Surprise Blockages and 6 stents later!

[kimsuoil]

Well I had my cholesterol test done today and will have the results in the next day or two. However, within the last 3 weeks I was diagnosed with coronary arterial disease. I passed out after my daily 3 mile jog and went to the doctor. I had a echo stress done which indicated blockage. After having an angiogram done the doctors saw blockages in all 3 of my arteries 80-90%. If you remember in past post I have been an avid jogger for the last 26 years, slim and trim, low blood pressure, been taking the B vitamins, folic acid and other supplements mentioned on this site. However my cholesterol has run 235-286 during the last few years. All of my doctors believe the my LDL was the ONLY risk factor that I had.
This past Thursday I had 6 stents put in to open my arteries. I am now on Plavix, a beta blocker, Lipitor, Zetia, and Niaspan in order to lower my cholesterol so the plaque can be stopped in its tracks. My doctor and I both suspect that my LDL (178 on last test) was probably the small ldl particles (LPa) which can infiltrate the endothelium of the arteries and become plaque. I am hoping that Lipitor does not give me as much side effects as the Vytorin did 2 years ago.

I also want to point out that these doctors do alot of these angiograms and can see the plaque build up in people that have high LDL and low HDL and they see that the progression is stopped or reversed in some cases with people that are aggressively treated with statins.

As the Doc mentions on this site, there is a place for these statins for patients such as I with advanced coronary arterial disease(CAD) in order to stop this disease. However, just having High cholesterol doesn't mean your fate will be the same as mine, as there are other risk factors.

The moral of this story is listen to your doctor, asked questions, if you really feel like you need a stress test or another test to rule out CAD, do so. If it looks like you have blockage starting you need to go with the current science of lowering cholesterol (possibly with statins), keeping normal weight, no smoking, exercise etc. Statins are not evil but appropriate when needed. I could have lived with the side effects of muscle & tendon pain while taking a statin instead of having these blockages.

I will be 49 years old tomorrow, and all of my friends are shocked that I was the one affilicted with blockages being the one with the healthiest lifestyles.

If anyone on this site has a similar story of blockage with only high cholesterol as a risk factor please reply.

[Darrell]

"I could have lived with the side effects of muscle & tendon pain while taking a statin instead of having these blockages."

Maybe so, but you may be forgetting your own history...

"the wild dreams, joint pains and problems with jogging"

"I took antibiotics while on Vytorin (this is a no-no) and caused me to have urine retention and a cascade of other problems. I think the two drugs induced some kind of neuropathy of the bladder and bladder neck."

"I was limping around like an old man"

"I had pains in my back, ankles, and weird feelings in my arms"

"the ankle and foot pain was terrible"

"I also remember having eye twitches"

I'm not sure how long you could have continued that way. I hope you are taking a good dose of Q10 with your Lipitor and will go on to have many happy birthdays!

[kimsuoil]

Darrel, I am well aware of the various problems that I had in the past, however I am not sure all of them were caused by the Vytorin or would have some happened anyway? I did take Pravachol for 7 months without any problems and I will probably take the CoQ10 (my doctor is encourging this knowing my history with side effects). I can only hope that my new therapy will improve my chances of stopping furture blockages.

Darrel did you have blockages in the past?

[Allen1]

Hi there kimsuoil,

Please take notice of what Darrell has said.

Statins do not always protect you from narrowing of the arteries as I can vouch for myself because of having to have a triple bypass ie 2x80% and 1x50% plus a 100% blockage from the heart attack I had 12 years ago (the heart actually re-routed the blood supply past the dead section over time).

If you start feeling tired or getting unusual feeling and aches then for pity sake tell your doctor straight away and also mention what you have read about a possible adverse reaction to statins. You have no doubt seen for yourself what others on this and many other sites have said so please take care.

I am 51 now and had the bypass op 3 years ago this month, the heart attack was 12 years ago, I started taken statins soon after the attack and they did nothing to stop the build up in my arteries. You will see other posts that will basically say the same as I have about how ineffective they were in stopping a build up of plaque.

