Nuclear Stress Test - What To Eat?

[Nor-TX]

Today I am going for a nuclear stress test on my heart. It starts today (Friday) and finishes on Monday. For both days I have been told to bring a "fatty" meal to eat during the test. The nurse suggested cheese and crackers. I explained that I cannot eat gluten or dairy. She said, "Well just eat a couple, that should be ok." Again I explained the situation and she said well you will need to bring a "fatty" meal. She suggested I could pick up something at Quik Trip or 7-11!!!

I can't do any fresh vegetables or fruit, no dairy, no gluten, no tomato products. I have no idea what to bring in addition to being totally becoming unglued because I have to go through this.

Has anyone gone through this and what did you eat?

To top it off, I was crying on the way home, not paying attention to my driving and got a speeding ticket for 277.10 That's the first ticket since I moved to the US from Canada 16 years ago.

This all came about because I needed an EKG to clear me for surgery on Tuesday for a Lipoma on my neck.

Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Thanks

[cahill]

Today I am going for a nuclear stress test on my heart. It starts today (Friday) and finishes on Monday. For both days I have been told to bring a "fatty" meal to eat during the test. The nurse suggested cheese and crackers. I explained that I cannot eat gluten or dairy. She said, "Well just eat a couple, that should be ok." Again I explained the situation and she said well you will need to bring a "fatty" meal. She suggested I could pick up something at Quik Trip or 7-11!!!

I can't do any fresh vegetables or fruit, no dairy, no gluten, no tomato products. I have no idea what to bring in addition to being totally becoming unglued because I have to go through this.

Has anyone gone through this and what did you eat?

To top it off, I was crying on the way home, not paying attention to my driving and got a speeding ticket for 277.10 That's the first ticket since I moved to the US from Canada 16 years ago.

This all came about because I needed an EKG to clear me for surgery on Tuesday for a Lipoma on my neck.

Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Thanks

sorry about the speeding ticket ,,ouch

can you eat nuts?? maybe some peanut butter on rice crackers? or a handfull of nuts??

Hope everything turns out well

[Roda]

I don't really understand the "fatty meal" for a stress test. But who knows, every place has their own taylored instructions and there are different ways to do nuclear stress tests. Are you having part of the test today and the rest on Monday? Or are you having parts of the test each day?

I am an x-ray tech (I don't do nuclear medicine though) and often have to give out prep instructions. Our prep we tell our patients: bring all medications in original container or an up-to-date list, no caffeine for 12 hrs prior to exam, do not eat or drink anything 8 hrs prior to exam (you may have sips of water with your meds, unless otherwise instructed), wear confortable clothes without metal etc. Actual procdure: injected with the radioactive tracer then wait for no less than 30 min prior to first set of images. Then taken to the stress lab for the "stress" part. After completion of the "stress" portion instructions for "stress" images and another injection of the radioactive tracer. States the exam can take up to 3 hrs to complete. The radioactive tracer that is given can take at least 30-60 min. to get to the desired area hence why exam can take so long. Mind you this is how our facility instructs our patients. Again each place has different preps and procedures so please follow the instructions they gave you. I just wanted to tell you ours so you would have something to compare with.

As for food, can you eat nuts? If yes, you could take a handful of nuts or make a sandwich of some sorts with deli meat or nut butters. Hope your test goes well for you. It sounds like the food situation is going to be more stressful than the exam. Let us know how it goes.

[ravenwoodglass]

If you have DH make sure you let them know. My doctor told them not to give me the injection with my test because of it. I agree with the nuts suggestion for something to eat. The test is time consuming but interesting. Bring a good book with you for waiting times.

[Roda]

If you have DH make sure you let them know. My doctor told them not to give me the injection with my test because of it. I agree with the nuts suggestion for something to eat. The test is time consuming but interesting. Bring a good book with you for waiting times.

You may be confusing it with the IV CT (cat scan) contrast. It is iodine based. Here is a link to a nuclear stress test. There is no iodine in the isotope.

