Katsmeow
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2009
- Messages
- 5,308
Another calcium scan thread. When there was the last big one last year, I advocated for calcium scans in certain situations. I was true to my argument recently and did advocate for one for me.
So a few months ago my total cholesterol came back as 237 and LDL was 181. Trig was 122 which is a little higher than normal, HDL was 50 a little lower than normal. Doctor told me to take 10 mg of Rosuvastatin. I did for a couple of months and then suggested to him that I do a calcium scan which he thought was a great idea.
I had a history of borderline high LDL. About 20 years ago I took a statin for awhile, then quit. Since then my LDL ranged from a low of 136 to high of 180. Mostly it was in the 150s. When it hit 180 in 2018, doctor looked at it a year later and it was in the 150s so he didn't suggest meds.
Anyway, I did the calcium scan was utterly shocked to get a score of 637 which for me is the 95th percentile! Honestly, that percentile kind of shook me up.
My diet is not overall bad. I could eat more veggies and fruit. But, I eat no beef for over 20 years. I eat pork (mostly bacon on a sandwich or something) maybe one a month. I have eaten an ounce of nuts nearly every day for many years. My saturated fat for the last few years has been around 12% of calories, sometimes a little lower or higher. That is mostly cheese. My added sugar is low, under 10% of calories. (I've recorded what I eat daily for over 8 years).
I don't smoke or drink. Family history is mostly OK. No parent had early heart disease. I am an adoptee but knew my birth mother. She died in her 90s for a non-heart related reason. She had high cholesterol and had a pacemaker put it when she was around 91. My birth father died before I found him but his family says he had no heart problems (died of Alzheimers disease).
After 2 months of the statin my LDL has fallen to 80. When the calcium scan came in my primary care doc sent me to a cardiologist. He did a carotid scan (no evidence of any blockage at all), chemical nuclear stress test (normal), and echocardiogram (normal). However, he did warn me that the nuclear stress test would only find blockages of 70% or higher. I also asked him about what higher blockages it would miss and he said between 10% and 20% of them. Cardiologist also increased the statin to 20 mg as he wants my LDL below 70 and preferably 50. He doesn't think the 20 mg will do it but we are trying it to see.
I have no chest pain, however, in the past 6 months or so I've noticed I get out of breath with very mild exertion. For example, the other day I had to sit down and rest after I took clothes out of the dryer and carried them to the bedroom (did not fold them, just carried them). It does seem to DH and I both that I am getting more out of breath lately.
On the other hand, that could be due to my being out of shape. Pre-Covid and pre house remodeling (right before Covid) I exercised regularly. When I was sitting at home, though, I got out of the habit and have been very sedentary for the last 3 years. As a result I am now about 20 pounds over my normal weight which I slowly gained over the last 3 years.
On the one hand, I had "good" test results and the shortness of breath could be from lack of exercise. On the other hand, my calcium score was at the 95th percentile. The report found 208 in the left anterior descending artery, 342 in the right coronary artery and 87 in the posterior descending artery.
Cardiologist gave me several options from waiting to see if I had difficulty (increased symptoms) when I start exercising again, to taking a medication for a month that might help determine where the shortness of breath came from, to a CT angiogram, to a regular angiogram. After discussing all of these and the pros and cons, I am going to have an angiogram in a few days.
Overall, I am glad I did the calcium scan. I realize it doesn't find the problems for everyone but my risk with the calcium score is far higher than my risk without having done it.
FYI here is the link to the calculator where you can model the risk both with and without the calcium scan. Without the calcium score my 10 year risk for a CHD event would be 3.7%. With the calcium score, it is 10.1%. (This is the risk before medication).
https://www.mesa-nhlbi.org/MESACHDRisk/MesaRiskScore/RiskScore.aspx
Using my medicated numbers (when I was taking the 10 mg) my risk with the calcium score is 8.1% and without the calcium score is 3.1%.
I am a little nervous about the angiogram. I've read all about it and know I am a low risk person for it. I do have to medicate before hand as 45 years ago I got hives from contrast media. But, I think this will give me the best information and given my calcium score and my shortness of breath I would rather know that be left in limbo.
