I have coronary artery disease

Thank-you so much with adding your story to the mix. This provides a foundation to my hope that I can slow this process down enough that I won’t need to take any interventional and invasive measures.

The positive response I’ve received here really underlines the importance of not feeling alone. Thanks for your story, Kim. I feel your support and I’m hugging back!

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the kimchi is for sale in the refrigerated section. It’s under pressure when you open it so I always do so over a bowl to not make a mess nor to loose any of the liquid. I consume all the liquid because that’s loaded with microorganisms you want. Not that the “spicy” version is too hot, but I go for the “mild” version. Even Walmart has it in the food area. I get maybe ten jars or whatever they have when I go shopping, and this means I spend a lot of money on something one can make for a penny or two a serving. There’s almost no calories and I am totally hooked. What’s really exotic, and there’s only one company selling it here, is natto, and it’s expensive. Also the shipping is high. So a smallish order is well over $100 and doesn’t last long. I only got one order of that last year. Wouldn’t it be nice if the food store sold that?

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Where I live, most health food stores carry kimchi and other fermented foods and beverages. And if you have a Korean or Asian supermarket or grocery store in your area, or a Chinatown, you’ll find a vast selection of kimchi.

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@Terry4 - just want to let you know that you are in my thoughts as you deal with this new, frightening stage in your life.

So much of what others have posted here about your positive impact is true for me as well.

In a world where online discussions can promote divisiveness, your posts provide non-judgemental clarity and compassion. Indeed when I think of the legacy of @manny_hernandez1’s TuDiabetes concept, you are certainly at the pinnacle.

I’m not on here so much these days, but I regularly refer newly diagnosed (or struggling PWDs) here, hoping that they will benefit from experiences like yours, and your ability to share it.

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Thank you for your kind words, @YogaO. Even though I received this serious and threatening diagnosis, I feel good right now. In a way, I am energize to mobilize all my resources to try and stabilize my condition.

Traditional medical thought would not give much if any chance of my doing this, but I think I can. Anyways, the pessimism of traditional medicine’s view of my approach provides me with deep motivation to prove them wrong! If I fail at that, at least I’m left with the knowledge that I gave it everything I could. And I will still be able to use traditional medicine’s drugs and procedures.

I’ve enjoyed reading your posts over the years, especially when you blogged about peddling your recumbent bicycle across the US. I hope you are well and happy!

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I just bought these two jars of kimchi at the grocery store. I decided to get one spicy and one original recipe and figure I’ll mix the two together if the spicy one is too hot for my taste. The kimchi I’ve eaten a local Korean restaurant had some kick to it but not overly so.

Tonight, I plan two eggs over easy, and a few ounces of kimchi.

For those who may not have read this full thread, my intention here is to use fermented vegetables, like kimchi, to improve my gut health and help me in my quest to stabilize my coronary artery disease. This is in addition to eliminating grains and added sugars in my diet, optimizing my thyroid lab numbers, supplementing vitamin D, vitamin K2, omega-3 and magnesium.

Keeping blood glucose as close to normal as possible is also part of the plan and I am amazed at how dropping my carb consumption to Bernstein levels, < 30 grams/day, has helped me to record in the last few weeks some of the best blood sugar levels in my diabetic life.

I could be wrong about all this and I will not ignore any future data coming out of traditional medicine heart tests.

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With blends like these, who needs enemas.

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I have bought kimchi in the past, I think I must have got a spicy variety as it was Hot, Hot, Hot! I also have a jar of saurkraut in the fridge (from Aldi). I am not very keen on either, but I have never had an adverse reaction to them such as Eddie suggests.

My kimchi and eggs meal last evening went down well with hardly a peep from my sometimes very vocal stomach. I also had a good night’s sleep, a positive indication for me about my digestion. I had no heartburn or GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease) symptoms, either.

The spiciness of the kimchi reminded of the many egg dishes I’ve eaten over the years that included a spicy chili sauce.

Anyway, my stomach and GI track give a thumbs up to kimchi. I intend to make it a regular part of my diet. I will also experiment with sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables.

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I’m sorry to read of your recent diagnosis, and happy to see your positive attitude and sense of curiosity as you explore many options to optimal health… I love your posts and I have a long history of questioning (and appreciating) Western medicine, and exploring well-researched alternatives. I have found when we look at the whole picture - including diet, emotions, stress, etc, we can find ways to feel better and enjoy life more. I look forward to hearing more about what you discover.

