horrible muscle cramps and tingling

[memaw50]

I'm having horrible muscle cramps and tingling in lips and hands...it started last Friday and has gotten really bad, last night I  almost went to the ER it was so bad. I have a check up with my surgeon today and we have to have a good long talk about this...he said with my gastric bypass that it would be tricky with the calcium and vitamin D I am taking 50,000u of Vitamin D daily and those citracal chews ( per day now and also citracal tablets 3 per day) I had high pth levels before surgery and it was tested last week and they don;t have those  numbers back now, last friday my calcium level was 8.1 in the hospital it got down to 7.4 and he was worried about seizures. My legs are killing me,,,,last night was horrible and I didn't know what to do. I am taking so much calcium and I have NEVER had cramps like this in my legs, hips and body.....I can't explain it,,,,

[Thypatient]

I can relate to what you're going through.  It's very scary.

I've had better results in maintaining my calcium levels by taking calcium carbonate, not the other kinds of calcium.  Just wanted to through that out though I don't know if it's just me or if that kind of calcium absorbs better for our situation.  I also take vitamin d.  Plus I take magnesium for the leg cramps.

Best wishes.

[hazelhurst]

I hope you can get some help by meeting today with your doctor! You are taking vitamin D, but why not calcitriol (also called rocaltrol)? This might be more effective than vitamin D (though I'm sure your doctor would suggest it if you needed it).  If the muscle contractions move to your chest or face, you must get to the ER immediately.  I spent a week in the hospital after my TT, attached to a heart monitor (the heart is a muscle as well).  Good luck and keep us posted.

[utahmomma]

Ask your doctor (or surgeon) if there is an injectible calcium that you could use.  Yeah, shots suck but not as bad as tetany!

If you feel that bad again tonight (why does it always hit at night??) GET TO THE ER!   Like Donna said, you don't need stage 4 tetany!!!

[deekay]

Wow.... be careful!   I just got out of the hospital after having a TT on Feb 11th but ending up in ICU for 5 days with the very symptoms you described.  My calcium plummeted to below 6.8 and I went into Stage 4 Tetany- thought I was about to die.  Thank God for a very attentive endocrinologist who happened to walking into the unit as I went into the most painful contractures I could ever imagine.  It took an army of docs and nurses to slam big ampules of Calcium gluconate one after the other to even to begin to reverse the tetany.  It took over 3 hours to completely alleviate the paralysis and cramping.  So that is the long way around my advice to be very careful how you deal with these warning signs.  I just got home yesterday and am on massive doses of Vit D and calcium carbonate with daily trips to the lab for calcium levels.  I know the terrible feelings you are having- I wouldn't want it to get much worse or you could really get into trouble.  Stay on top of it with your doctor!  Good Luck and I hope you feel better real soon. Donna