I just had a catherization done. The doctor who did it told me that my heart function was normal but that all the veins in my heart are showing around a 30 percent narrowing. He told me they don't intervene with stenting or worse until it gets to between 50-70 percent depending on the artery. I had a cath done in 2000 that was normal.

So in 7 years of bad living I narrowed around 30 percent of my arteries. If I stick to a very low fat diet and keep my cholosterol down and do a brisk walk every day for 35 minutes like the doctor suggested will I be able to stave off stenting/bypass? I am only 42 years old and didn't listen to what they told me in 2000 after my 1st cath. I still ate anything I wanted and lived a stupid care free and even dangerous at times lifestyle. I need to have some hope. The doctor said with the right lifestyle I even have a chance at turning this 30 percent to a lower number instead of higher. How is that possible?

BTW , during my 1st cath I felt NOTHING. This Cath I felt EVERYTHING , a few times when he touched my heart my beats went real real fast , then other times I had no beat for a few seconds. It was scary as all hell and I thought I was going to die on that table. I felt that cable moving around and felt a lot of pressure when he was in my heart. I am really scared about all this now.

Lutheran,
There are two approaches: one is to keep your LDL choilesterol down as low as you can...below 100 or better; the other is to do regular high intensity aerobic excercise to cardiac heart rates.

The first will prevent laying down more plaque and even reduce it slowly but this might entail statin drugs. What are your cholesterol numbers.

The SECOND approach will build a system of collateral vessels that can keeep you alive in the event of a blockage that goes to 100%. That's a sustained heart-rate of about 151 for your age.

Do both!
(It's good that you are taking interest at a level of 30% rather than at a level of 80% blockage. :D)

I am not sure of my numbers and am currently taking Zetia and may be changing to Crestor or Vytorin soon. I believe I am around 200 or so. Not sure of LDL yet but I will be after this upcoming blood test the week. Is brisk walking for 40 minutes a day not good enough exercise? Is there any dvd I can buy to help me with these things your talking about? I would love to grow more clean veins in my heart :)

Is brisk walking for 40 minutes a day not good enough exercise?

It's GOOD but it's not CARDIAC GOOD! Anything you do to get you over 150 BPM for say 15 minutes and STAY there is what you need do...if you can still squeeze in the total 40 minutes around the cardiac burst, that's better still.

Good luck with the Vytorin or Crestor...but MAYBE a weaker statin might be a good idea if Lipitor gave you trouble...like lovastatin or pravistatin.
In any case start with the smallest dose and work up to give you the best shot at avoinding side effects. IF you can take the Zetia without problems, then maybe the Vytorion IS ideal?

Thanks a lot Lenin , you seem pretty knowledgeable . Is my 30 percent narrowing real bad? The nurse in the cath lab said a lot of the people who get cathed in there have around the same number though some are totally clean. Also why is it good to get my heart beating so fast ( over 150 a minute is fast lol ) as couldn't that kind of exercise cause plaque to maybe break off and kill me? Sorry if that sounds dumb. And really , thanks again..i feel as if someone just gave me a death sentence and I kinda feel lost.

Thanks a lot Lenin , you seem pretty knowledgeable . Is my 30 percent narrowing real bad? The nurse in the cath lab said a lot of the people who get cathed in there have around the same number though some are totally clean. Also why is it good to get my heart beating so fast ( over 150 a minute is fast lol ) as couldn't that kind of exercise cause plaque to maybe break off and kill me? Sorry if that sounds dumb. And really , thanks again..i feel as if someone just gave me a death sentence and I kinda feel lost.

Lutheran,

No, 30% narrowing is not real bad BUT it is half way to 60% and a third of the way to 90% so you want to do everything in your power to stop it in it's tracks.

It's good to get your heart beating fast becasue that is the level at which you will get increased stregth to the heart muscle and force additional blood vessels to grow. THis is called "aerobic conditioning" and is really no different from exercising ANY muscle. Don't worry, the fast heart beat won't break off your plaque...the body makes then TOUGH <Damn it! :D>

If you need to work up to that extended heart-rate gdo it gradually...see if you can hit 150 BPM for ONE minute for a week...then TWO minutes. It is commonly believed that it takes about 15 minutes to achieve aerobic conditioning. Automated machinery that keeps a moment by moment measuring of your heart trate is good to use.

That 30% blockage is by no means a death sentece...millions upon millions are walking around with more. Your advantage over them is that you KNOW it in time to reverse it.

Man you don't know how good you made me feel with that last post , thank you so much my friend. I am taking your advice and will do my best to do it. I already have totally changed my diet and am now eating very healthy..oatmeal or eggwhites and spinach for breakfast..fruit and salads and tuna fish for lunch and a lot of broiled chicken and veggies for dinner...i do need other ideas for dinner so I can eat good all day long. Also I am eating a handful ( 6-9 ) of either raw almonds or raw Walnuts every day and am taking omega 3 supplements.Soon i will be going from zetia alone to either vytorin or lipitor or crestor. Not sure which one yet. Thanks again.

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Sorry about this , i need to start a new thread and made a mistake