Low pth, vitamin d and normal calcium

Hi, i have been suffereing with pins and needles in hands and face it occurs in various degrees from a bit tingly to complete numbness. My pth level was undetectable should be 12 my vitamin d was 18n/mol  should be 30 and my calcium was 2.26 n/mol. i also feel thirsty quite  lot but i'm not diabetic, i feel tired and twitch but not all the time i also go through periods of extreme tiredness. Anyway i have been to see a specialist who says i am not truely vitamin d defficient or my pth would be high? He said its just they way i am and i have to get on with it. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.


This discussion is related to High Blood Calcium, Low PTH, Low Vitamin D.. Need advice/input please.

[rumpled]

I am like you (except my PTH is a bit higher at 5) but sometimes my Ca does dip so even though the test was normal, I tried to explain to the doc that I am drinking gallons of milk etc. to try to keep my levels up and sometimes when I am away from home I cannot keep up my diet and my levels lower. My D is chronically low as well. Are you seeing an endo?  Like you, I am not able to get treated with synthetic PTH but I basically use a high calcium diet to help me and lots of vitamin D3.

[sam19775]

Hi thanks for replying, been to the endocrinologist but he sad I am normal and there is nothing to worry about as my calcium level was always normal also that I couldn't be truly vit d defficient as my pth would be high. I am not really sure what all this means I did feel like they thought I was wasting their time : ( do your calcium results always come back ok.

[Super_sally888]

Vitamin D is also a very important hormone, not just for calcium levels.  I would be concerned that your levels are so low.

You can buy vitamin D3 over the counter in health food stores.  It is not expensive, and is the best way to supplement vitamin D.

You could try a dose of say 5000 IUI daily for a month and then retest to see if your levels had come up, and then adjust dose from there.  From what i've read D levels should be at least mid-range and preferably on the higher end of the range.

[sam19775]

Hi I have tried vitamin d2 from the pharmacy and then vitamin d3 prescribed by the doctor and both times my kidneys were really sore and I felt quite unwell, so now I am a bit dubious. I don't understand why my vitamin d is so low when it's been summer and I have been outside a lot what will my levels be in summer : ) thanks for commenting everyone : )

[sam19775]

Silly me, i meant what will my levels be in winter : )

[Red_Star]

Low PTH levels may be caused by:

Damage to the parathyroid gland, which can by caused by neck surgery or radiation treatments.
A rare disease, such as sarcoidosis or histiocytosis X.
An overdose of vitamin D or calcium.
Cancer, such as lymphoma or multiple myeloma.
A low magnesium level.

I had a severe magnesium deficiency which caused my low PTH, vitamin D deficiency and calcium deficiency. Calcium can be normal in the early stages of magnesium deficiency but as the deficiency state worsens this eventually leads to calcium deficiency. To note: ionized calcium is more accurate than serum calcium.  Magnesium is the most important co factor for vitamin D absorption.  If you live above the 35 degree latitiude (eg: 2/3 of the US/ Canada, Europe) there is no UVB rays (that create vitamin D) from November through to March due to the angle of the sun.    

[sam19775]

Thanks for commenting, I am in Lancashire so there is not much hope of getting any vitamin d. I've had my magnesium levels checked and they were ok. I am just going to see how I get on this winter. I don't know about the rest of you but I go through phases were I feel ok and then I go down hill and feel really tired. I am a chemist so I am considering testing my ionized calcium levels my self, can't face going back to the doctors. Hope your all well : )

[rumpled]

My calcium is always borderline low, sometimes low. But *They* say it is ok. Huh. I only had ionized run once it was normal - again on low side.

Urine calcium readings are high. I take a lot of D and a lot of calcium (mostly in the form of food). I think D is under-rated - they should pay more attention to it! It is a hormone too!