Agustin Bernal
20-05-14, 06:40
I started getting a lot of skipped beats starting about 4 months ago. With the extra beats there was a slight sensation of fullness in the chest that radiated down into the abdomen at times, but not heavy pain.
I went to both a gastroenterologist and a cardiologist to have things checked out.
The gastro doctor did a upper endoscopy and colonoscopy and everything turned out fine, thank God. He said I do have IBS and have a lot of colon gas.
During the first visit to the cardiologist he did a regular EKG, an echocardiogram and an ultrasound of the carotid arteries.
He said that the EKG was perfect and that the Echo showed that my heart was structurally sound, with all normal dimensions, properly working valves and good ejection fraction. He said the echo showed that my heart is muscular due to exercising a lot, but that that is good, and that there's no cardiomyopathy at all or any other problem.
My blood work was great, my cholesterol was 146, but my LDL was slightly high at 103 and my HDL slightly low at 33. Triglycerides were very low, he said.
He said that the carotids were crystal clear with no sign of atherosclerosis.
He then ordered a Holter monitor that day which I was to bring back the next day, which I did. He said that he would schedule me for a non-nuclear stress test since the carotid arteries were clear. I was supposed to have that test yesterday, May 19th.
Two days ago his nurse called and said that the Stress test would be nuclear and that it would be done after doing an ultrasound of the groin and leg arteries, and that would be done on the 19th.
I went there yesterday and they did the ultrasound and afterwards the doctor said that upon closer examination of my carotid ultrasound he saw that the external carotid artery had some small amounts of plaque, but that the two main carotids that carry blood to the brain are indeed completely clear. He then said that the ultrasound of the legs showed slight atherosclerosis in the femoral arteries and because of that and the external carotid he wanted to do a nuclear stress test. That stress test will be done this coming Saturday, the 24th.
This finding has taken me by surprise because I have always eaten healthy (Juicing & eating lots of fruit & green, leafy vegetables, salads, drinking skim milk, very little red meat, etc.) and I have no family history of atherosclerosis. My parents are still alive and very healthy (Father is 80, mother 72), both instilled in me as a child a healthy diet & a love of exercise. Neither parent have any health problems or take any medicine despite their advanced age. I have no siblings to compare to.
I keep wondering if maybe the doctor is mistaken, possibly. I can't understand how there would be any plaque anywhere after the healthy way I've always eaten and exercised all my life.
The doc said my Holter Moniter showed PVCs and PACs, but that they were benign and there was no dangerous arrhythmias like V-tach or R on T PVCs, nor was there any Atrial Fibrillation observed (that's some good news).
I'm just EXTREMELY scared that they will find plaque in the heart's arteries since they say there is a slight amount in the carotids and femorals. Some articles I've read say that if theres plaque in the leg arteries there will definitely be some in the heart, but then other articles say that is not necessarily the case (always conflicting information:mad:).
Has anyone here had a similar experience or has early sign of plaque in the legs or carotids?
Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated. I'm like a bundle of nerves, all wound up with worry since this morning when I found all this out.
I went to both a gastroenterologist and a cardiologist to have things checked out.
The gastro doctor did a upper endoscopy and colonoscopy and everything turned out fine, thank God. He said I do have IBS and have a lot of colon gas.
During the first visit to the cardiologist he did a regular EKG, an echocardiogram and an ultrasound of the carotid arteries.
He said that the EKG was perfect and that the Echo showed that my heart was structurally sound, with all normal dimensions, properly working valves and good ejection fraction. He said the echo showed that my heart is muscular due to exercising a lot, but that that is good, and that there's no cardiomyopathy at all or any other problem.
My blood work was great, my cholesterol was 146, but my LDL was slightly high at 103 and my HDL slightly low at 33. Triglycerides were very low, he said.
He said that the carotids were crystal clear with no sign of atherosclerosis.
He then ordered a Holter monitor that day which I was to bring back the next day, which I did. He said that he would schedule me for a non-nuclear stress test since the carotid arteries were clear. I was supposed to have that test yesterday, May 19th.
Two days ago his nurse called and said that the Stress test would be nuclear and that it would be done after doing an ultrasound of the groin and leg arteries, and that would be done on the 19th.
I went there yesterday and they did the ultrasound and afterwards the doctor said that upon closer examination of my carotid ultrasound he saw that the external carotid artery had some small amounts of plaque, but that the two main carotids that carry blood to the brain are indeed completely clear. He then said that the ultrasound of the legs showed slight atherosclerosis in the femoral arteries and because of that and the external carotid he wanted to do a nuclear stress test. That stress test will be done this coming Saturday, the 24th.
This finding has taken me by surprise because I have always eaten healthy (Juicing & eating lots of fruit & green, leafy vegetables, salads, drinking skim milk, very little red meat, etc.) and I have no family history of atherosclerosis. My parents are still alive and very healthy (Father is 80, mother 72), both instilled in me as a child a healthy diet & a love of exercise. Neither parent have any health problems or take any medicine despite their advanced age. I have no siblings to compare to.
I keep wondering if maybe the doctor is mistaken, possibly. I can't understand how there would be any plaque anywhere after the healthy way I've always eaten and exercised all my life.
The doc said my Holter Moniter showed PVCs and PACs, but that they were benign and there was no dangerous arrhythmias like V-tach or R on T PVCs, nor was there any Atrial Fibrillation observed (that's some good news).
I'm just EXTREMELY scared that they will find plaque in the heart's arteries since they say there is a slight amount in the carotids and femorals. Some articles I've read say that if theres plaque in the leg arteries there will definitely be some in the heart, but then other articles say that is not necessarily the case (always conflicting information:mad:).
Has anyone here had a similar experience or has early sign of plaque in the legs or carotids?
Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated. I'm like a bundle of nerves, all wound up with worry since this morning when I found all this out.