MCHA worked for me (and my PTH)
Since my surgery my serum calcium and PTH numbers hvae not quite been where I want them. Nothing alarming, just a bit off and in the case of PTH, not where I wanted it to be.
Prior to surgery, serum calcium was 9.6 and PTH was 24.
I started out taking 1800mg of calcium (as calcium citrate), divided into three doses. I figured this would be good enough. It wasn't.
At 6 months, serum calcium was 10.2 and PTH was 35.5. Now there's nothing necessarily wrong with either number but the trend is not good obviously.
So, I upped the calcium to 2400mg divded into four doses. Surely this would sove it! I was also pretty religious about keeping this separate from other vitamin doses.
Turns out not. Serum calcium at 1 year was down to 9.1 but PTH was still trending up at 42. At this same draw my D was in the 50's and had been trending up (like many, I was deficient pre-op), so I think this is purely an issue of calcium and not of D.
At this point I could have shoved even more horse pills down my throat, but I decided to try something different: Micro-Crystalline Hydroxyapatate. Hess actually recommnded this form to his patients as the most absorbable form, and while there's not a lot of research, I decided it was worth a shot. Basically, this is ground bone meal.
So, I started taking 2000mg of calcium in this form. That equates to 12 capsules per day, and I divide into 4 doses. I am NOT religious about separating these from other vitamins. I take them with anything--multi's, A, D, B's, even Proferrin. My iron numbers are another story, but it appears to have done the trick with my calcium.
I had to have a redraw because of a spoiled sample, so these are not from the same day, but my most recent serum calcium is 9.3 and my PTH has finally stopped trending upwards and is back down to 32. So not only is it in range, but the trend at the moment is right.
I have been taking one of two products. I look locally at VItamin Shoppe for Jarrow's "Bone-Up". It has a relatively short shelf life and is often on clearance for 50% off because of that. Most people probably wouldn't go through a whole bottle before the expiration, but I do.
Otherwise I order the Vitacost brand. Kudos to Julie R for recommending it. It used to be called NSI Bone Boost. Here's a link: www.vitacost.com/Vitacost-Bone-Booster-Complex-with-MCHA-Vit amin-D
The nice thing about the Vitacost brand is that it has Vitamin K, Magnesium, and Boron (among other things) which are thought to increase calcium absorption. If you are struggling with calcium labs, it's worth a shot.
Prior to surgery, serum calcium was 9.6 and PTH was 24.
I started out taking 1800mg of calcium (as calcium citrate), divided into three doses. I figured this would be good enough. It wasn't.
At 6 months, serum calcium was 10.2 and PTH was 35.5. Now there's nothing necessarily wrong with either number but the trend is not good obviously.
So, I upped the calcium to 2400mg divded into four doses. Surely this would sove it! I was also pretty religious about keeping this separate from other vitamin doses.
Turns out not. Serum calcium at 1 year was down to 9.1 but PTH was still trending up at 42. At this same draw my D was in the 50's and had been trending up (like many, I was deficient pre-op), so I think this is purely an issue of calcium and not of D.
At this point I could have shoved even more horse pills down my throat, but I decided to try something different: Micro-Crystalline Hydroxyapatate. Hess actually recommnded this form to his patients as the most absorbable form, and while there's not a lot of research, I decided it was worth a shot. Basically, this is ground bone meal.
So, I started taking 2000mg of calcium in this form. That equates to 12 capsules per day, and I divide into 4 doses. I am NOT religious about separating these from other vitamins. I take them with anything--multi's, A, D, B's, even Proferrin. My iron numbers are another story, but it appears to have done the trick with my calcium.
I had to have a redraw because of a spoiled sample, so these are not from the same day, but my most recent serum calcium is 9.3 and my PTH has finally stopped trending upwards and is back down to 32. So not only is it in range, but the trend at the moment is right.
I have been taking one of two products. I look locally at VItamin Shoppe for Jarrow's "Bone-Up". It has a relatively short shelf life and is often on clearance for 50% off because of that. Most people probably wouldn't go through a whole bottle before the expiration, but I do.
Otherwise I order the Vitacost brand. Kudos to Julie R for recommending it. It used to be called NSI Bone Boost. Here's a link: www.vitacost.com/Vitacost-Bone-Booster-Complex-with-MCHA-Vit amin-D
The nice thing about the Vitacost brand is that it has Vitamin K, Magnesium, and Boron (among other things) which are thought to increase calcium absorption. If you are struggling with calcium labs, it's worth a shot.
That is the thinking, Becky, and it's been true for me. One of the reasons I did not want to up my calcium citrate dose was because I was dealing with constipation at the time. Of course the 300+mg of iron I was taking then didn't help.
I still have bouts of constipation but things have been much better on proferrin & MCHA. Mostly I'm glad the PTH number has stabilized.
I still have bouts of constipation but things have been much better on proferrin & MCHA. Mostly I'm glad the PTH number has stabilized.
Amy Farrah Fowler
on 8/8/11 11:48 am
on 8/8/11 11:48 am
Not separating them from iron may be screwing your iron. If the iron and calcium are fighting for the receptors at the same time, calcium wins.
It seems there was something about needing protein to take MCHA, but that may be calcium hydroxyapatite.
I'm glad you posted this, since I'm shifting to MCHA combined with cal. hydroxy but don't have new blood work yet to see if it's helping.
It seems there was something about needing protein to take MCHA, but that may be calcium hydroxyapatite.
I'm glad you posted this, since I'm shifting to MCHA combined with cal. hydroxy but don't have new blood work yet to see if it's helping.
It could be, but the proferrin guys say its absorption is not affected by calcium. I still try to keep them separated, I'm just not religious about it. I have little real hope at this point hat I'm going to save myself from an eventual iron infusion, but I'm glad to have gotten the calcium wrapped up.
For for Iron .... try 2 buffalo liver extract capsules, twice a day.. I get them at the Vitamin cottage in Denver, via mail orderabout 40$ a bottle of 180 capsules...Carlson labs makes them from buffalo calf liver..in a certified process for purity. It has the intrinsic factor in it that allows absorbtion of iron. It works for me, Most Iron gives me intense stomach cramps and Docs wouldn't do an iron infusion on me even when my Hgb was down to 7...so I had to do it natural. Yeah, I know I live in an area where Medicine is practiced like in the dark ages...most of the time.
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