I had a TT in 2007, with a calcium infusion after surgery. Within the last 6-8 months its been picked up on a blood test that my calcium & vitamin d levels are very low. I have been on Calcitrol .25 (from today .50) and 4 ad-cal tabs daily since November. The Dr explained that i should space out my meds as some of them affect each other. Anyway my question is despite being on the supplements & being a pretty good milk drinker how come im still low. Am I not producing/absorbing calcium or what tests can be done to find this out??
thanks
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MrsBargirl
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It would appear that your parathyroid glands, responsible for calcium levels, have been damaged during surgery. They are very small, like grains of rice and sometimes it is difficult for the surgeon to prevent damage to them. I had to sign a form, I seem to remember, or was warned of the risk. I am surprised this has only just become an issue, however, as your op was several years ago. Have you been on calcium supplements since then?
My vitamin D levels were low but not as low as yours and I now take 2 AdCal tablets a day but that is just a maintenance dose for when you are in range. I was put on a booster dose of one tablet of 20,000 IU for 12 weeks first. Can you tell us what thyroid meds you are taking and any results from those bloods and any other meds you may be taking. My apologies is this is on your letter. It's too small for me to read fully on my phone. Often we are short of minerals and vitamins as well but doctors don't always know this
I dont have any blood results. Thyroxine 75, sertraline 150, co codamol 30, alverine 120, adcal brick like tabs 4 daily, calcitol was .25 but now .50, will rattle if bumped into!!
Hi This is tricky for you, the most calcium is in cheese. You obviously need more calcium and D but calcium must never go over range, why I guess the docs are being careful. i.e. it needs a slow increase.
Hi, until your calcitriol dose is at the optimum level you will continue to run at the lower end regards calcium. The calcitriol allows your body to absorb the calcium you ingest. to confirm a diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism you need to have your calcium and parathyroid levels checked at the same time. The low level of vitamin d could be causing the issue - you need to establish which vitamin d has been checked and the reference ranges. Your d3 levels could be affecting your calcium level, but if your pth levels are very low then this would be more the root cause.
For further information check out the HPTH uk website.
I have had calcium problems since my TT 4 years ago and despite supplements, ensuring I eat a calcium rich diet and keeping thyroid meds and anything containing iron well away from the calcium supplements I have only managed to keep my calcium levels at a stable in range level now that my vitamin D level is above 90. This has taken some time to achieve. As dibdab says above your low vitamin D levels could well be having an impact.
I understand ranges differ but for mine vit D range is 75-200 so I am still only mid range and took ages to get there. Calcium range is 2.20-2.60 but hyour local one may be different. I always ask for a printout of my results which gives the ranges. I feel better when my calcium is around 2.3 and the surgeon told me to never let it drop below 2.2 though one endocrinologist told me it was fine at 2.05 and the tingling and cramp I had was panic attacks and the seizures because our brains do funny things when we can't cope!! Needless to say I don't see him anymore! I have found it helpful to keep a record of any symptoms and calcium levels to find what best suits. I found the hypopara website dibdab recommends above very helpful and am fortunate to have a great GP who prescribed calcium and vit D and referred me to another endo.
Are you taking only calcium alone, or calcium and magnesium? The body needs magnesium in order be able to use calcium properly, so when taking calcium supplements it is helpful to take magnesium as well. The ratio often recommended is 2 to 1, twice as much calcium as magnesium.
I had to fight for 6 months to get 20,000 iu loading dose of Vitamin D. Then had another calcuim test to check vit D hadn't caused calcuim to rist too high. I have gone from level of 28 to 76.
I've found an article that might be of interest to you when I googled vitamin d deficiency. There's a section about calcium near the end. Look in particular at the 4th to last paragraph which says:
'With vitamin D deficiency, as little as 10% of ingested calcium may be absorbed'
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