December 10, 2012
I am 51 yrs old and I’ve had two SCAD’s in the last year. One on the inferal laaetrl branch of the circumflex coronary artery in October 2010 and one on the left anterior descending coronary artery September 2011. I’m in Oregon for those others here After the first one, they put me on a statin, plavix and metoprolol. I also took CoQ10 and calcium and magnesium at the recommendation of a naturopath. I stopped taking the statin after I talked to the naturopath, my pharmacist and a physical therapist I know. I was also reading Dean Ornish’s book on Reversing Heart Disease and they all held similar opinions about statins for people without family history of high cholesterol. I started eating more vegetables and fruit, less rice, bread and pasta and less refined sugar. I added dried fruits and nuts to my diet and lost 15lbs. I felt good! I was so excited to be released from the Plavix in July 2011 after the October 2010 heart attack. I was getting goose eggs everytime I bumped into anything. In late August I walked the Portland to Coast Relay and in early September I had the second dissection. There has been no cardiac follow up yet. I don’t think they know what to say. And when they told me in the hospital that it didn’t matter what I did, I got depressed. Doctors should never say things like that. The connection between body and mind is too strong. So, I made an appointment with a therapist and I signed up for cardiac rehab, if that’s all they’ve got for me then I’m going for it. At least then I can feel like I’m doing something. I know I can’t control this, but I can do the best I can at being healthy and engaged in life.