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Cardiology exam??
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Has anyone been to a cardiologist for a heart exam to rule out undetected heart issues that could be aggravated by endurance athletics? Now that I've hit my annual medical plan out of pocket max, I am thinking of making a preventive visit to a cardiologist for a complete heart health exam. I've never been to one and have no idea whether there are cardiologists who specialize in heart health for endurance athletes?

Has anyone had such an exam? If so, please provide guidance on what kind of exam to ask for and what to expect.

Thanks!
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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No idea, but I'd also like to know.

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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My best advice would be to call your cardiologist to discuss your questions and concerns.

Not exactly what you're concerned about, but I had a congenital bicuspid aortic valve that over time had resulted in enlargement of my left ventricle.

I had surgery to replace the valve 14 years ago. Fortunately the enlargement reversed itself within a couple of years after getting the leaky valve replaced.

Prior to my surgery I had a heart catheterization to check for any blockages or other undetected issues.

Since my surgery, I've had annual exams where they do an EKG and an echocardiogram.

Mark
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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TriMomof5 wrote:
Has anyone been to a cardiologist for a heart exam to rule out undetected heart issues that could be aggravated by endurance athletics? Now that I've hit my annual medical plan out of pocket max, I am thinking of making a preventive visit to a cardiologist for a complete heart health exam. I've never been to one and have no idea whether there are cardiologists who specialize in heart health for endurance athletes?

Has anyone had such an exam? If so, please provide guidance on what kind of exam to ask for and what to expect.

Thanks!

Yep.

Before starting my IM training went to primary doc and got him to refer me to a cardiologist.

Echocardiogram
Exercise stress test
Multiple EKGs
Various blood tests

Expect it to have a cost associated with it.

Expect to be at the cardiologist with many older and overweight people looking at you strangely, presumably wondering why you are there.

Expect the stress test tech to ask you if you are going to break her treadmill.

Expect the whole process to take multiple appointments for the testing and discussion of results (maybe co-pays for you)?

In the end, if everything is fine, expect to have an added sense of calm about your health, especially if you have a history of heart disease in your family. It's not a guarantee there's nothing wrong with your ticker, but it does rule out many things. Worst case, you get a baseline for use later in life.

Good luck.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [Redcorvette] [ In reply to ]
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I had a review a couple of years ago. I was 37 and just wanted to make sure all was fine. It was, and I can now feel more relaxed when i thrash myself.

The cardio doc said she wished more of us old blokes did it.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [DJRed] [ In reply to ]
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DJRed wrote:
TriMomof5 wrote:
Has anyone been to a cardiologist for a heart exam to rule out undetected heart issues that could be aggravated by endurance athletics? Now that I've hit my annual medical plan out of pocket max, I am thinking of making a preventive visit to a cardiologist for a complete heart health exam. I've never been to one and have no idea whether there are cardiologists who specialize in heart health for endurance athletes?

Has anyone had such an exam? If so, please provide guidance on what kind of exam to ask for and what to expect.

Thanks!


Yep.

Before starting my IM training went to primary doc and got him to refer me to a cardiologist.

Echocardiogram
Exercise stress test
Multiple EKGs
Various blood tests

Expect it to have a cost associated with it.

Expect to be at the cardiologist with many older and overweight people looking at you strangely, presumably wondering why you are there.

Expect the stress test tech to ask you if you are going to break her treadmill.

Expect the whole process to take multiple appointments for the testing and discussion of results (maybe co-pays for you)?

In the end, if everything is fine, expect to have an added sense of calm about your health, especially if you have a history of heart disease in your family. It's not a guarantee there's nothing wrong with your ticker, but it does rule out many things. Worst case, you get a baseline for use later in life.

Good luck.

+1 every year!!!!!
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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TriMomof5 wrote:
Has anyone been to a cardiologist for a heart exam to rule out undetected heart issues that could be aggravated by endurance athletics? Now that I've hit my annual medical plan out of pocket max, I am thinking of making a preventive visit to a cardiologist for a complete heart health exam. I've never been to one and have no idea whether there are cardiologists who specialize in heart health for endurance athletes?

Has anyone had such an exam? If so, please provide guidance on what kind of exam to ask for and what to expect.

Thanks!

Been going through all of this over the past month.

Read here if you want to follow what's been happening: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...rum.cgi?post=5210785

I've done blood work, EKG's, heart monitors, treadmill stress test, echocardiogram.

Everything has been perfect... nevertheless I'm having blood pressure drops. The hot tub was certainly the trigger for what happened at Mont-Tremblant but something is going on and so far we can't figure out what exactly is happening.

