High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?

I am not getting any responses directed to me -just peripheral posts for someone's else's post. I am going to relist my post so please do not move it to someone else's. And I really didn't want to piggy-back on someone else's problem or to hijack the post. So please, moderator, let it be.

Hi @ca426. Tell us more about your qualifications for making judgments in the field of medicine. Expertise is respected when it's documented.

When it comes to supplements and complementary medicine, I always refer to NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine to better understand the evidence available to date or lack thereof. https://nccih.nih.gov/

@ca426 mentions Coenzyme Q10, a supplement that is often mentioned along with statins. Here is NCCIM's article about CoQ10: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/coq10

And from Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-coenzyme-q10/art-20362602 this article states:
"Heart conditions. CoQ10 has been shown to improve symptoms of congestive heart failure. Although findings are mixed, CoQ10 might help reduce blood pressure. Some research also suggests that when combined with other nutrients, CoQ10 might aid recovery in people who've had bypass and heart valve surgeries."

"Possible interactions include: Anticoagulants. CoQ10 might make blood-thinning drugs, such as warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven), less effective. This could increase the risk of a blood clot."

"CoQ10 supplements might be beneficial for treating conditions such as congestive heart failure and Parkinson's disease. CoQ10 is considered safe, with few side effects. However, be sure to take this supplement under your doctor's supervision."

I have to love you, but your one of those people that mainstream medicine has all the answers, but thats not at all true....everyone who takes a statin should be taking coq10

I will consider any solution where there are unsponsored double blind studies. Just because someone states something does not make it true. Many of these supplements are touted by modern day snake oil salesmen.

Without sounding to harsh, pharmaceutical company's make billions of dollars on drugs...when they realize there's money to be made. Then they'll get in on it, I have been using supplements for years, when I was on dialysis I was never in the hospital....you need to broaden your spectrum and do more research. There's p[plenty of information on these supplements, even on main stream, Harvard, mayo, and quite a few others, and most doctors, I should say some doctors will not tell you .

Prior to statins my total cholesterol was 375, statins got me down to 130. Besides my anecdotal evidence there are numerous studies verifying their efficacy. I would rather trust that than in something that as you state has "zero research". If these holistic compounds work then someone would produce studies that verify it and then commercialize them big time.

hi @keithl56 - my score was 2316 so my cardiologist gave me lipitor 20 mg and baby aspirin. I went to a second cardiologist at NYU and he prescribed 40 mg... I said no to that. I also said no to baby aspirin. The holistic guy I'm working with has me on a regimen I like. It has some blood thinning natural compounds so I opted out of the baby aspirin. I also believe that before the end of the year I will get off Lipitor. Cardiologists will all say the same thing when they see these scores: statin and aspirin. They've done zero research on these holistic compounds and I'm putting my trust in them.

@keithl56

I am sorry to hear that you find yourself with new problems as a result of the medication change. A second opinion is always a good idea.

As you feel comfortable doing so, I hope that you post again and provide an update on how you are doing.

My situation just got more complicated. Because of my high calcium score (1014, concentrated in LAD and RCA) my cardiologist decided he wanted to reduce my LDL from 50 to 20. Instead of just trying the addition of Rapatha he first tried just doubling my statin. My bloodworm came back this week and while my LDL fell to 38 my liver enzymes which have always been normal over 30 years of statin use spiked to 148 (AST) and 232 (ALT). My doc said this was very concerning and now eliminated my statin altogether.

Now I have to wait a few weeks for more bloodwork and will likely be put on Rapatha with a new goal of LDL under 70! Bottom line is that my cardiologist may have increased my CAD problem while increasing my potential for liver damage. Needless to say I am not happy and already have an appointment with an interventional cardiologist on 9/26 for a second opinion.