Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com!
    eNewsletter
    Donate

What Are Ok Calcium Levels?

hannisa

Recommended Posts

hannisa Rookie
hannisa
Posted

Hi All :)

I have problems with my calcium and vit D levels being low and the doctor has been prescribing Adcal (calcium/vit D3 supplement)for about a year. I got sent for a dexa scan which showed my bones were fine, so the nurse there said to stop the Adcal when my levels were OK.

I've just had my blood test results. The serum calcium was 2.06 and the albumin was 50 (whatever that is!)I was told the calcium levels were normal, but when I looked up online that seems to be on the low side.

For some reason they haven't done the vit D but they might have done it by the end of next week! :unsure:

Should I stop the Adcal? I'm asking here because my doctor doesn't fill me with confidence (long story short).

Many thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


frieze Community Regular
frieze
Posted

Hi All :)

I have problems with my calcium and vit D levels being low and the doctor has been prescribing Adcal (calcium/vit D3 supplement)for about a year. I got sent for a dexa scan which showed my bones were fine, so the nurse there said to stop the Adcal when my levels were OK.

I've just had my blood test results. The serum calcium was 2.06 and the albumin was 50 (whatever that is!)I was told the calcium levels were normal, but when I looked up online that seems to be on the low side.

For some reason they haven't done the vit D but they might have done it by the end of next week! :unsure:

Should I stop the Adcal? I'm asking here because my doctor doesn't fill me with confidence (long story short).

Many thanks!

the problem with this thought process is that it took a supplement to get you to normal, what is going to happen when you stop?? good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

My doctor told me to aim for 1000mg of calcium a day, either from my diet or supplements. I also have 2000 IU of D3 prescribed.

Was your calcium lower than than 2.06 before the supplements? I wonder if your parathyroid gland isn't working quite as well as it should?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hannisa Rookie
hannisa
  • Author
Posted

Hi, thanks for your replies. It is a gamble stopping the Adcal but my assumption is that as my gut heals it will be absorbing nutrients better and I may not need it. Presumably the advice from the Dexa scan clinic to stop the Adcal when my calcium levels were OK, was because there are increased risks of other health problems from taking Adcal.

:blink:

So, I dunno. I wish I had a doctor who was a bit more clued up and motivated!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Hi, thanks for your replies. It is a gamble stopping the Adcal but my assumption is that as my gut heals it will be absorbing nutrients better and I may not need it. Presumably the advice from the Dexa scan clinic to stop the Adcal when my calcium levels were OK, was because there are increased risks of other health problems from taking Adcal.

:blink:

So, I dunno. I wish I had a doctor who was a bit more clued up and motivated!!

You need to check the strength of the AdCal. Maybe it's strong. The US RDA on calcium for women aged 19-50 is 1,000 mg a day. Taking a LOT more for a long time (the RDA recommended upper limit is 2,500 mg) gives some people constipation or even rarely kidney stones.

You can estimate your dietary intake from food labels, then find a supplement like Tums to make up the rest of the 1000 mg. For example if you eat a cup of yogurt at lunch you would only need another 600 mg from your supplement.

Open Original Shared Link

Hopefully your doctor will advise you on the D3 based on your blood tests.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
frieze Community Regular
frieze
Posted

Hi All :)

I have problems with my calcium and vit D levels being low and the doctor has been prescribing Adcal (calcium/vit D3 supplement)for about a year. I got sent for a dexa scan which showed my bones were fine, so the nurse there said to stop the Adcal when my levels were OK.

I've just had my blood test results. The serum calcium was 2.06 and the albumin was 50 (whatever that is!)I was told the calcium levels were normal, but when I looked up online that seems to be on the low side.

For some reason they haven't done the vit D but they might have done it by the end of next week! :unsure:

Should I stop the Adcal? I'm asking here because my doctor doesn't fill me with confidence (long story short).

