart issues which culminated in a heart transplant and my mother who had cancer. I was the strong one and the one responsible for caring for them and now I am constantly fighting to remain self sufficient. Nothing terrifies me more than becoming a burden on my husband. I swore I would never do that to anyone and yet, here I am facing multiple surgeries and several chronic health issues. Life sure throws us some sharp curve balls, doesn't it? I am learning to take each day as it comes and try to remain positive. It can always be worse :)
Posted 10/10/2011 3:50 PM (GMT 0)
pmedic - I am scheduled for shoulder surgery next week and am terrified I will be given meds I don't tolerate too. I am taking along my list of reactions, topped with the meds I refuse in red, but am still scared silly.

A few months ago I has sinus surgery, gave the anesthesiologist my list and repeated over and over that I refused Versed and histamine releasers, and I was given them anyway. I had horrible myalgia for 5 days. I called the hospital to complain. Now I don't trust any of my docs.


nsearch212 - My intolerances to foods and meds containing sulfites triggers tachycardia and has caused coronary vasospasm. It's due to cardioesophageal reflex, aka linked angina. Check the research online and my posts by searching the search box at the top of the page. I found the problem with the help of an allergist who had me keep a food journal and then do challenge testing with the ingredients in the trigger foods. A lot of meds also have sulfite preservative or components of the drug.
Posted 10/10/2011 10:10 PM (GMT 0)
Alcie- I know how you are feeling. My surgery is on the 21st and I am making the same list to give to the anesthesiologist. I dont believe they will listen to me and this is causing me alot of stress. What pain meds are you able to take? After hearing yours and others stories, I am taking some comfort in knowing I am not alone. Please let me know how you do with your surgery!
Posted 10/11/2011 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
 

Alice-

I will definately look that up. How did you finally get to that diagnosis?? Yea it was crazy I am trying to add more fiber to my diet because I am constantly constipated and have been eating activia and last night added some powdered fiber to my soup and I got an instant reaction. My stomach immediately started to bloat up and started getting really short of breath and got extremely dizzy. Thank goodness not a lot of tachacrdia. I did get some but no a lot. It was weird because I have had the powdered fiber before with no problems and now I can't even use it. I don't know it makes me think that this is a stomach thing too. I posted in Chrohn's to see if maybe I could get some advice. I have to have another upper gi series next week and am nervous about that...Not sure how my body will handle that. It seems like everyday its something new... I am also starting a new job in less than 3 weeks and really wanted all of this to be taken care of.

Pmedic-

When and how were you diagnosed with crohns?? Im really thinking this never ending stomach issue Im having is a huge factor into my tachacardia symptoms.

Posted 10/11/2011 9:27 PM (GMT 0)
nsearch- I starting passing blood in my stool about 4 years ago and that led to my diagnosis. My crohns is isolated in my colon (crohns colitis). If crohns is in the small intestine, constipation is a likely issue. You probably wounldnt have bleeding problems like I have. It is also harder to diagnose because the scope during a colonoscopy only goes to the end of the colon. Insist they test you, just to be on the safe side.
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