OT: PTH, Calcium, vit D and hypoparathyroidism?! OH MY!

So today I got my vit D results back from my PCP and it was 36. It dropped 12 points since June and I have been supplementing for 5000 IU’s (which I did myself because my former PCP said 5000 UI’s was too much, pffft). It took me over a year to get to 48 from 15. This is really started to make me wonder if I am having some hypoparathyroidism going on… I already have Hashimoto’s Disease and I am supplementing for TSH. My levothyroxine is still being upped every 6 weeks because my levels keep going higher. I switched to an awesome endocrinologist this summer and he has been aggressively treating me for my PCOS and my naughty thyroid. My calcium was 1 point away from being in the ‘low’ range being at 8.5. I called my endocrinologist nurse up and left her a message to get back to me. I don’t know what my recent PTH levels where on my last labs. So I am waiting to hear back from her.

 

Is it too farfetched thinking I might have hypoparathyroidism? If I do I will really have to watch my labs especially with having the DS soon.

 

Does anybody know about this or have heard of this? I would defiantly like to hear from post-op ladies as well.

Am reading this right? You're supplementing with FIVE thousand IUs, not FIFTY thousand? Are you at least using a 'dry' formulation? Are you taking it daily?

Seriously, I take 50K daily, and I know people who take 150K daily. The first thing I'd do is up my dosage.

Hello MsBatt!
I think you mistaking me someone who has had the DS lol I don't have my DS till December 19th, 2011. So 150k would probably kill me lol but I will probably be taking that much after my DS.

But I can see where you would be like "WHAT! YOU CRAZY LADY!" lol I got a giggle out of this.

Try adding K2. 36 is still within normal range but it is low. I think you have an absorbtion issue. Hypoparathyroidism is rare and if you really had it, you would feel very tingly in your extremities (particularly your feet) and around your mouth. Your doc can give you a script for high dose vitamin D but the pharmacy will give you the synthetic crap (vitamin D2) so just get yourself a bottle of D3 50,000 IU and take it once a week. Clear this with your doc first.  And add the K2 for better absorption.

I had hyperparathyroidism and when I had the tumor removed last April the surgeon found a mass on my thyroid which was not cancerous, thank goodness. The biopsy revealed Hashimoto's though which lead me to do some serious research because I did not want my warty thyroid to ever become cancerous. Please do yourself a favor and check out this website:

www.lowdosenaltrexone.org

It put my Hashi's into remission and I had to drop my Cytomel dosage significantly. I can't tolerate any of the T4 meds because I don't convert very well and you may need to consider this as well because lots of Hashi's patients have a more difficult time converting T4 to T3.  Feel free to PM me if you want to hear about my experience with LDN.

Sometimes I have tingly fingers. I also have a small goiter going on, common with Hashimoto's. Both sides of my family suffer from autoimmune diseases. My mother's side suffers from Grave's Disease and my fathers side suffers from Hashimoto's. We are deffinatly thyroid probimatic! lol

I will definatlly bring this up to my endo when I have my next appointment. I just really want to know if I might have this before surgery, so I can suppliment aggressively. I would rather be high levels then low. YUCKY

with your VD25 in the 30's your PTH will probably be around 80.  if you are taking 5K IU of Vit D, and you have been on it for at least 4 continuous weeks with a 36, you need a larger amount of Vit D and you need to take Ca citrate.  a ca of 8.5 is too low and requires supplementation, definetly before you have your DS.   ( I will assume you are not a IBD, CF etc patient)  what you are questioning is if you have secondary hyperparathyroidism which is unfortunely not uncommon with WLS especially DSers when Ca is subobtimal.  essentially PTH mobilzes ca from bone as ca in the blood is maintained at a very narrow range, the body will sacrifice the bones in order to maintain this tight control.   I would caution you seeing an endo who treats your Hashi's by your TSH (which is a pituitory hormone not thyroid) and RX  synthroid (synthetic T4 only RX) for your condition.  good luck with your journey

Yes, this worries me. I have upped my D3 to 5000 UI for year and it was ok for awhile going up to 48 (I am aiming for higher) then after this is took another dive. I do supplement 1000 calcium a day already. My PCP told me not to take more than 1000 a day, that I was too young to be worrying about calcium. Ummm….ok then why is my calcium low! So basically waiting for my endocrinologist to get back to me.

I know this is not a long term fix but before surgery I am thinking of maybe getting 2 weeks of UV treatment. I seem to absorb it just fine from UV source just not orally. Because when it was at 48 I was outside all the time for at least an hour. Now that it’s dar****il 8am and starts getting dark at 4:30pm, I don’t get sunlight anymore for my D.

I want my D to be in good shape before surgery in 2 weeks. I have Vitalady’s chewable/sublingual starter pack being shipped to me. I plan to start my vit’s right away. If I do end up having hypoparathyroidism I will have to make sure my doctors supplement me well. If I have to arm wrestle them I will!

i have an appointment 1 month after surgery with all my doctors and I will definatly hash this out.

I know everybody is differen't but I noticed something in your post that did help me and maybe is an indicator that I am not absorbing like I should. I see you only uped you D to 1000 -2000 to up your 17 level and 3 months later its 38. That is really fast compared to me. It took me a full year to get up to 48 with 5000 ui daily! uggg Now that I have no more sun its dropping again.

Did you doctor diagnose you ? Let me know how your labs look with the dose your taking. I am curious.

Meh, I'm not sure you have an absorption issue. Many people need much more vitamin D than others to be in normal range, others much less. Who knows why? The suggestion to double the D3 (you can't OD on it) and to add some vitamin K2 are great suggestions.

Hugs,
Ratkity