Many thanks!

don't know the ranges in europe...looked up AdCal, all it is is extra strength Tums with a very small (read:barely worth the bother of) amount of Vit D3, made by a pharmaceutical company! 750mg Ca++ and 200 IU of D3. and if you are sensitive to soy, you should not take. Albumin is a protein in the blood, do you commonly suffer from swelling? are you protein malnoursished, do you have kidney disease?

good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hannisa Rookie
hannisa
  • Author
Posted

don't know the ranges in europe...looked up AdCal, all it is is extra strength Tums with a very small (read:barely worth the bother of) amount of Vit D3, made by a pharmaceutical company! 750mg Ca++ and 200 IU of D3. and if you are sensitive to soy, you should not take. Albumin is a protein in the blood, do you commonly suffer from swelling? are you protein malnoursished, do you have kidney disease?

good luck

Hi frieze,

No, I'm not aware of any kidney/swelling/protein problems. I guess my concern is really about trying to understand what the optimum levels of calcium in the blood should be. I was told mine were OK (in which case it would make sense to reduce or stop the Adcal) but looking online my levels of calcium seem a little on the low side (in which case I should keep taking it). So that's what I'm confused about :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

That's really up to your doctor to determine. He will do that partly by evaluating whether you have signs of calcium deficiency as well as reading labs. As I mentioned, if your blood levels tend to fall below the bottom of the "normal" range you might have parathyroid trouble.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. plumbago
      - plumbago replied to Suzi374's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Lots of tests

      I'm also a nurse, but one who has worked in chronic care, and to some extent, it is more satisfying to see patients through to a diagnosis (as opposed to working in the ED), but an accurate diagnosis does not occur not as often as it should! Your posting presents a lot of information. But a couple of things I can respond to. One, celiac disease is diagnosed...
    2. trents
      - trents replied to Suzi374's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Lots of tests

      Was a biopsy done when you had your gastroscopy? Concerning your anemia, are you B12 deficient? It's nearly impossible to get sufficient B12 if you are a vegetarian unless you take supplements.
    3. Suzi374
      - Suzi374 replied to Suzi374's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Lots of tests

      And I’m anaemic, however I’m also female and vegetarian. I had an iron trans a couple of years ago however it’s starting to dwindle and taking supplements doesn’t seem to work. I can’t seem to absorb it.
    4. Suzi374
      - Suzi374 posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Lots of tests

      Hi, I attended a neurologist appt last Tuesday, which I nearly cancelled, due to ongoing numbness and tingling in toes to mid foot. One of the first things he asked was ‘are you celiac’. I’m not. He thought all reflexes were ok but at the last minute decided on nerve conduction tests which were low normal. He was a little confused as he felt they should be be...
    5. Peace lily
      - Peace lily posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      0

      Would like to gain weight

      Im still not gaining weight I’m on a gluten free diet . And still having issues with constapation started priobiocs figured it would help been over two weeks . I guess it’s going to be a long road for me .
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      121,225
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    jhand
    Newest Member
    jhand
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.3k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • plumbago
      Lots of tests

      By plumbago · Posted

      I'm also a nurse, but one who has worked in chronic care, and to some extent, it is more satisfying to see patients through to a diagnosis (as opposed to working in the ED), but an accurate diagnosis does not occur not as often as it should! Your posting presents a lot of information. But a couple of things I can respond to. One, celiac disease is diagnosed by endoscopy and biopsy of the duodenum. So, pathology will need to weigh in. It's not diagnosed on gastroscopy. (At least, not as far as I know). Two, did you get blood tests for celiac disease? You will need to be eating gluten in order for those to be accurate. Three, where was the CT angiogram (of what)? I could go on and on, but thought I'd start there.
    • trents
      Lots of tests

      By trents · Posted

      Was a biopsy done when you had your gastroscopy? Concerning your anemia, are you B12 deficient? It's nearly impossible to get sufficient B12 if you are a vegetarian unless you take supplements.
    • Suzi374
      Lots of tests

