Heart Disease and Heart Attack Forum - 30 Year Old With 2 Stents

I'm a 30 year old male who has just received his 2nd angioplasty...not quite what I had in mind for this point in my life. The first stent was done on 10/15/2005. It was moving day for us and long story short, I was told I suffered a minor Heart Attack. My L.A.D. was 99% blocked. They obviously put a stent. Since then I've quit smoking, no brainer, and monitored my eating habits, although they were nothing out of the ordinary for someone my age. I'm about 5'10" and have consistently weighed approx. 175 pounds...what I'm getting at is that I'm not grossly overweight and practiced the same eating habbits of most young men my age. Well if the first one caught me off guard, the second time around has me completely freaked out. Considering that I'm on Plavix, Chrestor, Zedia, Toporol, and 1 Bayer a day, I figured I wasn't due for another episode for quite some time. But as no luck would have it, about 3 weeks ago, while sitting at my desk in my home, I started feeling "strange". Same classic symptoms that I felt the first time. Eventually I called the ambulance, typical stubborn male here. They initially didn't find anything but after a nuclear stress test they did an angiogram and found that my left circumfix artery had another blockage, about 90% this time. It wasn't there before, so that means that even while being on all of these meds it was still able to develop, which has me concerned. My doctors and family are obviously very helpful, but I want an unbiased(straight) answer as to what I should expect for my future. I don't want to dwell on it, but I would also like to know. Will this happen again? Will it be worse next time? I'm only 30, how long will these stents last? The list goes on and on, dinner's ready and I'm typing this in confidence(don't want to concern the fiance' anymore) so I need to go. Any advice, tips, things to ask my docs, things to do, and some honest answers will be greatly appriciated. I'll try and check back later this evening to answer any questions people may ask.
Thanks, Chicago

Replies(9)

bplotter

replied on May 7th, 2008

New User

Similar story--I tried diet changes

I read your story and thought--this is me! I was a little older, but had very similar experience. Like you, I had near total blockage in LAD. Went on meds. But meds made me sick, so I started doing a lot of reading. I highly recommend Gary Taubes Good Calories, Bad Calories (GCBC). This started me thinking differently about diet and heart disease.

Given that you had another blockage develop, you can see that the meds don't always treat the cause. No one knows precisely the cause of atherosclerosis, but if were you, I'd look into a low carb diet. Taubes in GCBC describes the work of RM Krauss (google "Krauss carbohydrates" for studies or go to pubmed.com). Krauss discovered that LDL comes in different sizes, and that small LDL are associated with high risk of heart disease, and large LDL associated with low risk of heart disease.

Further, Krauss found that a high carb diet lead to small LDL (as well as high triglycerides and low HDL). Low carb diet lead to large LDL (low triglycerides and high HDL).

So a low carb diet appears to be heart healthy in Krauss' model of heart disease (in contrast with the high carb advice from Am. Heart Assoc.)

I took out sugars and processed carbs from my diet. Dropped weight, and feel the best I have in years. Am using recipes from Leo Galland's Fat Resistance Diet, which are really fantastic. Only time will tell if my changes will help, but feeling good now is certainly helping my spirits.

Good luck! If you have other questions, feel free to contact me.

pwl8314

replied on May 17th, 2008

New User

I know this story

I am a 30 year old male with a 7 month old son and another on the way. I was just diagnosed with coronary artery disease and had a stent put in to my LAD due to a 0 blockage. Due to my family history, and my lifestyle, I knew that this was going to be in my future. But I was devastated to find out that I would have to deal with it at the age of 30. With a new marriage and a second child on the way, my future scares the hell out of me. I am not even sure how to deal with it, except my hope for the future of HD research will bring some kind of miracle drug to ensure that I will be around for my wife and children.

bplotter

replied on May 18th, 2008

New User

Re: I know this story

Man...I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. Please do take a look at Gary Taube's book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. I really think avoiding processed carbs/sugars is important. I'm not talking an Atkins approach, just a diet where you eat whole foods instead of processed carbs and sugars. Really, it seems to be helping me--at least I've dropped weight, belly fat, etc. Certainly could not hurt.