Open Original Shared Link

There are two common types of isotope used in the USA. They are thallium and technetium (which are marketed under the Trade names "Cardiolite" and "Myoview")

Open Original Shared Link

The radioactive substance is then injected. This is a concern for many people, understanding that the dose you are getting exposes you to less radiation then a regular chest X-Ray. Many people also worry about allergies to the radioactive substance. Myoview which is the name of the substance is not a contrast, it is not a dye and it does not contain iodine. This makes it so there are no side effects to the substance.

[ravenwoodglass]

You may be confusing it with the IV CT (cat scan) contrast. It is iodine based. Here is a link to a nuclear stress test. There is no iodine in the isotope.

I think you may be right about that. I had one day where they did a CT, stress test and pulmonary function test all in the same day. It was a very, very long day.

[Nor-TX]

Unfortunately I can't eat nuts. I have Colitis, GERD, IBS and foods that are ruled out are: fresh vegetables and fruit, tomato products, garlic, nuts and seeds and beans, beef, eggs, peanut butter (allergic), fried foods. Pretty much anything that is yummy.

This test is a stress test with chemicals because I have a recent knee replacement and arthritis in the other knee and can't do the bicycle or treadmill.

The procedure is over 2 days. The first day is the stress part. You are given an IV containing Dobutamine and Cardiolite for a period of time. Then you are supposed to eat a fatty meal which helps clear out activity in the stomach. After an hour they take x-rays of your heart.

On the second day which is called the resting day, they inject Cardiolite directly into the vein. Once again you eat a fatty meal and then after an hour they take more x-rays.

They compare the two sets of x-rays which indicate the blood flow to your heart during stress and at rest.

I ended up making some tuna with mayo, 2 slices of Udi bread and a little container of Pringles. Hopefully that will be adequate.

Thanks for your ideas.

[kareng]

I ended up making some tuna with mayo, 2 slices of Udi bread and a little container of Pringles. Hopefully that will be adequate.

Thanks for your ideas.

Pringles have Wheat in them! I just checked the ones in the little packs that my son has!

[Bubba's Mom]

If you can have mayo..I thought deviled eggs might work for you too? You could take them in a thermal lunch bag and have the nurse keep it in their cooler?

Good luck with your tests!

[cahill]

Unfortunately I can't eat nuts. I have Colitis, GERD, IBS and foods that are ruled out are: fresh vegetables and fruit, tomato products, garlic, nuts and seeds and beans, beef, eggs, peanut butter (allergic), fried foods. Pretty much anything that is yummy.

This test is a stress test with chemicals because I have a recent knee replacement and arthritis in the other knee and can't do the bicycle or treadmill.

The procedure is over 2 days. The first day is the stress part. You are given an IV containing Dobutamine and Cardiolite for a period of time. Then you are supposed to eat a fatty meal which helps clear out activity in the stomach. After an hour they take x-rays of your heart.

On the second day which is called the resting day, they inject Cardiolite directly into the vein. Once again you eat a fatty meal and then after an hour they take more x-rays.

They compare the two sets of x-rays which indicate the blood flow to your heart during stress and at rest.

I ended up making some tuna with mayo, 2 slices of Udi bread and a little container of Pringles. Hopefully that will be adequate.

Thanks for your ideas.

mayo and Udi;s breads both contain eggs

[Nor-TX]

Eggs as part of something is ok. It just that a plain egg - scrambled, fried, hard boiled... makes me sick.

Yikes!!!! I never realized that Pringles has wheat starch... I just checked. Thank you for letting me know. I will stop and get some Lays on the way to the hospital this afternoon.

Thank you (smacking my forehead)!

[ravenwoodglass]

Eggs as part of something is ok. It just that a plain egg - scrambled, fried, hard boiled... makes me sick.

Yikes!!!! I never realized that Pringles has wheat starch... I just checked. Thank you for letting me know. I will stop and get some Lays on the way to the hospital this afternoon.

Thank you (smacking my forehead)!

We do need to check the labels on everything we consume. Hopefully you haven't been eating those all along. Good luck with the test.

[mushroom]

I just had one of these this summer. Didn't have to eat anything. It was pretty similar to what Roda described, but I was done in a couple of hours, it seemed.