Any women with high CAC scores?

Hi, I also am at the 92 percentile and both my parents died of strokes. I go to a nationally renowned lipid clinic and was told to minimize the saturated fats (even more) and was already taking Crestor (2omg) and zetia (10mg) in order to get my LD below 70. Now in 2022 I was told that new evidence is to get it to 55. ( to slow progression). To do this, I am now taking BEMPEDOIC ACID. Does anyone have any updates to their stories, particularly after using bempedoic acid?

Also, I am trying to increase my food intake of plants that offer protein. Pretty hard to get enough protein on a plant based diet, even when I added salmon:)
Does anyone know how bad the "processed" fake chicken nuggets like the "Morning Star brand are for you? Definitely has higher sodium.

Thank you all.

Hi, I also am at the 92 percentile and both my parents died of strokes. I go to a nationally renowned lipid clinic and was told to minimize the saturated fats (even more) and was already taking Crestor (2omg) and zetia (10mg) in order to get my LD below 70. Now in 2022 I was told that new evidence is to get it to 55. ( to slow progression). To do this, I am now taking BEMPEDOIC ACID. Does anyone have any updates to their stories, particularly after using bempedoic acid?

Also, I am trying to increase my food intake of plants that offer protein. Pretty hard to get enough protein on a plant based diet, even when I added salmon:)
Does anyone know how bad the "processed" fake chicken nuggets like the "Morning Star brand are for you? Definitely has higher sodium.

Thank you all.

The fake meats are processed and are not good for you. Stick to a whole food plant based diet and cut out all oils which damage the lining of your arteries. You will get enough protein. Dr Dean Ornish and Dr Caldwell Esselstyn were the first ones to show you can prevent and heart disease by changing to a plant based diet. Medicare also pays for the Dean Ornish program where they will provide food.

Hello @deena12 I am new to this discussion so introducing here rather than updating. I took a statin for maybe 12 years then began having problems we couldn’t figure out. My LDL shot up and I ended up discontinuing statins. Fast forward 15 years now. My untreated LDL reached 300, MTC calcium score is similar to yours and have been on bi-weekly LDL apheresis that acutely drops my LDL 70% only to shoot back up. Over time it has dropped my chronic LDL some (measured right before my treatments) We are recognizing systemic problems and over the past year have successfully gotten back on 5mg rosuvastatin and 5 mg ezetimibe. My chronic LDL is 150. I tried Bempedoic Acid a few days and had to discontinue it. Have you tried the PCSK9 inhibitors, Repatha or Praluent? Maybe they would drop your LDL more than necessary. They typically drop LDL 50-70% (I think). They did not have good results.

I am eating 7-8% of my calories from fat, trying occasionally to increase but I cannot tolerate it. What do you eat to get your protein? I did add UNJURY protein broth into my routine. It does not have any fat and has 21 grams of protein in a serving. I like the broth to drink in the winter. I use the vanilla flavor and add to a mashed up sweet potato along with some blended up cottage cheese (sounds strange but not bad). I am starting to branch out and try the unflavored in sauces and broths. I make some protein balls to eat at my treatments made of oatmeal, dates (or other dried fruits I have on hand), the powder, maple syrup and cinnamon.

Do you mind sharing more about your lipid clinic?

It's done virtually. I have a friend who just took it. Who loved it. I just asked her. It was for 9 weeks. They sent her food for five weeks (all meals and snacks). Program runs twice a week.
It's about lifestyle medicine. Four hour sessions. 1 hour for each - exercise, nutrition, support and stress management. Eight hours a week total

My husband has a CAC score of 400 and we were alarmed, too! However the echocardiogram and stress test came out OK. (The nurse who administrated the tests told him she had seen people come in with scores of 4000 on their CAC! ) Still the doctor put him on 10 mg of statin, which I questioned. I asked him to get a second opinion, which he did. Seems doctors think statins are a really good thing. It did bring his LDL down to 60 from 119.
I asked the doctor why the high CAC score yet the other tests came out OK; he said that plaque could be on the outside of the arteries?
We follow a gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free diet with 90% of our foods organic. Our only oils are olive, flaxseed, and coconut.
He is only on one other medication. He is somewhat active - exercising in gym and/or walking a couple of miles a couple of times a week - 75 years old, and his body is in good form. He went to see the doctor because he was feeling fatigued. I increased his protein which seemed to help. He is feeling less fatigued now, but still has some fatigue. Don’t know if this information helps, but there it is.

Dr Esselstyn has shown any oils damage your artery lining. He says No Oils.

My story is somewhat similar to yours. I’m 76 and thought I was in reasonably good health until my doctor sent me for CAC after seeing cholesterol of 276. It came back at 411, mostly in the LAD. I was horrified. I’m not overweight, and eat a mostly vegan diet. I haven’t been as great with the exercise, but do go to water aerobics and senior exercise classes most days. After a normal nuclear stress test and echocardiogram, the cardiologist put me on 40mg of Crestor. It seems way too high to me (even Crestor web page says don’t take more than 20 mg unless that doesn’t bring down cholesterol), but I am worried enough that maybe I should do what he says. He tells me that statins do more than just bring down cholesterol, but prevent inflammation and keep the soft, non-calcified plaques from clogging arteries. My research tells me that the best diet for preventing and reversing heart disease is that of Caldwell Esselstyn, who has a book, and also guidelines on his web page. This is the diet Bill Clinton followed after his bypass surgery. I’m also following a Facebook group, 100% Esselstyn Reversal Nutrition Forum, which is a large group of people following his way of eating. It makes total sense to me, but extremely hard to follow: whole food plant based with no meat or animal products (including dairy) and no fat or oil of any kind. I feel like this is the diet that I should be on, but I am failing miserably. Please let me know what your specialist recommends.
I should add that my father died of a heart attack at the age of 54, and my cardiologist says I have “familial hypercholesterolemia”.