I've been having carotid scans every few years for a very long time. They always find some plaque if you're over a certain age, and I'll bet young people have it too they just don't get the test. My new cardiologist says he wants to "watch" the right carotid because he has access to the actual scan, it was done in the hospital where his practice is. This means he's going to make sure it never gets to a place where it's going to cause a problem. This is easily fixed, they put a stent in. I don't want to live forever, I'm not really in a position in life to go into my 80s totally alone, I just don't want to have a stroke and need an overdose because I won't, ever, go into a nursing home. It's that simple. If you wear a BP monitor, yes you'll be aware it's there and that will spike your anxiety, this is true, I've thought of that too. Statins are bad news. I've never taken it, I never will. I have reactions to every single medication. My former cardiologist put me on Losarton for a short time, my hands started hurting, that's a very rare side effect. My cholesterol has been in the low 200s for the past 30 years and I had stress tests (nuclear one too) and doppler echos and you name it, heart is fine. This is what my body does. Meanwhile, the truth about blood pressure is as you age, the measurements we read all the time no longer apply. In my age category, anything under 150/90 is considered normal. That's because most people in my age category have worsened heart conditions not having exercised as I have my entire life. Mind you, they keep an eye on if it's 150/90 all the time but if it comes up that high, especially in office, no one goes nuts over it. You don't hear this, though, no one tells you this. We hear that we need 120/80, or even more ridiculous, 110/70. No mature adult has a BP of 110/70 unless they're at complete rest and taking medication. So alot of this is hype and I'm really sick and tired of these rich pharmaceutical companies trying to scare everyone into taking their poison. They're now associating statins with things no one wants to have and they're STILL lying about it. My new cardiologist told me a couple of days ago that 180/100 is a problem if they see it often, like not just when I'm having a panic attack, but when I'm taking my resting BP and it constantly appears. The other one said the same thing. I also think I'm getting a tad OCD with this blood pressure stuff. You might be also. I did a lot of homework before leaving the first cardiologist, since he's at a large teaching hospital but he's become a very big deal since I met him 10 years ago and just isn't paying as close attention to me as I would like. This one is extremely well educated, best US medical schools, residency, fellowship and has a lot of experience with people over 65, that's his primary practice and I had to wait months to see him and be accepted as a patient. He's also in a hospital and has interns, etc. but it's only about 20 minutes away, the other one is over an hour. I like him a lot. It's worth it if you look around, google education and background, look at reviews (although most people leave them because they're angry and dissatisfied), and then call to see when he's available. Both of these I mentioned are approachable and have real conversations with you, that's rare but it's something I require from my physicians and I don't accept being treated like a stuffed animal. Meanwhile, anxiety is a bad thing but there's not much we can do about it without taking medication. I take half a mg of xanax at bedtime. I don't take my BP during the day usually, I take it first thing in the morning before I get out of bed and in the evening when I'm sitting in bed watching TV or reading. Those are real resting results. Try that. You might find it's not as bad as you think. And don't let anyone scare you. Doctors aren't supposed to do that.