thallium stress test and risk of thallium injection

[4health4]

Hi,
I am 46 female and have had angio surgery last year,don't have cholestrol,don't have high blood pressure(in fact usually on low side)non smoker, but had to go through angio. My doctor is recommending me doing the thallium test again, my question is >>isn't thallium radio active even if it's small amount and why can't I take other measures to prevent or keep in shape?

My doctor says in order for me to use her heart therapy bed that exercises your heart, insurance requires that I take the thallium test!!

Have just done another set of blood test and it all looks good.

Please advise.

Thank you,

[4health4]

I forgot the name that they use for the therapy, where you lie down for 20-30 minutes , alsop wraps around your leg, supposedly to exercise your muscles then in turn keeps your heart in condition.

Not sure if injecting the dye is called angiogram, but that is how they said I had blockage on three arteries. Which on second opinion another cardiologist said that I did not need the surgery. My angio was ok, no need for stence or anything, and meanwhile never got any medications afterward either!

Skydnsr, I have had my doubts about the competency of this doctor that's why I posted my comments here, meanwhile I did go for a echo non nuclear stress test this week yet to see the results.

My impression has been that now days physicians are struggling financially , so there is less medical examination and more financial perscription.

And sometimes doctors get jaded in their profession if they don't keep themselves refreshed and up to date. I had another doctor years ago that used to have quiet a bit of complicated patients with much heavier need for attention and empathy, that when I told him about my symptoms, right away he perscribed anti depression medications and told me welcome to the club!!!

A year later through my gynocologist I learned I have thyroid disease and my symptoms were not from depression! Something that my onternist should have at least tested for and when I called him he told me oh yes I forgot to tell you , you may have thyroid !!! ( he forgot till I called him a year later)

That's why doctors are like anything else these days , you have to constantly shop around for the one that is right and knows what they are doing., unfortunately at the expense of our health , time, frusturation and confusion for our lack of knowldege for medical sciense .

Is there a site to check for sanctions or track record on doctors?

[oldie]

Did they discover the three blockages with an angiogram - squirting the dye in to have a look? How else would they know about them?  And then the doctor said it's ok, there are no blockages or they are too small to need angioplasty (balloon) or stents?
This is the normal process. If your cardio found no or non-serious blockges why does she want a thalium test?   What medications did they give. If you would be so kind, these answers would be of great use to many of us

[skydnsr]

So you had balloon angioplasty?  It's not a risk-free procedure.  It sounds like you got through it okay, and I'm happy for you about that.  But some other things in your story make me very uneasy.  So far, you've had an angio intervention that another doctor did not vouch for, you've been suggested to have a nuclear stress test that that the recommending doctor backed down on in a New York second when you questioned the need for it, and you're having a type of treatment (heart therapy bed) that I have never heard of and cannot find anything about on the internet.  I might be tempted to back off and re-evaluate my whole experience with this particular doctor.  Maybe she is just a cutting-edge physician.  I don't know her, and I'm not a doctor myself.  But you can check with your state medical board to see if she has any sanctions.  That information is supposed to be public.  At the very least, I would keep on getting second opinions, and if the second opinion was in conflict with the first one, I would get a third opinion before proceeding with something that was potentially harmful.  Good luck.

[4health4]

I had blockage (three) on my arteries, interesting enough on a second opinion the cardiologist told me I do not need angio and that the picture looks ok , I did it to be safe anyway. But I feel now days the doctors just want to find ways to get money from Insurance and their decisions are more financial driven than medical. I cancelled my tallium test, is it a coincidence that my doctor calls to see how I am doing , after telling her my concern about thallium being radio active, she says oh I agree and I wanted to tell you that too!

[skydnsr]

Heart therapy bed?  Sorry to answer a question with a question, but can you explain that one, too, please?

[joanincarolina]

What were the reasons for the angiogram and what were the findings? Joan.