So 8 months after your perfect nuclear stress test, you had a heart attack? At what point in there were you put on the statins? It sounds like in a matter of months statins caused a heart attack. Am I reading that right?

No, I started on simvastatin approximately 4-5 months before the stress test.

I see. You think that the rhabdo caused the MI, then. Did anyone (doctors, nurses, etc) agree with you?

My cardiologist. Which is why I was moved completely away from statins, not just simvastatin. My new endo mentioned she thought it may have been a reaction to many small blood clots. No idea if that was the case, but if so, I’m glad that a stroke wasn’t an end result.

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I’m happy to read that you enjoy reading about my experience. I intend to share my journey with this serious new diagnosis. My great hope is that the lifestyle changes I’ve already made and the ones I will incorporate soon will be much more effective than the traditional medicine’s statins and an array of medical procedures. I don’t know if my current atherosclerosis may be reduced or stabilized using these methods but I will give it my best effort.

My blood sugar, with my reduction of daily carbs to < 30 grams per day has produced some great results. Here are Dexcom Clarity’s 14-day range trend and the 14-day AGP reports.

I’ve never had BG numbers this consistently good.

I’m also losing some weight. I’ve only lost about three pounds but I’ve tightened my belt several clicks. I think weight loss will be my most effective tool to reduce my blood pressure and hopefully get off of blood pressure meds. My body mass index (BMI), when I started this effort was at 24.9 and I hope to reduce it to 23 or better. (A BMI of < 25 is the standard target.)

This is, of course, a long work in progress. I hope my readers will not tire of me writing about the warp and weft of this campaign to defeat/delay the nasty outcomes of coronary artery disease.

Several days ago I added an iodine supplement to support my thyroid. I take my temperature each day upon wakening to monitor my thyroid’s ability to control my body temperature. I am hypothyroid taking Synthroid each day.

I continue to read, research and implement these lifestyle changes.

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What a pain, grand inconvenience, not to mention damage that must have caused. A more litigious-minded person might have joined a class action by now or hired a lawyer! :slight_smile:

I am not tired of reading about it, I try to learn as much as possible, and these boards give me an “in” to the real world. Your numbers are better than mine, a non-diabetic. Perhaps you hear that a lot.

And I was about to ask about weight/BMI. Thanks for telling us. The only two things I can think of to add, are one, I am surprised that so far no one’s mentioned Taubes (perhaps they have in different threads) and that I agree with someone upthread who recommended digging in to just what those test results really say. The word “severe” is off-putting, and me personally, I don’t know enough to conclude the situation is as dire as it initially sounded. (not of course to minimize your stress, and reaction.)

The adjective, severe, is used to characterize any coronary artery calcium scan score > 400. I have no experience to interpret that beyond its face value. My cardiologist said nothing to disabuse me of that interpretation. I will learn more as I get the results from a stress echo-cardiogram test I underwent a week ago. I agree that the “severe” coloring was oft-putting to say the least. I hope it is a coarse description and my actual situation is better. In the meantime, the stakes are high.

I’m a fan of Gary Taubes. I’ve only read one of his books but I’ve watched a few lengthy video interviews. My current nutrition and related health beliefs are aligned with his.

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Do you have an apt to go over the results with the cardiologist to have them translated into meaningful context? I’m just on a phone so it’s hard for me to reread the whole thread but when I first read your post I’d have interpreted it to mean that your calcification were worse than about 80 out of 100 men your age. That’s not good news but it’s not a horrible prognosis either… that’d mean you were in better shape in that department than about 20% of your peers…

Oh you did a stress ekg… that should add some valuable insight.

My cardiologists seems in no hurry to present the findings. Monday will be 10 days since the test. Maybe that means it’s not as bad as he first thought. Or maybe he’s just busy or is slow to do things. Yeah, I think a face-to-face meeting would work best. I’m actually enjoying my ignorant interval.

Your understanding is right; the statistic that I cited is that I am at the 81st percentile for my age and gender.

I’ve been doing some reading that high dose statins can sometimes reduce atherosclerotic volume but only about 1%. I understand high dose is about 60 mg/day and that’s a dose associated with increased side effects like rhabomyalisis. And I’ve read on this site about a member or two who had kidney failure after an exxtended period on high-dose statins.

If I were to go down that statin path, how would I measure progress or success? I know statins can lower cholesterol well in me, but what about their effect on the underlying structural plaque. My coardiologist doesn’t seem keen on repeating a coronary artery calcium scan to monitor after a year, let’s say.