[Mariel]

I went to my new hematologist, the one I'm going to because he's close, and the bigger clinic in town has become a zoo.
He told me to stop taking calcium and see if that improves my spasticity and jerks of my legs and back at night. He says my calcium is high on my metabolic panel. I went all the way to Scripps to have the high calcium checked years ago, to see if I had parathyroid problem. No problem. But he says there could be other problems. No one in the thirty years I've taken magnesium and calcium said to stop the calcium, even when I was suspected of parathyroid disease.
I don't know how this will go....going to bed soon and hope I don't spasm tonight.

[Kitty]

I hope it works for you. I get the leg spasms in the evening and when I try to go to bed. They're awful and not something you can just ignore. I take Baclofen for mine and it seems to work.....just keeps me in a dizzy state all the time.

[SallyC]

Everything in moderation. Too much broccoli will kill you.
I try to get most of my vitamins and minerals from food.

I hope this works for you, Mariel.

[Mariel]

So far, my nighttime adventures have improved! Dr. B. must be right, that I don't need that much calcium, because I have had only minor leg and foot spasms and jerks the last five nights. I've slept at least seven hours each night. Dr. B said that after we check the calcium on the 19th, he will describe what else might be wrong than the parathyroid (which was all right when checked years ago). I have NO idea!
I am aching all over, however. Probably something not related to the mineral profile.
I had to take Demerol (small dose) twice this week. I can't take Baclofen. It makes me more than dizzy. The one time I took it, I ran into walls. I didn't have any eye/body sense left (I don't know if there is any word for that other than eye/body). Is that Proprioception?
May all the mom's on the forum have a good day for Mother's Day.

[tkrik]

I'm glad to hear things are improving for you.

[Mariel]

I'm still spasm free after 3 l/2 weeks off calcium. I am eating some dairy, however, such as low fat cottage cheese. My lab test showed I was in normal calcium range, will have another test next week. What a surprise. I am now wondering about the long term affect of not taking calcium, on bones. I surely do not eat a lot of calcium, just a little dairy. I don't have any green leafy veggies because I have Porphyria, and they are too high in sulfur for me to eat. After taking calcium for years, this is a surprise. The magnesium need is still paramount.
Of course I'm talking about specific spasm, the ones in low back and legs which I have had at night. I expect I can still get other spasm, like the eye spasm I get in smoke.

[Mariel]

After more than a month without calcium supplements, my severe leg and lower back spasm and jerk came back at night, with an added problem: a Charlie Horse that lasted for an hour and a half. The pain of the Charlie Horse was not too bad because my leg and foot are numb anyway, but it was surely miserable to not be able to straighten my ankle out by any form of moving. I was locked into a spasm!

So I decided the no calcium regime was not for me, in spite of tests showing (on the second test) that I was in the middle of normal range on blood calcium. I took two calcium right away (half my former daily dose) and soon the spasm was gone.

I am now taking half the former dose (500 mg is what I am now taking) or, if I have NO dairy during the day, 750 mg. I will see the pcp tomorrow and we can discuss this.
I think tests do not always show what is going on--not the first time that has happened. But the concept of taking less is worthwhile, perhaps, because they said that too much calcium can impair the arteries and valves.