I have a very high calcium score. What next?

@glennmcc - You will do well with statins, once you find the best dose for you.
Diet is important- low-fat- and you are already exercising.
What is your blood sugar like? You don’t want to develop Type 2 diabetes- it increases your risk of coronary artery disease.
Have you had a stress test yet? Echocardiogram?
I see my internist twice a year for screening- lab work. Also stress test once a year or so. Echocardiogram annually.
The goal is to lower your cholesterol as much as possible, blood pressure control and a healthy diet.
I have genetic predisposition for coronary artery disease- my doctor is working hard to keep me healthy!

@astaingegerdm Thanks for your response. I will test blood sugar tomorrow morning with home kit (I just ate and tested and it was 122 mg/dl but that was after eating). I have a stress echocardiogram scheduled. Your maintenance schedule of labs and Echocardiogram sounds good. Appreciate your feedback!

Almost identical here. 60, nonsmoker, former heavy drinker. Stopped 17 years ago. High intensity workouts 180 minutes per week. Sub 2 hour half marathons. Decent diet except for sweets, but curbing that. Just got 2540 score! Really frightened. Stress test Monday…hell, I’m already stressed!

Good that you are getting a stress test. When I did my stress test there were no physical symptomes until I hit 136 bpm. I did not feel any symptoms but the ekg recognized issues that I did not feel. Took me up to 162 bpm and still no physical symptoms but the ekg results led me to a heart catheterization and diagnosis of significant blockage in 3 arteries with largest in LAD (widowmaker). Recommendation was bypass surgery due to location and number of blockages. Had surgery 10 weeks ago and it went well (as most of them do). Now well on the way to recovery. Stressfull but I got through it a day at a time. What kept me sane was focusing on making the best decisions each step of the way. Be your own advocate. Good Luck!

My first was 3,600. My second was 2,800 and my third was 2,200. As you can see, my trend line is going down, which is what we want it to do. I am following the protocol laid out by the doctor in this video (it is not his alone, but also given by my PCP).

Please, someone!
I wrote earlier that my nice but (I suspect) subpar cardiologist told me calcium tests have been proven to be uninformative."

I suspect he's wrong, even if it isn't the end all, be all.
I asked PCP's nurse yesterday about the PCP's ordering me a calcium test for my heart and she said my last metabolic panel showed my calcium level was normal so I didn't have to worry.

Now, I see c/o Dr. Google that in fact, the heart calcium test involves a CT scan or other fancier test! (You see what I mean about my area being "medically underserved? She thought it was a blood test!)

Are there more than one kind of scan or are all CT scans? I gather it helps evaluate levels of plaque (containing calcium),. Having an inherited lipid disorder I really want to know my score.

Did you get a Catheterized Angiogram or a CT Angiogram?

Did you have the Cath Lab test done?

If this fb group is the same one I joined - stand by for all sorts of crazy sounding advice - from made up concepts to conspiracy theories. Everything the internet has brought to the news is present.

After pushing back on what I considered to be nutty stuff they terminated my access.

Doing due diligence on the web on anything, yet alone anything medical (or, worsen political) is not for the faint of heart or those, well, less than diligent.

Google Scholar and peer-reviewed studies are a safer neighborhood to wander through. But nothing is foolproof. There are a hundreds of, in a sense, faux medical journals that people pay a lot of money to get published in to pad a resume. (I know someone who whose editorship of one financed has grad school education. I'd never of them before that.)

So caveat emptor remains good advice. But there are actual nuggets of truth out there that might change one's medical choices or decisions. So, no rest for the weary remains the applicable adage in my opinion. I think that I've mixed one too many metaphors with that observation...