I totally agree. I’m a 54 F. Looking back, I wish I would’ve been more educated about my cholesterol. For the past 10-20 years my #s were high. I have a family history of heart disease and my cholesterol is now 240. In the past it was always 198-220. My primary dr said “don’t worry just watch certain things you eat, your active, not overweight etc & she also said my other #s balanced it all out. Gosh, I should’ve pushed more and went to see a cardiologist back then. So disappointed in not advocating nor taking it more serious at the time.

I recently had a ct calcium scan (recommended from my husband pcp as he said we’re getting older and it’s probably a good idea to look into the test) which came back high 444. I had my cholesterol checked immediately and that was elevated as well. I then went to a cardiologist and she started me in 40 mg Atorvastatin & did another lipid 3 months later. At that time all my #s went down but my ldl was still above 70 (80) so I was put on another 40mg. (My cardiologist wants it 70 or less) Currently I’m now on 80mg of Atorvastatin/aspirin daily. I wasn’t expecting that at all and was honestly scared about the whole situation. I asked to see if I could stay in the 40mg and watch everything I ate but she felt with my family history and knowing now it’s hereditary I should do the 80 mg. I asked for further testing but was told because I’m asymptomatic it’s not necessary. I told my cardiologist that I do have a pain on my left side that comes & goes but that was coughed up to muscular so idk. I considered myself somewhat active, I don’t eat red meats nor a lot of dairy. So all in all I’m just asking myself the same thing…..if I would’ve been put on meds 15-20, years ago especially with my family history (father heart disease, stents open heart surgery etc, along with a few of his brothers and both paternal grandparents dying from heart related issues & my mother and older sister have high cholesterol & bp with meds) could that have prevented the calcium buildup? I should’ve been more concerned way back then but I’ve just followed what my PCP Drs advice and she didn’t seem overly concerned.

Ugh…so frustrating that this is something I can’t control. I’ve never been on any meds like this so now I have daily statin/aspirin for preventative purposes. It’s hard to hear “heart disease” and it’s very scary.

I’m reaching out to get a second an opinion about my care moving forward. I have so many more questions that need answers and my first cardiologist seemed to just brush off what I’m dealing with. I need more guidance instead of being told don’t eat meat dairy (which I don’t) keep active (which I do) so at this point just getting another Drs perspective on my situation just to ease my mind.