High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?

That's a tricky question. What I knew and what I know now are immensely different. There is a reason why doctors ask the question : Where are you from? I was born overseas (Lima, Peru to be exact) and as kids we ate everything. Our cuisine is a mix. There were stews, white rice, milk. I didn't grow up eating a lot of red meat and was not surrounded by tons of candies and cereals and the amount of information we have on hand now is huge compare to back then. I became aware of food about 8 years ago (I am 64 now). So that's the answer. Nowadays I am prioritizing vegetables, no dairy but still keeping fish and chicken as options (not a lot of it though). Internet indicates that 25% of cholesterol we produce is genetic, the rest is food intake. Statins have stabilize my condition. I still have to improve my food intake so working on it.

Visited a new cardiologist last Friday. Fortunately he has a more holistic approach and is not an interventionist cardio. Having said that if my condition doesn't improve he will (probably) referred me to my previous cardio for an angiogram. Having a stress test this coming Wednesday.
: )

Sounds like you had a pretty good diet growing up in Peru. What is your calcium score?
A friend of mine had a zero score but further tests showed major blockages and needed a triple bypass.
It all seems so confusing.

My suggestion would be to get a nuclear stress test and sonogram of your heart to check blood flow. If it’s good, don’t worry. If there’s a problem, it’s better you know and get a simple stent, hopefully nothing more. Having a doctor tell me my blood flow was fine eased my mind tremendously. I stopped eating red met (for the most part) and swim three times a week. Godspeed…..

It was on my 20's that I came here and that's when the problem started. My CAC is 1525. I know is different for everyone but hoping for a good stress test and then ways to improve my well being. If stent is the solution then stent is. Ty

New Cardiologist made me feel better in that he is looking for ways to better my condition. I know that the stent path means a more long term solution. Ty

Actually, no. The soft plaques apparently calcify over time, with various factors affecting the speed of this, including heredity.

If the soft plaques are so significant, or they don't calcify, the probability of breaking off and causing heart and other issues due to the blockages.

I'm assuming your friend had symptoms, blood work, stress test, etc which indicated intervention?

I just turned 50 last month. I was put on blood pressure medication just last year. My employee noticed a diagonal crease in my ear, and let me know about this thing called a "Frank sign". I looked into it, and thought I needed to advise my GP. I was sent in for a calcium scoring, and I hit a 282. 251 in my LAD. I was immediately put on Crestor 20mg, and a baby aspirin. I am as I see a lot of folks, very concerned about my future now. What really seems to confuse me, is my resting heart rate when I first wake up and check it is approximately 40-45 beats per minute. It has been for going on over 20 years due to my fitness regiment I held for most of my adult life. If I understand calcium scoring, I have a substantial amount in my LAD artery. This I would think would force my heart to pump harder, and generate more heart beats per minute in doing so, right? I am going in for a stress test next week. I understand blockage of over 70%, and the need for further evasive treatment options if needed will be determined after this event.

@santafepete

I had also read on a reputable website (either clevelandclinic.org, pubmed or harvard health) that some "heart CT" machines can inaccurately report CAC scores when your heartrate is above 65bpm. I've sent an email to the place that did my scan twice now, asking them what type of machine they had and did they monitor my heart rate while taking measurements. Not a peep from them and it's been over two week.

I'm suspect now as my CAC was 2354 but my nuclear stress test results from today were all good. My cardiologist said "Your stress test is normal. " I was VERY relieved by this. Still waiting on my echocardiogram results, but that test was the biggest one since it can detect serious blockage.

My calcium score is 1800. I had nuclear treadmill stress test yesterday and it was normal. My journey all started with a complimentary calcium score I received when I attended a luncheon recently. This prompted more tests. The ultrasound of carotids and aorta was good but thyroid nodules were found and one is fairly large. Had thyroid ultrasound yesterday and will now be having thyroid biopsy. I have no idea if my thyroid has affected my cardiovascular system but I suspect that could be a possibility. Meanwhile, I’m now on the Mediterranean Diet, living life and thanking God that I had that calcium score prompting more testing. I know this was all divine intervention!