There is some hope, I think...Or at least I'm choosing to believe that for now. Do some reading and look at the studies cited in Taubes book. It was there that I found some direction to an approach that I'm hopeful will help me lead a healthier, longer life--but the reality is we can never know for sure. Take one day at a time. But know you have some control in that you can learn and apply what you learn to the choices you make.

Best of luck. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or just want to vent.

Users who thank bplotter for this post: pwl8314

kathy1965

replied on May 25th, 2008

New User

Hello to all,

I have a question. Does anyone have a family history of heart disease? You all are so young that it scares me.

pwl8314

replied on May 25th, 2008

New User

Ian,

I wish that I had some comforting newsfor you, but I don't. What I just read is problably the most concerning thing that I have read since I was diagnosed. I personaly have not completely quit the butts so if you have any good ideas or support to offer I would appreciate it. If you haven't read my blurb yet, I am 30 years old, andI have a 7 month old son, and another on the way. I don't want to lie, your story scares the crap out of me. I amhoping that I don't have any more issues for a long time, but as my family history tells me, and your story tells me, I will be dealing with the in the near future.

I can tell you that writing some of the crap that is on your mind on a daily basis here with a lot of other people that are in the same boat does make you realize that you have not been singled out in life, and that this is a very widespread disease. I have just found this website and it is nice to know that I am not the only guy that is dealing with this. At this point I don't have anything uplifting to say about it, but if you want to keep in touch, feel free.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

tmthree

replied on June 30th, 2008

New User

Read Esselstyn

My gosh, before you go and jump on the atkins thing, do yourself a favor and look for Dr. Esselstyn's book, and follow his program. Esselstyn took people like you and cured them of heart disease over the course of a 20 year study. There is NO equivalent study for low carb, and in fact there is NOT ONE study that shows low carb can reverse the disease that is killing you. The stents you have are only bandaids on slow building blockages. It's the sudden plaque rupture that can kill you, and the stents do nothing for that. There are several studies that show Esselstyn's approach works to stabilize plaque and reduce blockages, and that it works fast, with sustained benefits over time in terms of actual disease reversal. Don't fall for the studies that claim to lower this number by that much or whatever. There are only a few studies that show long-term reversal of blockages and elimination of heart attack risk, and they are very low-fat plans like Esselstyn's. After you read the book, call Esselstyn's office and make an appointment to see him in Cleveland. There is hope for you.

flowerpot25

replied on October 12th, 2008

New User

heart disease

Hey guys

Just stumbled across this forum and read your stories about being inflicted with heart disease at such young ages. Well if there is something that can help it maybe a miracle enzyme called serrapeptase, which german physician Dr Hans Napier used on his coronary heart patients and found there was excellent improvement in patients some 12 months later. I know there are many products online that claim to help but i believe this is a genuine product as it works by reducing inflammation a key marker in heart disease. Using flax seed oil and consuming fish oils are shown to reduce incidences/recurrence of heart disease by 23% and stabalise plaques longterm. Linus paulings research showed that heart disease was caused by lack of vitamins and minerals especially vitamin c so try to Increase your consumptions of that. I hope this is of some help .

grounded54

replied on February 4th, 2009

New User

Esselstyn diet

I had 2 DES Stents after a heart attack 2 years ago. I have been following this diet for 8 months, feel great, had a good change in my lipid panel. It is not that hard to follow, especially when you see the research.
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell Esselstyn ....get it

odanielgillian

replied on October 31st, 2009

New User

Wow. I to had a heart attack and had a stent put into my LAD. The only difference? I'm a 30 year old woman. I know exactly how you feel. It's a scary experience. I started a blog on my struggles with cardiac rehab and wading through all the cardiac advice out there. If you ever want to chat, feel free to pm me.

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