I have heart palpitations and I'm on meds for it. Do bariatric doctors want people getting the lap band to have a stress test? Im scared to death to do a stress test because 1. I don't think the tread mill will hold 420 lbs. 2. I cant run up a hill. I cant even run. I can barely walk a mile fast. Any advice would be great

I had to have a stress test in order for my insurance to pay for my procedure. I weighed 359 lbs and was unable to do the test on a treadmill. They gave me a nuclear stress test and all went well.

If you are under the care of a cardiologist, surely your surgeon can coordinate with him/her for any information.

Further you are not the heaviest person ever treated. Trust me, they aren't going to embarass or torture you! IF necessary there is a stress test that uses injectible drugs to cause your HR, Pulse etc to accellerate without you moving.

If fear of a stress test is stopping you from proceeding, don't let it. It's a non-issue.

Marmar,

Try not to worry. I'm in the process of getting all my tests done and I had my stress test last week. I kept thinking what are they going to do to me? I have a really bad knee and find walking very hard and painful. I was also afraid of falling. I was worried imagine myself having to run on the treadmill. I have now had the test and I needn't have worried at all! The actual time on the treadmill was only 8 minutes. I got on with all my monitiors and cables and started walking. The incline was raised and it started very slowly and the speed increased gradually. I could hold on to the bars. They will not make you run. The aim is to get your heartbeat up to a certain level and that can be achieved with walking. I never got there because my knee started hurting too much so we stopped. Try not to worry, chances are that you will be treated very nicely. Good luck!

Don't worry about the stress test. My Dr sent me to have a Dobutamine Echo Stress Test. They took a sonagram of the heart resting, then gave me an IV with medicine and it made my heart really race. They took another sonagram and then took the IV out and took another sonagram with the heart in recovery. Was a piece of cake. Did make you feel strange..We called it drug induced excerise.....

Suzdavis

Thanks everyone,You made me feel better about it. Its funny what little things I worry about.