I am not vascular surgeon, but I think that there are several fronts from which you and your physician can address this problem.
1. The first is at the point of the blockages. Mechanical
angioplasty with stents have been used but are not appropriate or even useful in every situation.
2. The next is to reduce the coagulation properties of the blood/platelets with Plavix,
aspirin, and Pletal.
3. Another consider is to bolstering the pump (heart) pushing the blood through the arteries. Even if you are not experiencing angina, long acting nitrates (
isosorbide mononitrate) can sometimes be useful.to increase cardiac function (and thus push blood through the arteries better). Additionally judicious use of
Digoxin can be helpful on this front as well. It may be worthwhile to consider scaling back your b-blockers and
calcium channel blocker to a minimal doses as long as you do not have a normally very
rapid heart rate or arrhythmias. (Reduce ianotropic restrictions) I have seen these measures substantially improve symptoms - but not eliminate the problem entirely.
4. Next, if you are not on maximum therapy to reduce
cholesterol to very low levels (LDL at 50 or below). There are some studies that show beating the levels very low will actually reverse the blockages in the arteries(the studies were specific to coronary arteries but it follows that the same might apply to lower extremity arteries too)...no guarentees here, but we are looking for last resorts and it may be helpful over time.
Finally even though you are having symptoms, you should continue to try to keep moving as much as you are able. The body is very resourceful...if a blockage occurs and the muscle is still being used, the body often with grow collateral arteries to supply the tissue. Again this is not an instant fix but if you stick with it you will start to see improvements within six months.
I hope this is helpful. Good luck.