Monday 4 October 2010

High Calcium Levels

So ... my doctor's office called ... they want to do more blood tests because  my calcium levels are too high.  I always thought it would be a good thing to have lots of calcium.  Nope ... it always means there is a problem.  The most common one is hyperparathyroidism ... 98% of cases of high Ca ... The second cause is cancer ... but ususally not the cause if you are not really sick with a malignancy. 

So ... what is this hyper parathyroidism?  I am not quite sure but I do know it is fixable ...

And these are the symptoms ... I have starred my own ...

Symptoms of Parathyroid Disease
    *Loss of energy. Don't feel like doing much. Tired all the time. Chronic fatigue.
    *Just don't feel well; don't quite feel normal. Hard to explain but just feel kind of bad.
    *Feel old. Don't have the interest in things that you used to.
    *Can't concentrate, or can't keep your concentration like in the past.
    Depression.
    Osteoporosis and Osteopenia.
    Bones hurt; typically it's bones in the legs and arms but can be most bones.
    *Don't sleep like you used to. Wake up in middle of night. Trouble getting to sleep.
    *Tired during the day and frequently feel like you want a nap.
    Spouse claims you are more irritable and harder to get along with (cranky, bitchy).
    Forget simple things that you used to remember very easily (worsening memory).
    Gastric acid reflux; heartburn; GERD.
    Decrease in sex drive.
    Thinning hair (predominately in middle aged females on the front part of the scalp).
    Kidney Stones.
    High Blood Pressure (sometimes mild, sometimes quite severe; up and down a lot).
    *Recurrent Headaches (usually patients under the age of 40). (*just starting agai after years of being headache free.)
    Heart Palpitations (arrhythmias). Typically atrial arrhythmias.



So ... at least there's a reason for being exhausted all the time ...


Now to get things back to normal.

4 comments:

kingmisha said...

Oh thank God it's fixable! I can't take another blow to a good friend.
Let's hope you get back in balance again soon. Hugs.

Barbara Carlson said...

You don't have many of the symptoms at all. Mostly loss of energy (and non sleeping well would account for some of THAT.) Good that you found out the calcium bit.

Oma said...

very few people have more that 4 or 5 of the symptoms and some have none at all. Apparently the longer the calcium levels are too high, the more symptoms develop.

I went in to the doctor today and got the lab requisition for the lab where they told me that I will have to fast again. I will go back tomorrow morning. I am weary just from the chasing around. My doctor is 1 1/2 hours from home!

Erin Kuhns said...

I hope everything's all right. When will you find out once and for all, what's really going on and what you can do about it?

I send you a big, big hug!!! xo