30 Year Old With 2 Stents Posted: 10-09-07 19:42pm
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
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bplotter
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 9
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Similar story--I tried diet changes Posted: 05-07-08 07:36am
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.
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pwl8314
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 2
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I know this story Posted: 05-17-08 22:29pm
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 %100
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.
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bplotter
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 9
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Re: I know this story Posted: 05-18-08 00:01am
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.
Joined: 13 May 2007 Posts: 28 Location: Philadelphia, PA USA
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Posted: 05-25-08 18:56pm
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.
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pwl8314
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 2
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Thanked:1
Posted: 05-25-08 23:02pm
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.
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.
