High Blood Calcium Levels
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Hello Lori
I have just read your post and I was wondering whether you have or have had a problem with high calcium.
It is important for everyone to keep an eye on the calcium level in the blood. It can be a sign of cancer spread to other parts of the body or, in conjunction with high parathyroid hormone, can be a sign of an over active parathyroid which needs treatment.
You might like to read in the IDC forum the thread about Parathyroid hormone and breast cancer.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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I was up late Googling things last night. I didn't have any energy to get into depth about my situation but I was very happy to have found this site and this thread. I just finished proton therapy a week ago. In the midst of the last year my calcium has been high about four times and then will show normal at other times. I just switched my oncologist because I wasn't getting the answers I needed from my previous one who seems to dismiss all abnormal lab work. I am very happy because the new doctor ran your normal Panel test as well as another test to test my estrogen. Unfortunately my calcium levels are above normal again. I am going to get this issue resolved because it's just not normal to have high calcium levels. You are a great person to keep this thread going because otherwise I would have never found it and had some kind of idea what I could be dealing with besides the cancer spreading which is where my mind went first. I will keep you updated on what I find out.
Lori
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I was up late Googling things last night. I didn't have any energy to get into depth about my situation but I was very happy to have found this site and this thread. I just finished proton therapy a week ago. In the midst of the last year my calcium has been high about four times and then will show normal at other times. I just switched oncologist because I wasn't getting the answers I needed from my previous one who seems to dismiss all abnormal lab work. I am very happy because the new doctor ran your normal Panel test as well as another test to test my estrogen. Unfortunately my calcium levels are above normal again. I am going to get this issue resolved because it's just not normal to have high calcium levels. You are a great person to keep this thread going because otherwise I would have never found it and had some kind of idea what I could be dealing with besides the cancer spreading which is where my mind went first. I will keep you updated on what I find out.
Lori
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Lori,
Be persistent with the doctors about the high calcium levels. I let my old endocrinologist ignore higher than normal calcium levels for years and I ended up with osteopenia and headed toward kidney problems. My old dr. retired and my new one jumped on it. It took a bit of testing because my PTH (parathyroid hormone) levels varied widely and ultrasound didn't show it, but was finally diagnosed with parathyroid adenoma which was successfully removed in a minor surgery last summer. My calcium levels have been normal since. No, it's not normal!!! Please let us know about followup testing and how you're doing. Please ask any questions you may have. All the best. Ceanna
edited to add that if you want additional information there is another thread about parathyroid problems you may want to skim through: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/96/topics/784308
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Hello Lori,
I am posting to say that I do agree with ceanna and that you must be persistent and get this problem dealt with. The high calcium levels coupled with high PTH (parathyroid hormone) need to be dealt with and the problem will not go away without surgery. I remember my now retired GP told me that an overactive parathyroid was very rare and that he had not dealt with one throughout his career. I do not think it is rare, it is just under-diagnosed. There is nothing to fear from the surgery. It is easily done through keyhole surgery. I was lucky when I was diagnosed with breast cancer that my oncologist and breast cancer consultant surgeon/endocrinologist decided to do the parathyroid hormone test when all my scans came clear, although I had high calcium levels. The sestamibi scan organised by that team did indeed show a non-malignant adenoma on the lower right parathyroid gland and the other three of these glands were normal. I had the surgery done, which in 2009 was a full one, but I just remained in hospital overnight, left the next morning and my calcium level was back to normal.
The longer you wait the more damage you will have to your bones and kidneys.
Please keep in touch and be persistent with this problem.
Let us try to keep this thread going as well as the one in the forum Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, thread Parathyroid Disease and Breast Cancer.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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I am posting this for your interest.
Best wishes.
Sylvia.
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Hello everyone,
Keep this thread active.
Sylvia
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Hello everyone,
Please keep this thread at the front of the active topics.
Best wishes to all.
Sylvia
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Hi, I had stage 2b Breast cancer in 2014. I Had mastectomy, chemo and radiation. I have been cancer free for 5 years.
I had some blood work done in early jan for pains in my joints and toes. Dr said nothing there to worry about, he did say my calcium was a little high 10.4 and my bun was a little low. He said we would test in again later. Yesterday I realized it had ben 7 months since the test and that they had not requested new blood work. I left them a message about it this morning. In meantime, I looked at my past results and seen that in 2015 my calcium levels was 8.4 and over the next 3 years it has been going up with every blood test I have had. No dr ever said anything. Should i worry or is this normal. I seen where high calcium is also a sign of bone mets
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Hi Geri, no, high blood calcium is not normal but it's not necessarily bone mets. It could be hyperparathyroidism or something else. The saying goes that hyperparathyroidism causes "bones, moans, stones" (osteoporosis, aches, and kidney stones). It steals calcium from the bones and it lands in the blood where it should not be! Here's what I wrote back in April on this thread with a link to the parathyroid thread. Ask your doctor for the blood calcium test but also check your PTH (parathyroid) levels. Please let us know what you find out.