I forgot to mention that I cycled to work every day for 18 1/2 years in all weathers, so even previously physically fit people can have serious problems.

Take care of yourself and be aware of any changes you have or feel.

Regards,
Allen.

[Darrell]

No, no signs of blockages for me. I passed a cardiac stress test with flying colors and can still do vigorous activity with no problems until my right leg muscles rebel.

My point was that you are alive with the stents but you may not be if you had continued the Vytorin.

[slacckk]

Last summer, while trying to convince me that I should take statins, my doctor admitted that if I had a high LP(a) level, that statins wouldn't help as they won't lower this type of LDL.

Did the test and my Lp(a) was very low so she said I should take statins. I said, if that's the worst kind and mine is low and stains won't help it anyway, then no thanks.

So, if this is true and you really do have a high Lp(a) then the statins will not help you at all.

Anecdote:
My dad was on Zocor for 5 years after 2 80% blockages and a double bypass. Cholesterol was "great" according to the cardiologist...total consistant 135, really low LDL high HDL. Then, presto, another 90% blockage.

After hearing about the stain Lp(a) from my Dr., I'm pretty sure that's what caused his. I've got him to start daily Vit. C to hopefully help his Lp(a) levels.. Don't know what they are BTW as his docs don't seem to want to test that. Guess since they've already got him on the statins, they don't think they should rock the boat.

[cjbrooksjc]

slacckk: Idon't know if this will help, but:

HDL is the smallest of the lipoproteins. They are the densest because they contain the highest proportion of protein. The liver synthesises these lipoproteins as empty flattened spherical protein particles. They are capable of picking up cholesterol, carried internally, from cells they interact with. They increase in size as they circulate through the bloodstream. Thus it is the concentration of large high density lipoprotein particles which more accurately reflect protective action, as opposed to the concentration of total high density lipoproteins particles. This ratio of large high density lipoproteins to total HDL particles varies widely and is only measured by more sophisticated lipoprotein assays using either electrophoresis, the original method developed in the 1970s, or newer NMR spectroscopy methods, developed in the 1990s.


Men tend to have noticeably lower HDL levels, with smaller size & lower cholesterol content, than women. Men also have an increased incidence of atherosclerotic heart disease. Epidemiological studies have shown that high concentrations of HDLs (over 60 mg/dL) have protective value against cardiovascular diseases (such as ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction).

More at *www.medindia.com Remove the * before you link.

[JL]

I guess our doctors have done a great job of convincing all of us that our blockages in our blood vessels are caused ONLY by cholesterol and that if you take the magic statin pill, all of your problems are solved, right? So how come some of us are still having hearth problems after following doctor's orders?
Well, how about because plaque is only 3% cholesterol and 50% CALCIUM?
So does it now make sense why a healthy lean physically fit person with "normal" cholesterol levels would still have blockages?
Yes, our doctors have been leading us down the wrong path. The problem is not how to lessen cholesterol but how to lessen CALCIUM.

*http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi69.html

[cjbrooksjc]

JL: A thought-provoking write-up with contributions by some well-credentialed professionals. And yet another reason to take vitamin D supplements.

Thanks,


Brooks

[JL]

Brooks: you are on the right path, you might want to add to your regimen Vit K2. I understand that it causes calcium from the arteries to be transferred to the bones. Here is another blog entry from Bill Sardi's site,

*http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com/blog/2007/12/evidence-continues-to-point-away-from.html

[adec]

Good for you JL. Specifically vitamin D3 in gelcap form (4000iu daily, although a blood test should be used to determine the proper amount), specifically vitamin K2 as MK-7 or menaquinone-7, and let me add nattokinase, and astaxanthin to the list.

Stents are a temporary (questionable) fix to a problem needing a preventative long-term solution. However, your doctor won't tell you about non-patentable alternatives when patentable drugs are so lucrative for both him/her and the pharmaceutical industry.

[JL]

Adec and all,
I can't tell you how nice it is to be among folks like you who KNOW the truth about our failed medical system. Thanks.