Calcium supplements or dietary calcium ?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.livescience.com/56464-calcium-supplements-heart-disease.html
@SouthJerseyChessMom Thanks for that link. It makes me glad I’ve never taken any sort of calcium supplement other than whatever might have been included in a multivitamin the few times I’ve taken those (like when pregnant). It’s also good to know that dietary calcium is good, not bad, so I don’t have to feel guilty when I add some cheese to things (not super often, but some foods like pastas and pizza taste better with cheese).
Otherwise, I’ll admit my mind is turning its thoughts more into, “What’s the use?” coupled with “Why bother?” on pretty much all aspects from caring what I eat or being sure I exercise to taking statins. It really doesn’t seem to matter in the long run. What straw one drew in life (health wise) is what one drew.
Wear seatbelts? Sure. Don’t text or drink and drive? Definitely! Get adequate sleep? Avoids crankiness. Don’t smoke? I think that’s a no brainer. But foods and/or exercise? Doesn’t seem to help. What’s going to happen is going to happen.
On the plus side, if a heart attack were to take me out early, it’s fairly quick and I’m ok with my thoughts about the next life. The alternative of staying here and risking cancer or dementia in its various forms is not so appealing.
Maybe I’ll head to BK or McDs for supper… and just cancel that next appt and worrying about looking anything up this weekend when I’m by myself just puttering around.
The whole thing is pretty sobering - and quite frankly, depressing. I think I’d rather have not known. I know if I could go back in time I wouldn’t have had a thing checked into. My results were finding out the Navy inaccurately totally changed my life from my early twenties to now via an incorrect diagnosis, my lungs and heart are supposedly fine, but I’m quickly working my way toward high risk for a heart attack in spite of everything I’ve done in trying to “live right,” and oh yeah, I still get to live with everything I thought I had answers for because it’s likely to be radiation caused in the central brain. No fix.
Terrific. Being naive and assuming the Navy had been right all these years gradually causing current problems would have been much better.
Well one thing to consider is that your diet and exercise level may have contributed to a better quality of life (and to longevity) up until now.
I aim to exercise not necessarily to live longer, but to live BETTER.
Yes, live better, even if not longer.
There is no guarantee that a cardiovascular event will lead to a quick death. The result instead could be lingering disability.
@surfcity I’m getting a little more resigned to this, and am in the process of discussing it with the two lads I have more contact with. H too, of course, but the lads might have inherited my genetics.
To anyone else reading, these two articles have been the most helpful that I’ve come across so far:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-10/fact-check-coronary-calcium-score-heart-disease/9023960 (Be sure to read the whole article for all the info, not just the intro.)
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronary-artery-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350613 (This one assumes the CAC scan was accurate - see previous fact check about the test itself.)
I’m sorry to hear about your scan. I don’t understand what your score means in terms of the clear arteries determined by the catheterization.
You know that I have my own reservations about statins but one important effect of statins is stabilizing plaque, so maybe you can feel good about going forward with trying the statin. You could always just keep an eye on your hemoglobin AIC. Maybe it won’t become a problem for you.
@MACmiracle Eh, I spent some time researching at school while supervising a couple of study halls this past week and it’s all as clear as mud afterward. Statins lower cholesterol, that much is clear, but the tests correlated with calcium scores and score increases don’t seem to matter a hoot - no correlation.
I don’t see a thing regarding how to lower arterial calcium aside from doctors who conveniently sell “quality” supplements and recommend a ton of them (hardly anything that interests me).
I think I’m doomed as far as this aspect of health is concerned. I’ll just have to see how the odds play out.
Lately the trigeminal nerve stuff has been pretty bad anyway - pulse is LOUD which gets annoying - ear/tooth pain is always annoying. I have something (totally new) wrong with my right heel making walking painful (still do it anyway and not even thinking of having that looked into - just filed it mentally with old age and “who knows?”), so living to old age is hardly appealing. Heart attacks are at least a quick method of ending things. It’s not all bad.
For next year, we’ll definitely try to be in a warmer climate after the leaves fall. For this year, our parents need a ton of care. H and S went to see FIL this past weekend. The number of falls he’s reported having is scary. He has no interest in any sort of help. We’re pretty sure he wants one of them to take him out. MIL is on Hospice. My mom is hoping to get into a trial for her cancer - her lifespan could depend upon that. If it’s bad, we can go south. If it’s good, she’ll probably welcome going south with us as she’s done before.
One more winter… than I’ll get to see what changes happen from snowbirding.
Thought this might be of interest
Thank you for that, @SouthJerseyChessMom. Prior, I’d seen the primary benefit was to men who’d already had a heart attack.
A heart attack doesn’t always lead to swift death. That’s why we track symptoms and signs. OP, you’ve had much checked. We hope for the best for you.
I’m leaning against statins with the new report just posted. I’ve been trying the 20mg of the generic version of Lipitor and not liking the side effects I think I’m feeling, but trying to convince myself it’s all psychosomatic (it could very well be).
I just got back from trying to donate blood - the tech couldn’t find my vein (grr - go through it all and not have it work!). She seemed pretty new at her job and my veins are admittedly tough, but it’s usually not a problem (only happened once before quite some time ago). Anyway, BP was 108/65 so I’m not really seeing a major problem. I just wish I knew how the calcium score worked into it all.
Had my annual checkup yesterday. Doc said “Wow I never see HDL this high! Keep doing what you’re doing!” 