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Be persistent with the doctors about the high calcium levels. I let my old endocrinologist ignore higher than normal calcium levels for years and I ended up with osteopenia and headed toward kidney problems. My old dr. retired and my new one jumped on it. It took a bit of testing because my PTH (parathyroid hormone) levels varied widely and ultrasound didn't show it, but was finally diagnosed with parathyroid adenoma which was successfully removed in a minor surgery last summer. My calcium levels have been normal since. Please ask any questions you may have. All the best.
If you want additional information there is another thread about parathyroid problems you may want to skim through: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/96/topics/784308
Ceanna
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Hi everyone. Scared today. My last oncologist appointment with all the necessary bloodwork was dine at the end of March this year...all checked out ok. I had been feeling kind if lousy at the time, achy, head congestion but I do have allergies and fibromyalgia. Anyway, the last two months have really been feeling very tired and achy knees and ankles, to the point I went to my PC Dr. who ordered all kinds if bloodwork and low and behold...high calcium levels. Now I am a mess. He told me to stop my calcium and D3 supplements for a month a he is going to run it again. My family is planning a vacation in 2 weeks with all of my kids who are away coming to join. I understand this could be related to mets, and also parathyroid which may explain me feeling lousy. I am too afraid to do anything before the trip...because I am fearful this may be my last one....what do you guys think.....I am crying nonstop here. Oh, diagnosed 2012, Lobular St 2a, no lymph node involvement...TAC chemo, radiation notrecommended, on letrozole after chemo..bilateral mastectomy. Thanks...
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interesting addition to my last post....I got on my patient portal from my oncologists office, turns out for the past 7 1/2 years my calcium levels have hovered between 10 and 10.8...even once a few years back at 11!...Tumor markers have been good all the way through..now am really wondering about Hyperparathyroidism...and through all if this was never considered! Could this have caused my breast cancer! You have got to be kidding..years of pain from being diagnosed with fibromyalgia....chronic sinus headaches, exhaustion attributed to stress. I am scheduled to get my calcium levels checked in a few weeks and am asking to have parathyroid checked. Something I never realized...
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Theresanne, you might want to get a referral to competent endocrinologist or if you live in a larger city, a specialist in parathyroids. It took me years of higher than normal blood calcium levels and numerous scans and tests to finally get the correct diagnosis. A minor surgery took care of the problem (a non-cancerous adenoma), and my blood calcium returned to normal in under an hour!!!! No calcium level should be over 10. Apparently, in the past medical personnel were told to watch if it got higher. Now they should know that any high levels are something that needs diagnosis, not watching. Get to a doctor who knows this asap. Please let us know how you're doing.
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Echoing the suggestion to get a referral to an endocrinologist. I just saw one last week, first visit, and he ran tests for parathyroid, celiac and shoot I don't even remember the rest. This was all to ensure the osteoporosis he dx'd me with wasn't caused by something fairly easy to fix.
So enjoy your trip, see if you can get that referral and set aside the worry until you're back.
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...I definitely am scheduling with an endocrinologist, however in looking at other posts, when on letrozole, women’s blood calcium went up. I looked again at bloodwork conducted before I began letrozole and my number were in the 9’s...I don’t think coincidence
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Hello everyone,
If a routine blood test shows high levels of calcium in the blood, even slightly elevated levels, you should get it checked out and not let your GP ignore it. Just say you want a referral to get the calcium checked out and at the same time ask the endocrinologist to whom you have been referred to check the level of parathyroid hormone. It is the level of parathyroid hormone that gives the diagnosis of parathyroid disease. This PTH level if high will affect the calcium level cause the PTH will not be controlling it. Here in the UK parathyroid hormone level is not checked with a routine blood test and I think it should be. Parathyroid disease can be life-threatening. It indicates an adenoma or adenomas on the parathyroid glands and they have to be removed along with affected parathyroid gland.
Please see Parathyroid Disease and Breast Cancer, a thread in the forum Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC).
Wishing everyone all the best.