So it doesn't look like I'm going to die from a heart attack anytime soon but I may pass out while running and fall and hit my head and kill myself that way. ;-)

All kidding aside... it's nice to know that my ticker is 100% and there's no blockage, irregularities, abnormalities, or congenital issues. Worth the time and expense for the piece of mind.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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This is a good idea. I think I (and many) spend more on bike maintenance then heart maintenance .
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [DJRed] [ In reply to ]
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I had the exact same situation. Birth of my daughter in Jan blew through my out-of-pocket max for the year. Spoke to a couple of cardiologist friends and here is what they suggested:

-Regular EKG
-Stress Echocardiogram (this is cool, it's like an ultrasound, but instead of a baby moving around, you see your valves)

I already get annual bloodwork, but if you dont do that, a metabolic and lipid panel, including CRP would be nice to have.

It was very easy for me - EKG was done right there, 15 minutes after my consultation, stress echocardiogram scheduled and done 2 weeks later.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [sjcby] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the specific exams to request! They will be helpful to me when I call and explain what I am looking for.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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echocardiogram, ultrasound, and a treadmill stress test are probably a good idea. I don't think any of those should be outrageously expensive. It's the 3D heart imaging that gets pricey.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [TriMomof5] [ In reply to ]
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TriMomof5 wrote:
Has anyone been to a cardiologist for a heart exam to rule out undetected heart issues that could be aggravated by endurance athletics? Now that I've hit my annual medical plan out of pocket max, I am thinking of making a preventive visit to a cardiologist for a complete heart health exam. I've never been to one and have no idea whether there are cardiologists who specialize in heart health for endurance athletes?

Has anyone had such an exam? If so, please provide guidance on what kind of exam to ask for and what to expect.

Thanks!


I received a flyer in the mail about a mobile echo-cardiogram, plus some extra stuff for around $150. Thinking about having it done just to get a baseline.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [vonschnapps] [ In reply to ]
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Just a standard echocardiogram will be of limited value unless you have symptoms while at rest. A stress echocardiogram is where they are hooking you up to blood pressure monitor, EKG machine, hr monitor while you progressively work harder on a treadmill. So you get all the telemetry while you are increasing the amount of work. Once you reach the threshold hr they want, they take the echocardiogram and record it.

At least that's how it was with me.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [sjcby] [ In reply to ]
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sjcby wrote:
Just a standard echocardiogram will be of limited value unless you have symptoms while at rest. A stress echocardiogram is where they are hooking you up to blood pressure monitor, EKG machine, hr monitor while you progressively work harder on a treadmill. So you get all the telemetry while you are increasing the amount of work. Once you reach the threshold hr they want, they take the echocardiogram and record it.

At least that's how it was with me.

Yeah, this is just a standard one (it on one of those mobile bus things). Would it identify any plaque or any other early indicators of problems? They also offer a heart CT scan for $50 (in medical terms that's the cost of a band-aid), wonder if this one has any value.

I don't have any of the indicators, but like everyone else, don't want any surprises.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [DJRed] [ In reply to ]
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Very curious about the stress test.

Like the poster before you I have a bicuspid aortic valve which was only discovered at the age of 40 after weird EKG readings and an echocardiogram following.

When I finally saw the cardiologist for about 2 minutes he dismissed the issue and said it worked as normal and to resume whatever activities I wanted.

Yes. I know. Go see your doctor. I'm due. I will.

Well, I'm stubborn and haven't had it checked for 5 years after that, but am again signed up for an IM again and curious about the stress test.

Questions I have are...

Will the test be enough stress to make a difference? I'm worried that they won't exercises me enough to see any problems at high stress.

Is there such a thing as an echocardiogram combined with a stress test? I would like to know if the valve is leaking at high stress, not while I'm just laying there at a near nap like state.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [knewbike] [ In reply to ]
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The stress echocardiogram starts with a set of images at rest. they draw on your chest so they know where to put the sensor when you come off the treadmill.

Then you run on a treadmill. Every two minutes, they increase the speed and incline. It stopped for me when my hr reached 178bpm. It took like 20 min. Others may get there sooner.

Then you run to a table and they do the echocardiogram as fast as possible. When they finished with me, my hr was still above 165.

The whole time you are getting your hr up on the treadmill, they are tracking hr, blood pressure and EKG for anomalies.
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [knewbike] [ In reply to ]
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The stress test is on a treadmill and the speed and incline increase every three minutes up to six times (so the treadmill will be at max speed and incline at 15 minutes). The speed is not that fast but the incline does get pretty steep on intervals five and six if you make it that long. By interval three or four I was holding onto the bar because the incline does get pretty steep. The two times I've done the test in 2010 and just a few weeks ago I was on the treadmill for 19:00 and 17:30. Which are the longest anyone has been on the treadmill at each of those cardiologist practices. <========== Back door brag! ;-)

They want to hit a target heart rate... which should be (220-your age)*.85.

An echo stress test is also an option.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Cardiology exam?? [sjcby] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I think I'm going to push hard for this kind of test next time.
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