Guest guest Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 In a message dated 4/20/2004 2:51:45 PM Central Standard Time, moobabies2003@... writes: Dr. K started her on Calcium IV's and she is taking 4000 mg. of oral calcium a day. Her labs values came up and they stopped the IV's....but at the labs just before the last meeting her calcium levels had crashed again. This struggle will go on for awhile. When we become deficient it takes time to rebuild and stabilize. She now has osteoporosis. She States she can't even begin to describe how much pain she is in constantly with muscle and joint aching. She is taking Vicodin in the evenings but just suffers through it during the day because she can't work with the drug " onboard " . __________________________________________________- Jo, Makes me wonder if my Fibro is actually fibro, or just the damage from the low calcium over the years from the RNY? Did she say the damage is permament or will it get better ...or has she got to live with it every day from here on? I can surely comiserate with her. I am paying horribly for riding 3 rides at the carnival Saturday. I'm walking hunched and look like an old woman until the muscles relax enough to allow me to stand straight. When I had mY RNY, I never was given ANY labs....Told to take one Multi vit a day and nothing else. It's a miracle I don't have more problems than I do....Even after a spinal compression fracture and bone spurs noone has ever done a dexa scan....I need to ask about that. in Bama VBG 1982 (lost from 433lbs to 270's) VBG -RNY1996 revision(Lost from 343 to 299) RNY-DS revision Dec 2002 -down 135 lbs (377.7 to 242.2 and still going) Homepage address- http://hometown.aol.com/mdl1031/myhomepage/profile.html Many thanks to Dr. K willing to take on a 3rd timer....LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 > Of course, being in Texas, I was not at the support group meeting, is > anyone at liberty to share with me Dee's issue with calcium > malabsorption? ======================================= What Dee shared at the support meeting about her SEVERE calcium deficiency: She was diligent taking Calcium the first couple years...her labs were great, she felt great. She then started to get haphazard about taking it...her labs started to slip....she had calcium surrounding her everywhere...on her desk, in the car, in her purse, by her bed...she thought about taking calcium all the time but just didn't quite get around to it. Her foot started to hurt, she thought perhaps it was fractured. They x-rayed it and it was fine...a couple weeks passed and pain moved into her knees. She thought...gosh I'm getting old and arthritis is really setting in. There was an emergency call for her blood type...so she went and gave blood. By the time she got to the office she was saying she wished they would give her back her blood because she thought she need it....she really felt bad, weak, achy. The next morning she couldn't get out of bed. She was sent for lab work. When they put the band around her arm to get the veins to pop, her arm and hand curled into a claw. When she went back to the office she asked Dr. K what would cause that to happen. He pushed on her arm muscles and her hand clawed up...he tapped on her face and watched it twitch. He said she had classic signs of severe calcium deficiency. The labs came back confirming this. Dr. K started her on Calcium IV's and she is taking 4000 mg. of oral calcium a day. Her labs values came up and they stopped the IV's....but at the labs just before the last meeting her calcium levels had crashed again. This struggle will go on for awhile. When we become deficient it takes time to rebuild and stabilize. She now has osteoporosis. She States she can't even begin to describe how much pain she is in constantly with muscle and joint aching. She is taking Vicodin in the evenings but just suffers through it during the day because she can't work with the drug " onboard " . Dee said she was sharing her story with us because she loved us too much and didn't want any of us to suffer her same fate. She said it was her own fault, and it is so easy to prevent...just be diligent with taking your calcium....everyday....for life. Lesson....just because you feel good and get a good lab returned it does not mean you can skimp on taking your required supplements. This was the jist of what Dee said...It really is too bad every single one of us couldn't be there to hear her story...it made quite an impact. Dee said...if you are suffering from bone/muscle/joint pain that you feel could be connected to calcium def. or you have any questions about it...please let her know and she will send you a lab slip to get your levels checked. Hugs Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 > Jo, > Makes me wonder if my Fibro is actually fibro, or just the damage from > the low calcium over the years from the RNY? Did she say the damage is permament > or will it get better ...or has she got to live with it every day from here > on? > =================================== Mel She didn't say if it was permanent. She did say her symptoms started in Dec. and by Feb. she Crashed. She also said Thank God that she had Dr. K to turn to because her primary care told her " I don't know what to do for you " Her levels were so low she could have had heart failure....also, the Calcium Iv's could have caused heart failure. You bring up a good point about the Fibro....It will be interesting to see what Dee's long term effects are...praying there are none, but I have a feeling that there will be some. If I was you I would " insist " on having a bone scan to establish a baseline to be monitored. Hope your feeling better soon. How long do your episodes usually last? It has gotta suck. Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 Jo...thanks for posting the information on Dee. I have been concerned about her since the meeting in March when I first heard of her having the IV calcium treatments. Please, please, please everyone take your supplements, even when you think its not necessary, or your busy, or you ran out. etc, etc. etc......I am living proof of the dangers of low lab counts, and I am living proof that when they get down it is such a STRUGGLE to get your lab values back up to near normal... Love and Hugs to all.....a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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