      By Suzi374 · Posted

      And I’m anaemic, however I’m also female and vegetarian. I had an iron trans a couple of years ago however it’s starting to dwindle and taking supplements doesn’t seem to work. I can’t seem to absorb it. 
    • Suzi374
      Lots of tests

      By Suzi374 · Posted

      Hi, I attended a neurologist appt last Tuesday, which I nearly cancelled, due to ongoing numbness and tingling in toes to mid foot. One of the first things he asked was ‘are you celiac’. I’m not. He thought all reflexes were ok but at the last minute decided on nerve conduction tests which were low normal. He was a little confused as he felt they should be better and tried a new set of probs, all the time, giving me multiple shocks which were not enjoyable lol. Anyway, he’s now ordered tests for myeloma, and all the vitaminy things that so many of you mention on here, also tests looking for autoimmune responses. I already have Hashimotos. Interestingly, to me, but maybe someone out there can relate or knows more than i do, although I was a nurse, but ED not ‘weird symptoms’  nurse. Anyway back to the interesting thing, I took duramine in 2013 to lose weight which caused a massive panic attack when I stopped taking it and half my hair fell out. I only took it for a week but it was horrible and I regret it. It triggered ongoing panic attacks which are horrendous. So I feel like I’m a bit crazy. Then in 2020 I had this sudden onset of horrible pain when trying to eat a cinnamon roll. It continued and I lost around 20 kgs. I had two gastroscopes and a colonoscopy and they were all normal. I scored a barium swallow and CT angiogram. All normal. The pain subsided a little but I was left with reflux and an awful feeling that I couldn’t get air when I ate some foods. This was not anxiety.  The anxiety was separate and I still maintain this. This was something to do with eating. It was like the air was thick but I wasn’t short of breath. I just had the sensation I was, then it triggered anxiety. Anyway, I had other weird things- couldn’t bend knees to shave legs in shower lol. Knees felt stiff and swollen but they weren’t. Knee WOUld swell up randomly but mri showed minimal issues. A bit of a meniscus degeneration but insignificant. Then the buzzing sensations in my head, the feeling like someone was stabbing me with something sharp. So now, I pre empted his tests, although I don’t think I’m celiac because it should have come up on gastroscopy, I’ve gone off gluten. Since Tuesday last week so 9 days. Since then I don’t appear to be as constipated, I realised I got through today without a nap and I’m not tired, maybe it’s just today and not related but I get very tired normally and sleep straight after work often, I can bend my knees and shave my legs lol, the buzzing vibrating has gone from my head, I had to call and ambulance as my heart decided we were off on a run, but we weren’t running and I’ve been a bit twitchy at bed time when trying to sleep, reflux is improving, I did get the weird suffocating feeling a bit when eating today but not as bad normall. Tingling and numbness still present and I felt like it moved up my legs a bit today but I’m a bit jittery. So I don’t know if it’s celiac disease or a gluten intolerance but I think, and it may be wishful thinking because my symptoms do make life a bit challenging, but maybe I’m feeling better. I don’t feel as cloudy. My thinking feels crisper. Like there’s no buzzing and I’m not fighting to break through the cloudiness now. I hope so much that this may help me feel a bit better moving forward. It would be a miracle as I really have struggled to work and parent and keep the house clean and I’m always anxious and exhausted.  If you get this far, please tell me if you you can relate to any of the above. Oh and tonsils out 5 years ago but before that antibiotics multiple times a year, sometimes intramuscular because they were so bad.  Op was meant to take 30 mins, it took 1.5 hours due to size of them. 
    • Peace lily
      Would like to gain weight

      By Peace lily · Posted

      Im still not gaining weight I’m on a gluten free diet . And still having issues with constapation started priobiocs figured it would help been over two weeks . I guess it’s going to be a long road for me .
×
×
  • Create New...