This test will let the doctor see the changes that take place in your heart when you exercise. Trained personnel or the doctor will watch your condition by asking how you are feeling during the test. Be sure to follow their instructions carefully and tell them exactly how you feel.
If you have other health problems, you may be given another kind of stress test that does not use exercise. If you have this test, you will be given a special type of drug that makes your heart beat faster and opens your coronary arteries. An ECG will be taken at the same time. This test gives the doctor the same type of information as the exercise tolerance test.
The exercise tolerance test or other stress test will help your doctor tell how well your heart is functioning. Although stress tests are useful, they cannot tell your doctor exactly where your arteries are blocked or how bad the blockages may be. Also, these tests are accurate no more than 90 percent of the time. In some cases, doctors will want to do a cardiac catheterization.
There are no special preparations for this test.