@OHMomof2 Thanks for sharing. When I get back home I’ll have to go back through this thread to see what you shared to get there. I’m still undecided overall, but have been opting out of statins lately because they seem to affect my “working” brain in ways I really didn’t expect nor like. I’m unsure if it’s a cause/effect issue or just a chance coincidence. It would take more times of testing to know, but now there could be a psychosomatic aspect to it making testing difficult. I’ve quit thinking about it all for now - far less stress that way!
I’ve been doing a very low carb diet for two years @creekland - pretty much the opposite of what my doctor told me I needed to do. Modified keto, you might call it. Weight loss seems to help but I’m guessing no sugar, flour etc.does as well.
Overall cholesterol is still high but HDL is very high now and last year I had a test done that looked at the LDL and it was almost all “large and fluffy” too. So even the “bad” cholesterol is pretty good.
I don’t exercise as much as I’d like lately, but I am somewhat active in general, walking hiking etc.
For several reasons, OHMom, all my docs and the nutritionist are telling me to watch red meat and even other meats.
Curoous if you’re limiting red meat?
No I’m not limiting beef, @lookingforward but I don’t think I eat a ton of it anyway. Well, I eat meat of some kind most days, might be fish or chicken but might be pork or beef. I probably eat beef the least because it’s expensive and I don’t own a grill and don’t really like steak cooked in the house. Or burgers, for that matter.
I almost always eat eggs for breakfast with cheese and spinach and avocado or some variation of that. Then meat and veg dinner of some kind. I also make some cheat type foods out of coconut flour (bagels, crackers) or stevia-sweetened chocolates.
My daily nod to cholesterol control specifically is chia pudding I make with almond milk and chia seeds and blueberries. And/or roasted okra. Both are high in soluble fiber, like oatmeal, but oatmeal carbs are too high for me.
You have what I consider my optimal numbers. I would never go on statins for those numbers - I’d have a party. Last year I got really sick - lots of inflammation, ate horrible because I felt horrible. My cholesterol went into the “normal” range. But my HDL dropped and my triglycerides went up. I want to get back to level that look like yours! Maybe we can switch?
@OHMomof2 Thanks I’m nowhere near Keto levels, but I already eat fewer white carbs due to trying to avoid diabetes my whole adult life, and so far, that’s worked. As I age though, I’m also eating less meat preferring to add more veggies to get natural vitamins and minerals over any sort of supplement. It’s been interesting reading some reports of supplements (like Ca) that hurt health while Ca rich foods seem to help. Vit E supplements also had the opposite effect of what was expected a few years ago.
My youngest has also been a student of the Blue Zones (even studying abroad for part of it), so we discuss various studies of what has worked for certain populations, etc. I feel humans as a species are omnivore for a reason, so neither of us give up meat or eggs, etc, but we’re definitely on the “more veggies/nuts, less other stuff” track as that seems pretty universal among the Blue Zones across the planet. We also do other things like daily activity vs gym activity, regular human interaction things, and other common aspects.
I’ve also started wondering if my higher salt intake contributes to that Ca score being into the CAD range. I know it’s likely taking a toll on my kidneys, but the trade off in my head feeling better “now” beats “future” problems so it would be a tough one to change. The “head” relief I’ve gotten these past few “extremely high salt” days (with ham and other holiday foods) has been a very nice change from normal life. It’s been tempting to move into those levels - hence - wondering about any possible connection and whether it’s worth it in reality. Who knows? We’re in the process of switching sides of the family with celebrations, so I have a few more days of “bliss” before I have to decide if I want to return to “normal” or not.
With regards to cholesterol, my mind has been wondering if figuring out some foods that help might beat supplements, but I haven’t gotten around to investigating - just recall some on here mentioning natural sources that are the same as what the drugs contain, so I’d just have to research some of the origins of those sources when I get time. Youngest lad and I do brain games on Lumosity for fun and whatever help they might provide. My scores plummeted on statins as well as simply feeling foggier overall when it came to remembering things in general life. 'Taint a good trade off if it indeed was the meds that caused it. I’d rather die young and have my brain working as well as it can. Going off the meds have brought my scores back up to where they were.
Creekland, I think our genetics has a lot to do with our tolerances. I may have said, my diabetic mother could eat potatoes (that runs back eons in our history,) but white rice would spike her numbers in 30 mminutes (Idon’t think anyone in my genetic line ate that before, say, 50 years ago.) So it may not be all white carbs. This thing about omnivore is a relatively new option. Most families were limited to what their environments provided. (Only my mother and one great aunt had diabetes in my maternal line. No missing that both were uncontrolled eaters.)
You can report the cloudy thoughts to the doc, talk about an adjustment, lower dose or different Rx. And Red Rice Yeast, which is essentially Lovastatin, is reputed to be not quality controlled. I don’t know enough, look it up. I had good results from Cholestoff. But hey, I also upped the fruits and veggies, ate oatmeal, cut back salt (lemon juice is a nice sub, you can acquire the taste,) watched the meats and carbs, and much more. So who knows what did it for me. Still not good enough, though.
And watch the stress.
Heard apples mentioned and found a couple of references to this FSU study that seems quite promising:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/222422.php
Have to admit I’m surprised not to see more research that’s more recent though. Anyone else know of any follow up studies (pro or con)?
In the meantime, I enjoyed my apple for breakfast… 'twould be an easy fix if it worked. A 23% reduction of LDL would be terrific.
You know what they say about an apple a day… :)>-