My fantastic Cardiac nurse has managed to book me in for a CT Angiogram next Thursday (26/1/23). As some of you will remember I was initially booked for a CT on 19th December 22 but due to a high heart rate the radiographer refused to attempt the scan. However, my Cardiologist wants to try again, and he will be at the scan on Thursday too. I have been prescribed Ivabradine 2.5 mg twice a day for three days before the scan and 2.5mg on the morning of the scan and another 2.5mg when I leave for the hospital. I will also take Diazepam 2mg for a couple of days before the scan and on the day of the scan. I am hoping all this will help to control my HR this time around. I believe that my high HR at the hospital is due to anxiety. My normal resting HR is well below 60BPM.
I would be grateful if you could all share your experiences of CT Angiogram
I would also love to hear from anyone who had a similar issue of high HR when attempting a CT Angiogram, and how they managed to control HR
I am desperate to have this scan because I need to know if I have any major issues with my heart. The uncertainty is unbearable at times.
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IamAli_R
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I can only wish you well. I was terrified when Ihad mine, but a sedative and a very sympathetic nurse helped me cope. There are much worse things to cope with, like root canal work.
Thank you for taking the time to reply and your well wishes.
I am glad you managed to get your scan done, and had sympathetic team at the hospital. I have never had any issues with dental work. I guess I just get the white coat syndrome at the hospital and HR shoots up.
My CT angiogram wasn’t great either, I had a similar problem. My heart rate was well over 100! I had to wait for the technician to get a doctor and then they injected me three times with beta blockers, the max amount, to try and reduce the rate. They didn’t get it as slow as they wanted but it was slow enough for a “decent image” but not great. It didn’t go as well as my coronary angiogram which I had the week beforehand. The doctor also accidentally left the tap open when flushing after the injection and got blood everywhere!
So they called the consultant who said the image quality is okay and they weren’t too concerned about it and that was that. I always expected i would have to have it done again before surgery but apparently not...
It sounds like they have planned your heart rate better and the day I’m sure will go much smoother!
Thank you for taking the time to reply, and sharing your experiences.
My HR was at over 120 last time around too and I managed to get it just under 100 but was still too fast. I am glad they managed to get "decent images" and hopefully you'll get good news when the results arrive.
I am hoping I'll manage to get keep calm and keep my HR to the required rate.
I also was extremely anxious at my CT angiogram and they had to tell me several times uk try to calm down (easier said than done!) even after taking a beta blocker to slow my heart rate. I really wanted to get the thing done so managed to calm myself enough that they could do it. I’d say try some mediation tyke exercises at home in the days before you go for the appointment (YouTube or Unmind app etc have lots of short ones I find useful) then on the day try and do those exercises while they’re getting you set up and hopefully you’ll be able to control it. I know it’s really difficult! I found the staff so caring and kind which really helped too. Wishing you luck with it.
Thank you taking the time to reply and sharing your experiences.
Somehow being told to calm down never works! I am glad you managed to get your scan done too. Thank you for the advice. I meditate everyday already. I will try the controlled breathing while I am at the hospital.
I think you are lucky you had such a great team at the hospital. I think the NHs is fantastic on the whole but there are some bad eggs there too. On my last appointment the nurse said she will ask the doctor to come and speak to me because I could not get my HR down. She spoke to the doctor outside the room I was waiting in and he refused and sounded angry that the nurse asked him to come and see me. He said he didn't have the time to waste. That did not make me feel great, and it was upsetting hearing the tone he took.
That is awful! No wonder you had trouble controlling your HR! That would have upset me too, the last thing you need when you’re already feeling anxious. I hope your next try goes well and you have kinder staff looking after your.
I am the most anxious person there is and can suffer from anxiety just going up the road for a coffee! 🙄
BUT I can honestly say a CT Angiogram is so simple and absolutely nothing to fear. It doesn't hurt, you don't feel your heart going slower (they just want you relaxed not an unrealistically low heart rate) There are so many hard tests to go through and this is a simple one. What is it your fear that's making your heart go faster I wonder?
Deep breathing, in for 5, hold for 5, out for 10. Visualise something gentle and relaxing, lying on a beach or whatever is your thing.
Thank you for taking the time to reply and sharing your experiences.
I know the feeling about going for a coffee and that setting your anxiety off. some situations make extremely anxious and other situations I never have any issues. Here is the strange thing my normal resting HR is in the low 50's. I don't know what it is that raises my HR at the hospital. I feel anxious but its like I am at panic stations. I am not actually scared of the CT scan because I have have many CT scan without issues. I think its knowing that for this scan I need to slow my HR down and the pressure of keeping my HR low ends up pushing up my HR.
I will definitely take you advice and try the controlled breathing and visualisation.
My first cardiac CT scan was an angiogram, which I had as a volunteer on a research project.
I was going to say that perhaps my anxiety was lower because it was just for research purposes, but then I remember that it was brought forwards to a Saturday because I'd been diagnosed the previous Thursday by echo with an enlarged aorta, and the CT helped confirm that. So perhaps I was quite keen to have it done and find out what it showed.
I am not fond of having needles stuck in me, but find that so long as I look the other way while it's going in, that takes care of it. That was the worst part of the whole procedure, and the nurse who put in the device was seriously good at it. Cardiac teams are really used to seeing and reassuring anxious patients.
Beyond that, there is a bit of weirdness when the contrast goes in - it's a sensation of warmth around your bladder - but I didn't find it scary. Although my heart rate wasn't specially high, I was still treated with an IV beta blocker to slow it down, and also GTN to dilate the arteries. The latter meant I could feel my pulse in my thumbs, which was another slightly strange one, but still not scary.
So I'm a little puzzled that they didn't give you a beta blocker last time round; hopefully, that - and more time to prepare, and a bit of familiarity with the set-up - will make it a breeze next time. Best of luck!
Thank you for taking the time reply and sharing your experiences.
I am not scared of the CT Scan. I have had a few CT scans before with contrast so I am familiar with the set up and how the scan is preformed. I juts think the pressure of trying to keep my HR low is having the opposite effect and actually pushing my HR up. I did ask for beta blocked at the appointment but the doctor refused because I have mild asthma. I explained to the horse that my asthma is ever so mild but she said the doctor won't change his mind. I think they have been busy on the day of my last appointment or the doctor in charge got out the wrong side of bed that morning because he was not will do more than the bare minimum.
I think having my cardiologist leading the scan will help and he said he will happily give me IV beta blocker if required. So fingers crossed it works out this time. It is also good to know that I am not the only one who struggled to maintain a low HR for the scan.
A CT angiogram will be an underwhelming experience for you - I have no doubt that you will think "was that it" at the end of it. I was certainly very anxious when I had mine done a few weeks ago, but its just the fear of the unknown. As others have pointed out - dental work is far worse.
I can only second the other comments here. Far less stressful than dental work. I was expecting something far more from the procedure but it really is just a case of lying still and breathing in, then out, when asked to do so. All over in minutes . You'll be fine, it's a really commonplace procedure and they will look after you.
I was very apprehensive when I had my angiogram. Was given a sedative. I will admit it was uncomfortable rather than painful - but guess it depends what your pain threshold is.
The team were amazing & talked me through it. Showed me the screen - very interesting!
What kept me going though was the sheer ingenuity of what they were doing! A few years ago it would have been made into a sci-fi film!
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