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High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Feb 13 9:01am | Replies (640)Comment receiving replies
Went to Mayo for executive physical and learned first time in my life my cholesterol was high. 234 total. HDL 76 LDL 138 I was asked to take LPa test after a CAC score of 743. It was terrible at 179. I am devastated but now see this is heredity and I’ve had it my whole life. Who knew? I’m 30 lbs overweight. Blood pressure is good. Triglycerides 113. Echo good. Stress test good. Started baby aspirin every day and Lipitor 10 mg. Been eating Mediterranean diet. No sugar. Intermittent fasting and daily exercise. I’m scared to death and am doing everything I can do. Feel like a walking time bomb at age 63. Trusting God and my faith to get me through. Hoping Lipitor works. Read about taking K2 and CoQ10 but doc poo poos it…..🤷🏻♀️
Replies to "Went to Mayo for executive physical and learned first time in my life my cholesterol was..."
I agree with @tim1028 about our conditions, and the more we know the better off we will be. This is a marathon and your doctor will be a valuable resource for you as you navigate. Each individual is unique in how they need to treat and there are quite a few options, more than there used to be. We are never in a better position than knowing what is happening and doing what we can to treat it. High cholesterol and LP(a) both run in my family. Mayo sent me to http://www.thefhfoundation.org to learn, and I am a trained Patient Advocate. I have been resistant to medication and go in every other week to get my blood cleaned out. I do understand your stress. 1 in 250 have FH (familial hypercholesterolemia) and 1 in 5 have elevated LP(a). I hope you find comfort knowing you are not alone and continue connecting for support. I, too trust God and He has been there every step of the way. I am the first in my family to be diagnosed and have also found comfort knowing others are finding out earlier because of me (example: one 21 year old niece has LDL over 350). You’ve got this.
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The first thought most of us had when getting a high CAC score is that we're a walking time bomb. After things settle down, there is still plenty of anxiety,but it is starting to ease. It's been 4 years since I got my high score and I now have under control what I can control. It sounds like you have your heart healthy anchors in place: diet, exercise, appropriate testing. You've done a lot of the right things, including going to Mayo. I think the evidence is promising but thin about K2, which I take, too. CoQ10 seems to have some solid evidence for taking if you're on statins. It's expensive but I get the Costco brand. Two other things that I've worked on in the past four years is good quality and quantity sleep, which I've achieved. The other is stress and anxiety reduction. I'm making good progress since I started meditating. Personal fact about Mayo: I was born at St Mary's hospital in Rochester, MN, right next to Mayo. I think Mayo now owns the hospital.
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