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Living with high calcium score
I am a 53 year old male. Just found out I have a CAC of 731. Most of it (699) is in the right coronary. I exercise 5 times a week , used to eat eggs every day (15-20 per week), cottage cheese and yogurt. Upon hearing this news, stopped eating eggs right away. Just trying to figure out what else to adjust. I don't have BP and am at a healthy weight of around 160 lbs for 5'8".
Doctor still has to reach out to me and I think most likely I will be put on Statins. I have high LDL and Apo(b), but triglycerides are under control.
The question I have is, how else should I adjust the lifestyle. I don't drink or smoke or eat meat. Should I reduce how hard I work out? I used to take my HR to 165 and whenever I did it I used to get a heartburn. I was thinking that the workout has triggered acid reflux but looks like something else is going on.
For those with high CAC , how hard do you work out? Should I stop hiking and running? Looking for some insights.
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I have stopped high stress work outs after I found out about the High CAC score (which was Monday afternoon). I am going to see my PCP today , hopefully cardiologist and stress test very soon.
My HDL is 48, LDL is 139 , Triglycerides 87, non HDL chol -158, Total Chol -206, HS CRP 0.7 and Apo b 116. When I punched these into the risk score test I got only around 6% as risk. However the high CAC score tells another story.
Though I have heart burn/gas/pain around chest, they are not severe and I do not have shortness of breath or anything. That is why I thought this could be acid reflux and gas. Lot of burping and passing gas, which made me feel better afterwards. I will ask my doctor to go to cardiologist immediately. Now I am reading more I am getting more concerned. Before the CAC test I was not even aware of all the examples.
Cardiologist appointment immediately.
Stress test ASAP.
Can you post your HDL, LDL, and Triglyceride numbers?
There is little reason to go crazy with stressing workouts.
@ pop77
Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!
Being able to have the scan to get our calcium score is a great advantage but will also frighten us.
You probably will start on statins and you will also get advice on a diet.
If I were you I would want to see a cardiologist. You probably need a stress test to evaluate what you feel when you exercise.
It’s a good thing that you had the calcium score test. Now you and your doctors know what you are dealing with and you can get appropriate treatment.
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