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I have a very high calcium score. What next?
Just joined the site and I'm looking to share with others who have had a high calcium score. I found out today that mine is 2996 and I am scared by this. I am 61 and I am totally asymptomatic. Now I feel like a walking time bomb. I am thinking of requesting an angiogram to see if there's any narrowing anywhere and if it can be corrected with a stent. After a second heart doctor told me that the plaque buildup might be uniform over the course of years with no big problem areas, I am encouraged. But the score still freaks me out, specifically my LAD at 1333. I don't smoke or drink but I have to lose 40 lbs.
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There is really no point in repeating calcium scans if your score is greater then 0 no matter what a doctor suggests, your calcium is not going anywhere and your treatment plans won't change based on repeat scores. However if your score is 0 then I could see how repeat scans might be able to monitor future calcification issues.
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1 ReactionRecall there is a relationship to statin use - statins increase calcification of cholesterol so those, for instance, that have a CAC test prior to starting statins, then start statins and have another scoring might be surprised how quickly their score increased - dependent on timeframe, I suspect.
So, statins increase calcification - which is good as this mitigates cholesterol from breaking off.
5 years. Now 6 years out.
I know, but not much to do about it. I h. ad an FFR done and have an FFR of 0.76 in my distal LAD (non stentable), but nothing else showed up. Cardiologist has offered to do a cath but as long as I'm asymptomatic going to hold off until I notice a problem or drop dead. So far I've made it 6 years with this philosophy. My CAC is multi vessel (mostly LAD and RM, with some LM and LCX). I'm afraid a cath might lead directly to multiple stents or a multiple bypass, and after watching my father die after bypass at 55 am a little gun shy.
I was tested at 65, result 240, no symptoms, felt great, I'm a regular runner --- and an angiogram showed a major blockage in an artery. You're not going to feel plaque buildup until something happens.
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1 ReactionThank you. Happy for you. May I ask after how many years you repeated the test? Thank you
I was tested at 62 and was 1100, now close to 1300. No symptoms and going strong.
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3 ReactionsI am 67 yr old female with CAC of 613. I am pre-diabetic. My cardiologist is recommending ozempic for cardiac protection. Anyone else got this recommendation?
Thank you very much. This was the most reassuring statement I received after getting my CAC score!
Things will happen to people between March of 2021 and now when folks were getting COVID jabs and it's easy to blame everything on that, if I eat ice cream for dessert tonight and find out I have cancer the next morning I don't blame the ice-cream. Your plaque accumulation surely has nothing to do with a vaccine, whether it's for the flu or Tdap or whatever. And don't panic about a CAC score of 613 at 67, that's actually pretty good, as I've stated here before many times my physician tells me of patients he has in their 90s with CAC scores in the thousands.