Thanks Huck for your thoughts.

I got a call from my doctor (personally) who stated the Stress Test was abnormal and he wants to do an angiogram. He said it was not an emergency type situation, whatever that means, but that it did need followup. I am lost as to whether to seek this test immediately or if I can wait a few weeks. I was supposed to take care of some business that would take a couple of weeks away from home, but now I am wondering if I should delay. I now am hesitant to go away alone for a couple of weeks. I know that if they find a blockage and do angioplasty, I may be limited from travel for a while. I am researching this procedure now. Decisions, Decisions.

Huck, I do have valve problems, as you thought and am on Atacand to reduce the workload of the heart, as to whether that would affect the target heart rate is unknown to me. I did take the med prior to the test, so it could have had an effect on the test. I rest more than I am up lately. I know that I am deconditioned as one might say. I exhaust easily now and have not had good sleep since I was changed on Fibro meds. I sleep only 4 hours a night now if that. I even was given a temp handicap placard. I guess that shows my decline.

I know how stressful not having someone in your corner can be. I am pretty much alone when it comes to everyday and it is hard having all these tests, etc. I guess I will hire a driver when I have the angiogram. I dread even having to set it up. It is all so complicated when one is ill. Well I will ponder this dilemma over the weekend and decide Monday. I have already delayed my leaving. I just want to wake up one day with no health issues facing me squarely in the face.

Goldy :)

I have been studying your situation for a couple of hours. I got up at 3 am. Basically I have made a few notes pertaining to your current medicine-Atacand. When I hear the term "this medicine takes a load off of my heart", I think about the beta blocker class of medicines. So I had to study Atacand and it's possible side affects, and just exactly what it does.

I tried this specific drug, Atacand, probably over a year ago, after I developed the very common and intolerable side affects of the ACE inhibitors. I had taken them since my heart attack, but amazingly after about 3 years, the side affects started. Coughing and angioedema were the side affects. The angioedema caused my face and airways to swell.

Atacand is one of the newer classes of drugs known as ARBs (Angiotension Receptor Blockers) that block the angiotension II, AT1 receptors in our hearts and really anywhere the receptors are found. They do the same as ACE inhibitors but in a different way.

So I went for almost a year without taking any angiotension blockage medicine (ACE or ARB). I went through all of the ARBs, but could not find one that I could tolerate. So in desperation, I stated back on the old bottle of ACE inhibitors (Altace) I had and so far (6 months) I am ok. I don't have a cough but I still have some swelling in my lower airways, which I watch close.

The reason that I am telling all of this to you is because I am boring :) No, I believe that going without one of these classes of medicines last year and longer, allowed my heart to remodel and cause the Diastolic Dysfunction/Diastolic Heart Failure.

Per the pharm literature, ARBs (Atacand) can possibly cause all kind of side affects/symptoms. Bradycardia is one. It also increases your potassium and serum creatinine significantly. Potassium helps with the control of our heart rate, and all muscle movement.

While you are taking Atacand, you need to have a basic metabolic panel blood test periodically, which measures sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), magnesium, creatinine, and glucose. It also sometimes includes calcium.

So I cannot tell if the Atacand affected your stress test. I will make an uneducated guess and say that it did not.

I do not know what you have to do so far away from home, but if it is emotionally or physically challenging, I would put the trip off for sure. It is kind of rare these days to receive a phone call from your doctor, although I have one that will call me and discuss all of my test results. I feel really fortunate to have found him.

If I were you, I would have the angiogram asap. I do not know your doctor, so I cannot determine the urgency involved or emphasized during the phone call. I do know as a general rule doctors do not want to alarm you. They know that this will only make the situation worse. Maybe you could call the nurse and arrange to speak with your doctor again, or have the nurse ask the doctor about when the angiogram needed to be scheduled.

There is nothing comparable to an angiogram when it comes to "searching and seeing" the condition of your heart and coronary arteries. There are many people that waited too long to have, or never had a chance to have an angiogram. I had a friend that I worked with for over 20 years that died of a a massive heart attack 2 weeks ago. He was 57, looked 47, and was the most active man I have ever known. He was a medic in VN.

After having the angiogram, you will feel much better. If nothing is wrong you can rejoice. If something is found, you can still be happy because it can be fixed and you can get your life back. You may still have to deal with FM, but the symptoms of FM and heart disease are so alike.

I have had 10 left side cardiac catheterizations, and 1 right side catheterization. They are a piece of cake. I had a left ventriculurgram during my last cath at the Cleveland Clinic. This is where the cath wire is guided through the aortic arch to the aorta and through the aortic valve. Once there, contrast dye is injected and shows all dimensions and volumes during systole and diastole, movement or lack of and any disease process that could affect the muscle of the left ventricle.

Start eating and put on some weight before the angiogram! Are you still very slim? If so, eat like a pig, lol.

If I can help, CALL ME :)

Huck