Should the stress test be stopped?

[Pearlie72]

Went for a treadmill stress test two days ago.  For some reason I was really anxious about the test (any medical test seems to send my anxiety level through the roof) and by the time I arrived at the clinic was quite upset.  The technician - I explained that I was in rough shape emotionally - said my heart rate was already "through the roof" and asked me to take some deep breaths which didn't help.  She went ahead with the test and I waited to speak to the
Cardiologist.  His first statement was "your not an athelete" and went on to say that my heart rate should not have
risen to quickly. My question is - If my heart rate was already high when I stepped on the treadmill would this have
been taken into consideration?  I do consider myself a fairly fit person but felt very discouraged when I left the office as the Dr. made it sound like I was a slug. Generally, he was rude and had an abysmal bedside manner.  

[grendslori]

Funny thing about the person who graduates at the bottom of the class and is still called "Doctor"

Studies prove that the doctors who graduate at the bottom of their class have a much better bedside manner and the doctors who graduated at the top of the class had better book smarts, they tend to have bad bedside manners. Really makes you think! .

[CubbieBlue]

Uhh....not what Mammo said.

Here's the thing: The point of a stress test is to record an EKG of your heart when it is under stress. You were anxious, which raised your heart rate, and you ran on a treadmill which raised it even more.

As long as you got your heart rate up to a reasonable level (which is determined by your age) and spent enough time at that level to satisfy your doc, then you are good. Think about it this way: when people are old/crippled/whatever, they inject a substance into them in order to make their heart beat faster, so they can see how it performs under stress. Think of your natural adrenaline acting as a stimulant in a very similar manner.

Now, your doc may have had a crappy bedside manner, but I wouldn't worry about your test results.

[mammo]

There is range of where your heart rate should be during stress or physical activity.  If the stress you were feeling made your heart rate rise too much, it's bad.  If the treadmill made it go even higher that's bad.  I would definitely get another opinion as this doctor needs to be kicked to the curb along with all the others who graduated at the bottom of their class, but are still called doctor!