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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@csage1010

What is LCHF? Thank you.

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Low Carbohydrare Healthy Fat

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@whineboy

I'm very much in your situation - 59, 1124 CAC a year ago, walk 3-4 miles daily and do tension band exercises every other day. Just consulted with a cardiologist and reduced my rosuvastatin from 20 mg/day to 10 due to muscle pain and concerns about cognitive issues. I only agreed to that because my LDL profile is pattern A, I have great lipids due to 3 years eating LCHF (TG/HDL ratio is 1.2 and has been that for years, LDL particle size is also great) and I'm highly insulin-sensitive - fasting insulin level is 3 and my Quest insulin sensitivity score is 5 - anything below 33 being insulin-sensitive. Your question about where the Ca is located is intriguing and I hope you are right it could be outside the arteries.

Edit - ultimately I'd like to drop the statin to 5 mg/d or even eliminate it - statins are far less effective than the medical orthodoxy leads one to believe (they like to use relative risk reduction, not absolute risk reduction, in their studies - rant over 🙂 ).

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What is LCHF? Thank you.

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@cscheffler12

What are the odds that the score represents calcium on the outside of the artery. I’ve heard this happens and hoping it happens a lot. I’m 58 with a 1150 score from 2 years ago so likely higher now. I feel great, walk 4 miles 5 times a week at fast pace and have no symptoms. All other tests show doing well including stress test. I take statin and BP pills now so all look good. Doc hates vitamins and just wants to wait for symptoms to look into it further.

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I'm very much in your situation - 59, 1124 CAC a year ago, walk 3-4 miles daily and do tension band exercises every other day. Just consulted with a cardiologist and reduced my rosuvastatin from 20 mg/day to 10 due to muscle pain and concerns about cognitive issues. I only agreed to that because my LDL profile is pattern A, I have great lipids due to 3 years eating LCHF (TG/HDL ratio is 1.2 and has been that for years, LDL particle size is also great) and I'm highly insulin-sensitive - fasting insulin level is 3 and my Quest insulin sensitivity score is 5 - anything below 33 being insulin-sensitive. Your question about where the Ca is located is intriguing and I hope you are right it could be outside the arteries.

Edit - ultimately I'd like to drop the statin to 5 mg/d or even eliminate it - statins are far less effective than the medical orthodoxy leads one to believe (they like to use relative risk reduction, not absolute risk reduction, in their studies - rant over 🙂 ).

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@cscheffler12

What are the odds that the score represents calcium on the outside of the artery. I’ve heard this happens and hoping it happens a lot. I’m 58 with a 1150 score from 2 years ago so likely higher now. I feel great, walk 4 miles 5 times a week at fast pace and have no symptoms. All other tests show doing well including stress test. I take statin and BP pills now so all look good. Doc hates vitamins and just wants to wait for symptoms to look into it further.

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Don’t rely on the DOC. They only treat Symptoms. Get a CT-A.
It will tell you everything you need to know. Then go on Crestor 20 or 40 and 5 mg Zetia.

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@bluesdoc

The odds? We'd all like to know that but we don't have enough data points. I have a colleague who has a high score, had an angiogram, and the calcium was all on the outside of the artery. While this doesn't represent atherosclerosis, we also don't know what, if any, are the long term consequences of external Ca++ build up. But we'd sure like it there rather than lining the pipes, huh..... "Doc hates vitamins"?.... sheesh....

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It generally means you have serious Atheroschlerosis. YOU Beed to get a CT-A. A quick east scan that will view your arteries themselves and give you a good idea.

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Scared the hell out of me. I just hope that when the HA comes I can get 15-20 years out of a CABG

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@cscheffler12

What are the odds that the score represents calcium on the outside of the artery. I’ve heard this happens and hoping it happens a lot. I’m 58 with a 1150 score from 2 years ago so likely higher now. I feel great, walk 4 miles 5 times a week at fast pace and have no symptoms. All other tests show doing well including stress test. I take statin and BP pills now so all look good. Doc hates vitamins and just wants to wait for symptoms to look into it further.

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Crestor

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@cscheffler12

What are the odds that the score represents calcium on the outside of the artery. I’ve heard this happens and hoping it happens a lot. I’m 58 with a 1150 score from 2 years ago so likely higher now. I feel great, walk 4 miles 5 times a week at fast pace and have no symptoms. All other tests show doing well including stress test. I take statin and BP pills now so all look good. Doc hates vitamins and just wants to wait for symptoms to look into it further.

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The odds? We'd all like to know that but we don't have enough data points. I have a colleague who has a high score, had an angiogram, and the calcium was all on the outside of the artery. While this doesn't represent atherosclerosis, we also don't know what, if any, are the long term consequences of external Ca++ build up. But we'd sure like it there rather than lining the pipes, huh..... "Doc hates vitamins"?.... sheesh....

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@bluesdoc

Hi again, Tim. Yes, I agree. CAC scores are statistically associated with coronary risk, but there are plenty of outliers, ie, someone with a CAC score of 400 and no plaque on angiogram (a case my cardiologist had). And those of us with scores off the charts, no one understands the meaning. If Annie, with a CAC score of 256 is in the 92nd percentile for MI risk, those of us in the thousands ought to be dead several times over. Apparently, we're not.

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What are the odds that the score represents calcium on the outside of the artery. I’ve heard this happens and hoping it happens a lot. I’m 58 with a 1150 score from 2 years ago so likely higher now. I feel great, walk 4 miles 5 times a week at fast pace and have no symptoms. All other tests show doing well including stress test. I take statin and BP pills now so all look good. Doc hates vitamins and just wants to wait for symptoms to look into it further.

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@joe22

I agree that's why they don't tell you about Vit K2 and how it removes calcium from the arteries. Check out Dr. John Whitcomb seminar on Vitamin K2 / MK-7

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@joe22 Thanks I will look him up .I've been on Vit k andM,K-7 for awhile now for back problems .

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