So a few months ago my total cholesterol came back as 237 and LDL was 181. Trig was 122 which is a little higher than normal, HDL was 50 a little lower than normal. Doctor told me to take 10 mg of Rosuvastatin. I did for a couple of months and then suggested to him that I do a calcium scan which he thought was a great idea.
I had a history of borderline high LDL. About 20 years ago I took a statin for awhile, then quit. Since then my LDL ranged from a low of 136 to high of 180. Mostly it was in the 150s. When it hit 180 in 2018, doctor looked at it a year later and it was in the 150s so he didn't suggest meds.
Anyway, I did the calcium scan was utterly shocked to get a score of 637 which for me is the 95th percentile! Honestly, that percentile kind of shook me up.
My diet is not overall bad. I could eat more veggies and fruit. But, I eat no beef for over 20 years. I eat pork (mostly bacon on a sandwich or something) maybe one a month. I have eaten an ounce of nuts nearly every day for many years. My saturated fat for the last few years has been around 12% of calories, sometimes a little lower or higher. That is mostly cheese. My added sugar is low, under 10% of calories. (I've recorded what I eat daily for over 8 years).
I don't smoke or drink. Family history is mostly OK. No parent had early heart disease. I am an adoptee but knew my birth mother. She died in her 90s for a non-heart related reason. She had high cholesterol and had a pacemaker put it when she was around 91. My birth father died before I found him but his family says he had no heart problems (died of Alzheimers disease).
After 2 months of the statin my LDL has fallen to 80. When the calcium scan came in my primary care doc sent me to a cardiologist. He did a carotid scan (no evidence of any blockage at all), chemical nuclear stress test (normal), and echocardiogram (normal). However, he did warn me that the nuclear stress test would only find blockages of 70% or higher. I also asked him about what higher blockages it would miss and he said between 10% and 20% of them. Cardiologist also increased the statin to 20 mg as he wants my LDL below 70 and preferably 50. He doesn't think the 20 mg will do it but we are trying it to see.
I have no chest pain, however, in the past 6 months or so I've noticed I get out of breath with very mild exertion. For example, the other day I had to sit down and rest after I took clothes out of the dryer and carried them to the bedroom (did not fold them, just carried them). It does seem to DH and I both that I am getting more out of breath lately.
On the other hand, that could be due to my being out of shape. Pre-Covid and pre house remodeling (right before Covid) I exercised regularly. When I was sitting at home, though, I got out of the habit and have been very sedentary for the last 3 years. As a result I am now about 20 pounds over my normal weight which I slowly gained over the last 3 years.
On the one hand, I had "good" test results and the shortness of breath could be from lack of exercise. On the other hand, my calcium score was at the 95th percentile. The report found 208 in the left anterior descending artery, 342 in the right coronary artery and 87 in the posterior descending artery.
Cardiologist gave me several options from waiting to see if I had difficulty (increased symptoms) when I start exercising again, to taking a medication for a month that might help determine where the shortness of breath came from, to a CT angiogram, to a regular angiogram. After discussing all of these and the pros and cons, I am going to have an angiogram in a few days.
Overall, I am glad I did the calcium scan. I realize it doesn't find the problems for everyone but my risk with the calcium score is far higher than my risk without having done it.
FYI here is the link to the calculator where you can model the risk both with and without the calcium scan. Without the calcium score my 10 year risk for a CHD event would be 3.7%. With the calcium score, it is 10.1%. (This is the risk before medication).
https://www.mesa-nhlbi.org/MESACHDRisk/MesaRiskScore/RiskScore.aspx
Using my medicated numbers (when I was taking the 10 mg) my risk with the calcium score is 8.1% and without the calcium score is 3.1%.
I am a little nervous about the angiogram. I've read all about it and know I am a low risk person for it. I do have to medicate before hand as 45 years ago I got hives from contrast media. But, I think this will give me the best information and given my calcium score and my shortness of breath I would rather know that be left in limbo.
Last edited: