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I have a very high calcium score. What next?
Just joined the site and I'm looking to share with others who have had a high calcium score. I found out today that mine is 2996 and I am scared by this. I am 61 and I am totally asymptomatic. Now I feel like a walking time bomb. I am thinking of requesting an angiogram to see if there's any narrowing anywhere and if it can be corrected with a stent. After a second heart doctor told me that the plaque buildup might be uniform over the course of years with no big problem areas, I am encouraged. But the score still freaks me out, specifically my LAD at 1333. I don't smoke or drink but I have to lose 40 lbs.
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Agree, but too much for me.
Could be worse! My neurologist thinks I may have ALS (next appointment in a week) and the only drug that might slow it down (only give another 4-6 months of delayed symptoms) is $145,000/yr and no indication whether insurance will cover it since it is an orphan drug. I might try a clinical trial at Jefferson since that won't cost anything, but there is a 50/50 chance that I'll actually get a placebo.
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1 ReactionI’m so sorry you are facing that, Keith. I hope it works in your favor
I TRIED for 6 years to get them to do an angiogram after a calcium score of 1100+ and extreme family history of CAD. I was much like you - tests were perfect, I exercise and eat decently. they wouldn't do it because I had no symptoms. I had Covid in Feb 2023 and then was short of breath doing the smallest of things after I felt covid had resolved. THANKFULLY, they decided at that time to do the angiogram, and I had 3 major blockage and had CABG in April of 2023. Very frustrating, but I guess I am glad the "big one" wasn't my first symptom!
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2 ReactionsGood for you!
When my mom was going through cancer treatments, I learned something.
That YOU have to be the most ferocious advocate for your health.
My doctor at first did not want to order an angiogram. I insisted.
Doctors may have the best intentions, but they are not all-knowing. And they have bad days too. And maybe some of them don't really care. I don't know. All I know is you have to be on the front line, fighting for your health. And the health of your loved ones.
I hope you have gone to the mayo clinic.com website and done your research on niacin! It is very dangerous, which is why doctors don’t use it as a medication! You were playing mortality roulette.
Glad you posted about this, Missey!
Self service medicating comes with risks for those not educated.
Why would the neurologist say they suspected ALS without more confirmation? Did they say why they thought that?
They have run all of the tests to exclude other possible causes of my fasciculations except for ALS and BFS. My pending EMG's will be definitive.
I see. Best of luck. I had the 3 limb EMG test. I was super anxious about it. I was certain I had ALS or Parkinson’s, even though I had no weakness. Thankfully, I had neither.