Calcium level in your labs
We all know we need to take calcium, right? And when we get labs done, one of the things they check is the calcium level in our blood. What we need to understand, though, is that the calcium level in our blood really tells us very little about our calcium intake/absorption.
See, if the calcium level in our blood drops too low, our muscles cannot contract. The heart is a muscle and if it cannot contract, as in beat, we drop dead. So if we don't take in enough calcium or don't absorb the calcium we take in for some reason (like if our vitamin D level is too low), our bodies produce extra parathyroid hormone, which sucks calcium out of our bones to keep that level in our blood good. As long as you have bones and teeth to suck calcium out of, that calcium level in your blood will likely be OK.
If it drops low, it may mean you have problems with your endocrine system or other potentially serious health problems, but it doesn't mean you aren't getting enough calcium.
For lab results that tell you about calcium, what you want to know is your D level and PTH. If the D is below 80, that means you won't absorb calcium well, no matter how much you take. Doesn't mean you won't absorb any, you will. But maybe not enough and you will be at increased risk for osteoporosis as well as other unpleasant things.
If the PTH is on the high side (even in the normal range, just on the high side), it suggests you are indeed leaching calcium out of your bones.
At one year out, you should get a bone density scan to see the true state of your bones. However, you don’t want to wait ‘til then to at least try to get enough calcium and keep your vitamin D level above 80. If you get a bone density scan and find out you’ve suffered bone loss, you’re already in trouble.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I ask because I was taking the carbonate all this time, cause I'm an idiot, and I would like to know if I got any benefit from taking it.
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. ~ Ayn Rand
One study found that people that lack stomach acid (for whatever reason) absorbed about 4% of the calcium in supplements that were calcium carbonate. So to get enough calcium from Viactive, you'd have to take about 60 a day. Like the whole package every day. So you got a teeny bit of benefit from it but not much.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
