High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?

I agree with many of you- getting a high calcium score is a wake- up call. We have to get past the initial anxiety and work on doing the best we can for our hearts to remain healthy.
Obviously, taking statins and Zetia if tolerated, sticking to a good diet, staying physically active, reduce stress and lose weight if we are at risk for T2 diabetes. T2 diabetes is now considered a cardiovascular disease.
A good internist will schedule cholesterol/ lipid tests and others on a regular basis. Depending on circumstances a cardiac stress test may be appropriate.
We are lucky that we were able to have a calcium scoring test- we’ll know what we have to do.
And - no panic!

SteveSH,

Once the calcium is there, it is not moving - I have read nothing that indicates it is addressable, only that the rate of growth of the calcium can be slowed with diet, meds, eating right, exercise, etc.

You should be taking statins or some injectable form to lower LDL and triglycerides.

Zetia is simply Ezetimibe that is taken alone or in addition to a statin - the statin does most of the work from what I've read. If the statin lowers yours LDL and triglycerides enough, the Ezetimibe is not needed, or so says my doc and my reading - may not hurt, though.

You've had?
- stress test?
- echo with stress test?
- advanced lipids panel?
- icosapent ethyl?
- ultrasound of extremities?

I take 50,000 iu of vitamin D2/week, not for CAD reasons but because of a vitamin D deficiency.

Also, taking statins st night before bed have proven to be more effective for lowering numbers than when taken during the day. Anecdotal evidence with family members and others.

No evidence of supplements helping. I am a cardiologist and got my calcium score just casually as I was giving a seminar on it to local drs some four years ago. It came 746! No symptoms, no risk factors, marathoner. Got stress nuclear tested. Just on statins/ aspirin. As an interventional cardiologist myself, I see most patients of heart attack have soft non calcified lesions. Moreover statins tend to increase the calcium score. So you know that it’s not as simple!
I don’t think it needs to be ever repeated. Just avoid over thinking and over treatment.

Best wishes

I'm 67 and my score was 573, I'm on statins and zetia along with a baby aspirin.
I'm not going to worry about my high score. I eat right, exercise and have no symptoms. My brother who is not on statin's was 37 and he has high cholesterol.
That explains it.

Thank you for your post. Very informative and helpful from a Cardiologist.

You are taking statins and aspirin?

1. What brand of statin are you taking?
2. How many mg of Statins each day?
3. Are you taking 81 or 325 aspirin

My new and 5th cardiologist just put me on warfarin 20 mg and 10 mg of statin. He said that with AF and now being 65 yeas and with a CAD score of 583 I had to go back on warfarin. Oh, boy.

Now sure if I should really go on Warfarin or continue with aspirin.

Thoughts?

Thank you, doctor, for your illuminating post. I've just had my first calcium score, at age 66, which came in at 61 but with my cCTA showing 50% stenosis in the mid-LAD (and no other vessels). My PCP referred me to cardiologist and they're both urging me to get stress nuclear or stress CMR-tested. Like you, I'm asymptomatic, have no risk factors, and am a lifelong endurance athlete -- these days, I'm running, rowing, hiking and working out vigorously at least two hours per day. So I was very interested to read that you got stress nuclear tested. My cardiologist tells me the purpose is to test for "silent ischemia" due to my stenosis, which they think may now or will soon require stenting. I've been reluctant to go ahead, fearing a false positive followed by an intervention; since you are asymptomtatic and low-risk, yet got stress nuclear tested, and you're an interventional cardiologist yourself, I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts as to the considerations that favor stress nuclear or CMR testing. Thank you very much!

I have a score of 642 and am 70 yo. LDL went down to 22 with a new injectable my cardiologist put me on plus 10 mg of statins. I'd taken statins 10-20 mg for about 20 years prior and I attribute that to my high Calcium score but I've come to think it's not a bad thing. From everything I read, statins are designed to transform soft dangerous plaque to hard not-as-dangerous plaque and I believe that's what happened to me. I did take a nuclear stress test after passing a normal stress test with flying colors (in fact, I broke the machine at the 9 minute mark). Nuclear stress test showed good blood flow, my cardiologist told me. I also had a sonogram of my heart. I was worried before the nuclear test and sonogram but they and the cardiologist put my mind at rest. I should say that I live in NYC where I believe the best doctors in the world are. I asked around for a top cardiologist and was referred to one affiliated with Cornell Weill who does not take insurance. I went anyway and I'm glad I did. I realize I'm fortunate to be able to do that but wanted to give you the full picture.