UK: Locations that offer CPET/VO2max testing

Did you do the 1-day or 2-day CPET?

Just wondering because I am trying to schedule the 2-day and will need to fly out of state, take it and come back at a moderate to severe ME/CFS level? At this point, I'm about 70% sure I won't be able to but do need it for insurance.

Edit: I'm sorry if you indicated this somewhere. I read down through the posts and am not sure by what I read if you did the 2-day but it sounds like maybe you did.

 

I misread your earlier post and assumed you stopped to have bloods after each stage. I only had bloods at the end of each test, but the staff said they would normally stop multiple times to take bloods for at least the lactate test.

Find attached.

 

Thank you!

 

@Amw66 did you ever get a response from the Scottish universities that you contacted about CPET availability and charges?

 

No, on my to do list before the end of this month - will update thereafter

 

Dangerous territory...

Unless compelled, why would you want to do this? Even if compelled, there is adequate medico-lega grounds to refuse.

 

@Amw66 thank you for linking me to here from FB.....when I checked on here, I was already following both threads ( d’oh ).

I have put the “investigate Sports Sciences at local Uni” into my huge “to do” pile.

 

Scottish locations so far - individual posts

Robert Gordon University ( Aberdeen) - response
I have recently been looking at the offerings of our RGU Wellness service and been placed in charge of rebranding and restructuring our offerings. At this present time we are looking at our overall structure at the same time as we are trying to make this affordable hence there is no formal or clear advertising or marketing towards this.


We can offer just about any service required that is Non Medical (an example medical is ECG / formal CPET). We do however offer VO2max and lactate threshold assessments. Currently both require a GP sign off (again currently looking at our risk assessment procedures) but we can get a pretty quick turnaround with them.


Both are charged at £185 (including VAT) and involve coming into the lab for a maximum of two hours. For organisations who wish to purchase multiple assessments then we have negotiated rates in the past.




School of Health Sciences

Robert Gordon University

Garthdee Road

Aberdeen AB10 7QG

United Kingdom


Tel: +44 (0) 1224 262894

Fax: +44 (0) 1224 263290

 

Napier University - Sighthill Campus , Edinburgh ( cost awaited)

We offer exercise tests for a range of uses defined by the user. Typically these are incremental exercise tests to exhaustion to quantify fitness in athletes, but we also use these tests as a stress test for some clinical conditions.


We are at Sighthill Campus, EH11 4BN and can offer on-site parking next to the labs on request.

 

UWS - west campus ( Hamilton)
Cost in link ( £250)
I understand you contacted the University regarding a 2 day VO2max test. We are able to perform these tests which can be booked here:



https://shop.uws.ac.uk/product-catalogue/schools/school-of-science-sport/maximal-exercise-test-and-followup-test



Unfortunately we cannot provide a formal medical diagnosis, but we can review and comment on the change in the exercise parameters from the first to the second test. We would also require anyone with pre-existing medical conditions (diabetes etc) or over the age of 50 to obtain prior approval from their GP before testing.



If you would like any more information about the testing then I would be happy to provide this. Contact name Chris Easton

School of Health and Life Sciences

University of the West of Scotland

Lanarkshire Campus

G72 0LH

Tel: 01698 283 100

 

Ok, this is not UK related, but I thought it might be a right place nonetheless.

Are there papers - or the like - that give information about how to do a 2-day-cpet? I will do one in August, and now I've heard their analysis is a disaster. Maybe I can prevent a bad analysis by bringing information? A bad analysis makes a 2-day-cpet obsolete.

 

I'm also wondering if there is anywhere experienced in dealing with ME/CFS patients that is able to provide reliable 2 day CPET testing [1], and provide a detailed analysis/ written report [2], located in the UK.

1. The team needs to understand the symptoms and limitations of ME patients, in order to work them just hard enough to get convincing data, while not over-working them to the point of long-term relapse. So they need clinical experience of ME, don't they?

2. There doesn't seem much point in putting oneself through the ordeal and prolonged post-exertion deterioration, if there is no assurance that accurate and useful analysis will be provided, with regard to identifying and characterising the data as consistent with what the literature says about ME patients.

But, if I could be reassured on both these points, and the cost was achievable, I'd consider doing this test as a useful benchmark.

 

Thank you so much @Trish, I remembered there was something, but I couldn't find it.

I totally agree @hinterland. That's why I want to clarify this beforehand. I want to be sure the analysis is made according to publications.

 

The ones I sent above were helpful but it made the testing centre focus only on VO2max. It was actually my heart rate that dropped on the second day (it wouldn't reach the same level as the day before). Ideally, you're looking for drops of more than 12% in any one measure, I think.

ETA: I think, in my case, my VO2max was low on both days because I was already in PEM, too.

 

I've seen the analysis they're doing and it strongly suggests they haven't read the papers (shit, that sounds like Sharpe ) and that they don't know how to interpret the results ME-wise.

People need to go with the papers, everything else is useless. I don't understand this really. The methodology is really easy to understand, too. I mean, people are crashing for getting the results.

I will clarify this and I hope I'm just wrong.

 

Has anyone found a location in London that gets it ?

Meaning one that could provide the 2 day CPET + analysis/interpretation as it relates to ME?

 

IMO, most won't want to diagnose or give medical advice. You might want to hire someone separately to do the analysis, although you can work it out yourself. The slideshow by Stevens upthread helps you figure out severity from VO2max alone and a drop in any one score might give you a clue where things are going wrong.

Annoyingly, the numbers Stevens gives appear to be all based on a woman's VO2max. A young man's expected VO2max is 45 not 38, so you have to do a bit more maths if you're a bloke.

 

We did it because we wanted to objectively measure and understand the physiological response to exertion in order to inform our day-to-day approach to managing the illness. In our case it has been the single most helpful piece of information we’ve been able to get.

Agree it should not be made compulsory though and it should be the patient’s choice. But I’d like more pwME to be aware of it and be offered it.

 

The Workwell Foundation in the US will write you a brief letter summarising the results for $300, but unfortunately won’t provide a detailed analysis unless they’ve carried out the tests themselves.

I used the results for PIP and UC and wrote my own summary referencing the aforementioned research paper. It didn’t offer any detailed analysis, just simply summarised that the results evidenced functional impairment and that exertion beyond the AT would lead to ongoing deterioration.

It was just a single page with Background, Objective, Results and Conclusion that I attached to the results from the university. Happy to share this if anyone wants to message me.