High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?

Hey Bluesdoc. I have read that your CAC score will naturally increase average of 20% per year. So perhaps those treatments were responsible for your zero increase?

It’s been a year for you, anything new? I had a CAC score in March of 725. Sent me for a nuclear stress test. Passed easily. No symptoms, play high level tennis, did the scan out of curiosity. Good cholesterol. Now on a statin, baby aspirin. Changed my diet to Mediterranean in March, now scanning the web for answers. How can I feel this good, work out with zero symptoms?

Now taking aged Garlic, Vit K2, fish oil, magnesium. My daughter, a nurse and nutrition nerd, says forget all the supplements, let your liver rest, and just be strict with the Mediterranean non inflammatory diet and relax. I am 65.

HI @ihaq1, I see that you have recently joined Mayo Clinic Connect. Connect is an online community where people (patients and family caregivers) can share health experiences and ask each other questions and offer support. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Members should get the advice of their physician or other qualified health provider with any questions they may have regarding their health.

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also take vitamin D3 which makes bones absorb calcium...necessary as u grow older

parathyroidism and probably not taking vitamin D3 are generally the cause...however calcium has to come from somewhere...so take milk and other calcium products in moderation

dont worry ...ask your doctor whether you should check your parathyroids...usually when u feel fine than that is the best that you can achieve... technically you dont even need any medication...if you still feel worried than get an echo test...that relieves one of some stress too

get your parathyroids checked...it can be done with an ultrasound

statin is usually to control cholestrol...high calcium suggests parathyroid problems...one of the four parathroids is usually swollen and not working..straight forward operation although age maybe an issue...your 325mg aspirin is high and might be for other issues

I did some additional tests that relate to heart disease risk, homocysteine, hsCRP and Lipoprotein A. The first two are normal, but the LpA is high (117), which, according to the Lipoprotein Foundation puts one at a higher risk of heart disease. Anyone else have these tests performed?

We've made a lot of progress in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, but Coronary Calcium Scores remain a wild card. I read an article recently that suggested that suggested that lifelong athletes tend to have higher CAC, but that it resides inside the artery wall so doesn't block blood flow. Who knows? There seem to be so many variables to calcium buildup, like location, dense vs spotty, soft vs hard, vessel size, collateral circulation, etc.

Bluesdoc hit the nail on the head with surgical precision by saying that we all need to chill and do our best to prevent a heart attack. As an aside, I read a book, "Heart: A History" by the cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar, that I recommend. He mentions in the book that he has a high CAC score and an increased risk due to his family history and South Asian ethnicity.

@skypigg- Welcome aboard and so glad you found us! Quite the roller coaster you've been on! @bluesdoc- also been following you in your journey and would welcome any feedback you have on any of this.
All this CAC score posts have got me interested in getting mine done very soon. Back in 2014 I suffered a major HA w/o any real warning. I was eating well and exercising 1.5 hrs. 3x a week at the time. I was still working and would work out from 12:30 - 2:00 and after working out would come home to clean up and have a light lunch. This day was no different than any of the past and as I arrived home and was about to sit down for lunch I began to feel flush and a bit uneasy. I told my wife I wasn't feeling well and took a seat in the LR. Things progressed quickly with all the typical signs you read about when youre having a HA. I decided to chew on several low dose aspirins and we decided to drive up to the ER about a 20 min. drive. That was a real mistake! About a 1/3 of the way I was experiencing extreme pain and felt like I was going to pass out any moment. Once we arrived even though I went directly to the ER they started asking me all about billing questions until I finally in tears & incredible pain told the person I was having a HA!
They rushed me into a room right away and after the nurses tried to attend to my pain and make me comfortable a cardiologist entered and administered several tests. For some strange reason I was not "presenting" any real signs that I was having a HA?
The Dr. told my wife that they planned on admitting me and would probably do a stress test in the morning. I had now been there over 2 hrs. My wife decided to go home so she could grab a few things and text some friends about what was up and to pray!
Soon after a Echo Tech arrived and began to administer the procedure and after about 15 minutes he left the room and returned with the Cardiologist. Things moved rather quickly at this point and I barely had time to get a call off to my wife to let her know they were wheeling me off to the Cath Lab. After now being there for 4 hrs. I received a single stent for a 100% blockage in my LAD.
I was soon wheeled into a room and one of the accompanying Drs. told me how fortunate I was because I had survived the "Widow Maker"! I tell you this story only to say that I never had any warning signs other than high cholesterol that I was taking a 40 mg generic for Lipitor. No family history of HA's. One of the consequences of this was a low EF (ejection fraction) of 35.
My Cardiologist told me that often we grow added blood vessels over the next year and that the EF improves.
Since I went through Cardiac rehab and then back to my workouts I planned to do everything I could to improve upon my EF.
A year later they did another Echo and the Cardiologist told me there was no improvement. I was totally bumed!
2 years later this was still weighing on me. I felt great and continued to eat well and exercise. Since I was on the Mayo site I decided to make a appt. in Scottsdale AZ. that spring of 17 for a 2nd opinion. I was scheduled for a whole series of tests which ended with a Stress Echo. The Cardiologist that I was working with was there for all the tests and in the room the whole time the Echo was being administered. It was like having a coach on my side encouraginging me to push myself while he looked at 2 monitors.
In my cardio at the gym I could never break 137 bpm mostly because being on a Beta Blocker, but the Dr. was asking can I go higher and I pushed my self even harder. We ended with the tredmill at a incline of 14 and a speed of about 6. something and 155 bpm.
They got excellent pictures and I met with the Cardiolgist about a hr. later. He told me he would need to do some more work, but he felt based on what he saw that my EF was more in the mid 40's. 2 weeks later I received a personal email from him saying that I was at a EF of 47. I was elated!! He put me on Rosuvastatin 20 mg. in hopes to bring my LDL down below 70. I was at 87 at that time.
Six months later I had new blood work and my LDL was a 65.
I plan to return to the Mayo this spring for a CAC test and am hoping for the best!
Jim @thankful