Living with high calcium score

@nonna2four i take that but I didn't know it had anything to do with my calcium score. It can keep calcium from building up in blood vessels but it's not definite if it helps arteries (potentially)

@robertaholmes What dosages of K2 Mk7 and Mk4, magnesium and vitamin d are you taking?

@robertaholmes wow! You’re amazing! I was starting to think I was alone with all this. Thank you so much for sharing and I look forward to your posts!

I take my vitamin D3 along with my magnesium. There’s a reason for that you can find it somewhere online. I just don’t know where it is right now. But since I take magnesium at night, I then take the vitamin D3 at night with magnesium rather than during the day. Either way, I’m usually indoors and don’t see the sun and we don’t have that much sun where I live so hopefully it does what it’s supposed to do.

I am a 73 year old female that decided to take full control of my health utilizing precision medicine.

My 1st calcium score was 1852 and I started maximum therapy including Ezetimibe, Rosvastatin, Repatha,Propranolol, Enteric 81 mg aspirin, Amlodipine Besylate and Spiroactalone. This was my strategy to lower my cardiac risk. This resulted in LDL 9, Tchol 83, HDL 80, Trig 41.

Three years later my CT calcium score increased to 2753. I hypothesised that my Arterial Calcification may not be lipid based but rather polymorphisms in the SHANK,SHANKL and OPG genes. These genes control morphogenic distribution of calcium into your teeth, bones and arteries. I chose the least risky option versus biophosphates and Prolia utilizing Vit K2 Mk7 and 4, Magnesium and a controlled amount of Vitamin D. By utilizing this stack as it regulates whether my calcium is deposited into my arteries. I am also consuming a minimal amount of calcium and definitely no supplements.

I am currently scheduled to get a PCCT (Photon Counting CT). Previously a CCTA was attempted but my calcification resulted in too many blooming artifacts thus it was of zero value. Hopefully, I will obtain clear images of my arterial tree enabling me to plan my next steps.
I have assembled a expert team of physicians including cardiologists, endocrinologist and neurologist (for GBS) located at the TMC in Houston spanning across multiple institutions including Methodist, Baylor, UT and UTSW in Dallas.
I have selected each and every medication and dosing, imaging and all laboratory blood work.
My team concurs with my treatment regime even though it's outside the "standards of care" medical model. They all communicated that I am receiving a much more intensive regimen than any of their other patients. At my appointments they just tell me to keep doing what I have been doing. Both comforting and terrifying simultaneously. With my APO (a) being as high as 228 plus my calcium score this puts me in the ultra high risk category. I have never had a MACE and or Stroke. I am definitely a statistical outlier.

I hope my experience and insights is able to help others.

At your age and reported levels, you should have already been on a statins quite a while ago. Genetics play most of the causative role in CAD and calcium scores, and there’s not a thing to be done about that. Triglycerides will flux with your raised cholesterol levels as a byproduct. You can’t change a calcium scores. Knowing it can be a bad thing since it’s mostly permanent. Use the knowledge for motivation to perhaps reduce stress, gain flexibility, etc. There aren’t any one size fits all insights either because clinical information, symptomology, family history and many other factors are other important factors that must be factored into the calcium score for any next steps to take if any are taken.

The result of a coronary calcium scan shouldn't be used as a single sign of your overall health and risk of heart disease. The information from the scan should be reviewed with other health information. That is copied and pasted from the Mayo Site explaining the Calcium CT test the results. It is true. I have list my mom and all of her siblings to sudden cardiac death. It is caused by a multitude of conditions, depending on the family genetics, but it’s no less scary knowing my calcium score placed me in the 99th percentile for a coronary event within the next decade. That was 11 years ago. Calcium scores remember don’t change what was there before you knew, and calcium is permanent. Only stints balloons and bypasses can “change” the artery function. Knowing what the score is can help guide your choices going forward but it still must be correlated with the rest of you, your lifestyle, symptomology or lack thereof, cholesterol and many other factors. So before any drastic changes are made talk at length with the ordering physician.

@itasarah It's highly dependent on the individual. I have to take 3000 IU/day just to keep it stable. I have over two years' experience in fiddling around with the amount and getting blood tests. 🙂

@itasarah have your vitamin D level checked and they will then tell you what dose you may need. It can be bad if you get too much

@manchild
original test scores of 200 cholesterol, 115 ldl, and 435 in my main artery and 0 in the 3 smaller arteries on the calcium score test. Started 20 mgs of Rousuvastatin then my cardio upped the dosage to 40 mgs. After 5 weeks of statins, strict diet(no red meat, non-fat dairy, loads of fruit, whole grains and vegetables, especially cruciferous, fish, lean turkey and chicken, my latest numbers are 130 cholesterol, and 55 ldl. Initially I had joint pain from the statin, but after about 6 weeks, all seems to be good. If my numbers remain low until my next testing, I'll request to reduce back to 20 mgs of the statin. I hope you find the right mix of meds that help you without the dreaded side effects.