Heart Cath & Continued Pain

Hello Dr. I am  30 year old female, I have had an abnormal RKG for years with ST-T wave issues, have had stress echo X3, and heart cath X2. First heart cath about year and a half ago showed normal arteries. Had more pain normal echo (each time) and another cath about 4 weeks ago. Dr said cath was normal, with mild 5% plaque build up in LAD and is expected for a 30 year old. Is this true? I have high cholesterol it was 146 LDL and 28 HDL prior to pregnancy, I was 2 weeks postpartum when aI had my second cath, cholesterol levels then were total 287, LDL 198, and HDL 31. He put me on Lipitor 20mg, could my levels be that high because I was only a couple weeks post partum? How reliable is a heart cath in a woman, I have read that womens plaque lays flat when she does and there for there may be more blockage then seen, is this true? Am I at an immediate risk for heart attack. I am a smoker, father had HA at age 54, stokes (TIA's) starting at age 60, and PAD. His father died of heart attack at age 46. So I do have a strong family history. I have smoked for 15+ years and know I need to stop. I am so worried that I had abnormalities in my LAD. IS this really normal? Should I have reassuance from the caths that I have had? I do have anxiety issues, which makes me worry even more. I woke last night to change my infant and I got hot all of asudden and started to sweat mildly, could this be cardiac? I have had 3 cardiologist, and all three say that my heart is fine, but fail to anser my questions. Especially the ones that say I have 5% build up. Why did it change that quick from one year to the next with the heart cath? I am confussed and worried about what is goin on and hope that you can shine some light. Was it to early postpartum to check my cholesterol again. I breast fed for the 1st week of my sons life and had to stop cause of his problems. Thank you for your help!!

[Lee Kirksey, MD]

Hello
You clearly have a family history which is significant for severe and premature disease. Its hard to say what component of this was genetic and what was behavior related without knowing details. It is not unusual to see early stages of coronary blockages in people who have your risk factors. If I were you I would use your concern and fear to motivate you to make important changes like smoking cessation, exercise, and dietary reduction of salt sugar and fats. Starting with stopping smoking Doing all of these can result in measureable improvement and change the course of disease development. Doing nothing and just worrying will likely lead to a similar path. Your very low HDL which is the healthy form of cholesterol should be addressed. You need a preventive medicine physician

Best of luck

[ctaylor08]

Does it generally take awhile for questiosn to be answered?

[ctaylor08]

I got my cholesterol levels rechecked, and had another EKG when they check and the ekg listed rightward axis borderline EKG with vent rate of 78, PR interval 120, QRS duration 80, QT/QTc 372/424, P-R-T axis 52, 92, 21, normal sinus rhythm. What is this, something to be concerned about? I know that with my cholesterol within normal standards it lowers my risks, but what about my HDL and the other questions above? New levels:

Total: 127

LDL: 62

HDL: 23

non-HDL: 104

Trygly: 208 (gotta work on this one)

[Lee Kirksey, MD]

visit www.personalwellnesswheel.com which will help explain in detail your labs and steps that you can take to improve your health