High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?

Posted by mcphee @mcphee, Dec 14, 2016

I have a calcium score of 1,950 which is extremely high which means I am at a very high risk for a cardiac event,heart attack,stroke or sudden death.

I take a statin and baby aspirin. I have never been sick, have excellent cholesterol, low blood pressure and I am not overweight. I have no other health problems and I have never been sick. But I feel like a walking time bomb which has caused me a lot of stress. I am 70 yrs old.

I wonder how others with this condition feel emotionally?

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SteveSH | @steveny9 | Mar 22, 2023

In reply to @drrawat "No evidence of supplements helping. I am a cardiologist and got my calcium score just casually..." + (show)

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?

usaproud | @usaproud | Mar 21, 2023

In reply to @drrawat "No evidence of supplements helping. I am a cardiologist and got my calcium score just casually..." + (show)

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

riflemanz64 | @riflemanz64 | Mar 21, 2023

In reply to @drrawat "No evidence of supplements helping. I am a cardiologist and got my calcium score just casually..." + (show)

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.

drrawat | @drrawat | Mar 21, 2023

In reply to @steveny9 "Thank you for sharing. I am a bit freaked out myself with a CAC score of..." + (show)

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

daniel777 | @daniel777 | Mar 20, 2023

In reply to @mayoconnectuser1 "SteveSH, Once the calcium is there, it is not moving - I have read nothing that..." + (show)

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.

keithl56 | @keithl56 | Mar 19, 2023

In reply to @steveny9 "Thank you for sharing. I am a bit freaked out myself with a CAC score of..." + (show)

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

mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Mar 19, 2023

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?

Ingegerd Enscoe, Alumni Mentor | @astaingegerdm | Mar 19, 2023

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 | @steveny9 | Mar 19, 2023

In reply to @keithl56 "My initial CAC score was 1014 in 2018 and I had a CTA with FFR a..." + (show)

Thank you for sharing.

I am a bit freaked out myself with a CAC score of 583 at the age of 65.

I read that vitamin K and D3 help to move the calcium to the where it should go and not into the arteries. Did you take any supplements?

mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Mar 17, 2023

In reply to @usaproud "People on Statin should not take this test. Will give you anxiety for no reason especially..." + (show)

I disagree.

Why would information that can be related, not be useful? Sure CAC will likely go up in statins, but the level is still useful.

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