Sylvia
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My most recent bloodwork shows my calcium at 10.2. It has not been over 9.8 until now and seems to have gone from 9.3 in January, fluctuated up and down and was 9.7 in June, 9.3 in July and Augusr, 9.8 buy end of August and on Sept 12 was up to 10.2. I hate all of this worrying
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el7277, do get a referral to a competent endocrinologist (some only deal with blood sugar issues and not parathyroid and thyroid) who deals with parathyroid issues. Ask for a PTH (parathyroid hormone) level test asap and be persistent in getting to the bottom of this. I allowed my doctor to say they would keep "watching" my calcium levels so years went by with increasing osteopenia and mild kidney problems due to high blood calcium (almost always in upper 9s and 10s). Finally had enough tests--ultrasound, sestamibi scan, and got a great surgeon who took out the errant parathyroid in a minor surgery. My blood calcium, which had been high for years, returned to normal before the surgery anesthetic wore off and has remained normal since. High blood calcium is not normal and needs attention. All the best in tracking down the source of the problem. Hugs, Ceanna
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Ceanna... thanks, will do. Thanks for sharing your experience. I will talk to my doc. He also did tumor markers at last visit but I do not have the results yet. I feel he likes to be proaxtive... not the type to wait and see and he knows me well enough to know I need answers. Hugs back atcha.
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I am a (relatively) newly diagnosed and have only had pre-surgery blood work done. My calcium level was 10.6 for that screening. I asked my SO about it and he said he was not concerned. Additionally, as part of the Chek2 mutation diagnosis, I had a baseline thyroid ultrasound which I was told was normal. However, I have no idea whether this included the parathyroid or not. Which of the doctors is it appropriate to discuss this with SO, MO or PCP? I was planning on waiting to see what my next blood test showed but I have no idea if or when I will have any blood tests done. I didn't need chemo and just start rads this week and tamoxifen will start two weeks after rads end so maybe I will have blood work then?
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Hello to those who have very recently posted,
I can only echo what Ceanna has said. You need to get everything checked out by an endocrinologist who also specialises in parathyroid treatment and surgery. Do not allow anyone to give you the runaround. it is a life threatening condition.
Do not forget the thread entitled Parathyroid disease and breast cancer. We need to keep both threads active.
Best wishes
Sylvia xxxx
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Please keep this thread on the top pages and read in conjunction with the thread Parathyroid disease and breast cancer. Some research shows these are connected.
Sylvia
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Hello Everyone.
This thread has been inactive for too long. Please keep it going.
Best wishes,
Sylvia.
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Hello Maryjv,
Thank you for your help with the High Calcium thread. I remember this thread from when I was looking for something about high calcium and parathyroid disease. If you read the preceding pages you will see that EllenFitz started this in 2009. I discovered bc.org after I had finished my breast cancer treatment and was facing surgery for an overactive parathyroid, which my oncologist discovered when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. High calcium in the blood can be a sign of breast cancer having spread to other parts of the body. My oncologist did a blood test for parathyroid hormone and discovered that mine was high. Diagnosed parathyroid disease, for which I had to have surgery in 2009. If you are interested in all of this, it would be worthwhile reading the eight pages of this thread.
You should read this thread in conjunction with Parathyroid disease in the forum IDC invasive ductal carcinoma, which was started by sam52 with whom I became friends for a long time. We both went through surgery for parathyroid disease and we did a lot of research about the connection between breast cancer and parathyroid disease. Please have a read if you are interested.
All cases of high blood calcium should be investigated, even if it slightly elevated. A blood test should also be done for parathyroid hormone to rule out parathyroid disease, which is dangerous and life threatening, but can be cured through surgery. I was walking around with it but with no symptoms. My breast cancer consultant surgeon, who was also my endocrinologist, told me that the parathyroid problem, a non-malignant adenoma on one of the four parathyroid glands, preceded my breast cancer.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Have not read through all of these posts, but remember that taking calcium and K7 (vitamin K) plus vitamin D can also affect some of these values.
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Hello everyone,
I have read through the posts on this thread, thank you for all the information. I’m very worried. I had chemo today and was told that my calcium levels are a bit high. The bloods are going to be repeated next week. I will ask them to do parathyroid bloods also from what I’ve learnt here. I’m stage 3a lobular HR+ HER-. I was staged in November before chemo, which found a few benign bone islands and an area on my hip 4mm. It was discussed at the team meeting and 8 radiologists were not concerned about it so my staging was clear. I asked for a MRI of my hip for reassurance and was told it was nothing to be worried about. Now with this new high calcium they’re talking about repeating the MRI. I was wondering if anyone has gone through anything similar ?
Best wishes,
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Hi Ladies, my blood calcium levels have gone up in the last 6 months and this month one side of parathyroid is swollen. Do you think it may be any connection? I am on AI, letrozole. I'm worried.
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