Instead of just not getting the stress test and saying nothing, I’d recommend at least telling your doc that you’re not planning on getting one right away. This will give your doc a chance to tell you if she thinks you really need one, or if she does consider it optional. This is medical info you need to understand. Of course, you can still choose not to get the test, but at least you know what risks you’re taking by doing so.

This also gives your doc a chance to perhaps suggest another test you would agree to. If you have a reasonable physician, he’s open to discussions of this type.

Lastly, if this is the 100th test you’ve declined, it gives your doc a chance to say, “I think you’d be better off working with someone who’s advice you better agree with.” Or, if your MD flies off the handle, that can tell you perhaps you’d like to work with someone who likes a bit more give and take with patients.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

For example, my GP wants me to have a nuclear stress test. I’m diabetic (with excellent control); four years ago I had a stress test. I showed a very minor oddity (1 mm depressed ST segment at maximal exertion). He says he wants me to revisit it every few years ‘just to be sure’. The stress test would be a whole lot of radiation for only a little information on a minor problem. I’m much more interested in getting an EBCT to see if I’ve got coronary plaque. I strongly suspect my doc of practicing CYA medicine.

So how to be a ‘good’ patient under such circumstances?