Calcium supplements and effects ....??

TaBunny

I've been taking calcit d3 for around 3 months now in the powder form and it really makes me feel sick. Since starting the medicine my tummy has swollen up so much I've had to go up a size in clothes, I'm always thirsty and (this may or may not be related) I have so much trouble sleeping infact I rarely get tired now.

Anyway to get to my point, I just wondered if there's anyone else out there whos experienced problems with calcium supplements. I have told my specialist re the problems above and they've told me that my need for the calcium outweighs any nasty side effects I may or may not be having and they scoff and laugh that I could be having so many, but I don't agree with them brushing it off so lightly. I also get terrible headaches but this could be due to the fact I am also on high steroid doses and other meds but thats by the by.

So anyone who's on calcit d3 or other calcium products I'd appreciate your shared thoughts, am I going nuts or could it be causing some of these side effects.

Thanks for listening.

jellyhead

hi.
my 8 year old takes calcium (it comes in sticks of sugar from boots) with no side effects. i eat ellactiva calcium sweets with no effects either. how much do you have to take?

i don't know what steroids you're on but i always get side effects from them, i have them from time to time for my asthma but not usually for more than a week at a time. steroids make me blow up a dress size or two, they make me thirsty, i get headaches, they make me moody, etc.

i'm not much help sorry, i don't know what health problems you have. thirst should always be investigated as you might be diabetic. the headaches could be migraines. if you're not already taking too many tablets you could try feverfew, you can get it in tablet form from halland and barrett, it's great for migraines. i also found getting react-to-light lenses in my glasses helped a lot. another thing for headaches might be to look at your method of birth control. sorry i can't help. shaz

TaBunny

hi.
my 8 year old takes calcium (it comes in sticks of sugar from boots) with no side effects. i eat ellactiva calcium sweets with no effects either. how much do you have to take?

i don't know what steroids you're on but i always get side effects from them, i have them from time to time for my asthma but not usually for more than a week at a time. steroids make me blow up a dress size or two, they make me thirsty, i get headaches, they make me moody, etc.

i'm not much help sorry, i don't know what health problems you have. thirst should always be investigated as you might be diabetic. the headaches could be migraines. if you're not already taking too many tablets you could try feverfew, you can get it in tablet form from halland and barrett, it's great for migraines. i also found getting react-to-light lenses in my glasses helped a lot. another thing for headaches might be to look at your method of birth control. sorry i can't help. shaz

Thanks for replying Shaz I do appreciate it, I'm on 1000 mcgs daily of calcium which apparently is quite high, recently been diagnosed as having osteoporosis after a fall broke my hip so they've walloped me on a high dose. The steroids are injections straight into the joint and botty for rhuematoid so they dont tend to make me blow up infact until I start the calcium I was an 8/10 but now I'm struggling to get a 12 round my belly its just like a hard mellon now and so painful. My other halfs told me to stop the calcium til the dr sorts this out so I think I will do that. Oh and I've now been told whats causing the headaches and yes they are up to migraine standard, apparently it is another injection I have each week and the damn nurse just said 'well nothing we can do about that you'll have to put up with it and just take paracetamol' nice eh. Again thanks for your help it's nice to know someones listening I was feeling a bit sorry for myself, just have to keep on with the hot water bottles to kill the pain in my poor tum

jellyhead

nothing wrong with feeling sorry for yourself, being ill does that to you *HUGS* i was on steroid tablets so as you say your injectibles might not have the same side effects. are your calcium dosages spread throughout the day or do you have to take it all in one go? have you tried having it halfway through a meal so there's food on either side of it to help your stomach? i do this with my metformin tablets, they can cause stomach discomfort but i have no problems as long as i take them mid-meal.

paracetamol isn't the best pill for migraine. aspirin works much better (it widens the arteries or relaxes them or something) but i don't know if it will upset your stomach. i am asthmatic so have never taken aspirin but a doctor suggested it as the best migraine tablet so i decided to risk it one day and the effect was so much better than with paracetamol. i've got better pills for migraine, my doctor gave me 'naramig', the generic name is 'naratriptan'. it's not a painkiller, it relaxes the arteries in the head/brain, it relaxes a tight neck, stops you feeling sick too actually. if i have a migraine coming on and i take one or half a pill i feel much better within an hour. a bit sleepy but not as ill if you see what i mean. you can also use painkillers at the same time as naratriptan.

taking feverfew makes the migraines less frequent. it's not nice to be told to just take paracetamol, migraine can be really awful especially if you get it every day for months and months, it stops you working, even stops you shopping because the lights are so bright. i started getting lots of them including focal migraines (numbness) when i gained weight suddenly. it went from being one migraine every month or two to being every day for nearly 12 months, only the feverfew stopped them i think.

i was also given another pill to try called pizotifen but i get lots of side effects, i know people who take 3 tablets a day with no effects but even one makes me sleep for 16 hours, snoring and dribbling, then i get the munchies something awful the next day and constantly eat lol! but nobody else i know gets side effects.

my sister gets hormonal migraines and has tried prozac with success and has also been on beta-blockers and amitryptaline, i've got some amitryptaline but haven't tried them yet, apparently they will help when my arm goes numb. i'm not sure which of my sisters drugs are for migraine and which are for her back problem although one probably affects the other.

if the migraines persist then think about feverfew but don't be afraid to do some internet research on some of the drugs i've mentioned and ask the doctor if you can try them. i thoroughly recommend naratriptan. although there can be side effects from any treatment you shouldn't have to endure lots of migraine headaches without being given something to help!

jellyhead

oh, also have you tried peppermint tea or tablets to help your tummy? i've got colpermin tablets and also use peppermint tea (i get IBS). i get the colpermin on prescription but they can be bought over the counter. they're around five pounds for something like 15 tablets though so expensive if you take 3 a day! peppermint really settles the stomach, stops it being so swollen and painful.

TaBunny

wow Bargain Bunny you've given me loads to be going on with to try many thanks. One thing though I did used to take aspirin for my joint pain but because the main (non steroid) weekly injections I am on thin the blood and make me suseptible to infection I have been told I am not allowed aspirin. They've given me fizzy co codamol but it makes me wretch. Sorry I shouldve also pointed out that after years of taking tablets I can no longer swallow pills and have to have everything liquid or disolvable form but I will look into the meds you suggested they may come in liquid etc.

Its great to have another bunny helping me ;D

I think the main problem with the headaches is my weekly injections but without them I wouldn't walk so I'm stuck between a rock and a hardplace. Re the calcium I've tried it all sorts of times and it still swells me up, I can actually see my tum swelling within an hour of taking it but I will try what you said taking it during a meal only problem is it tastes like fizzy cold lemsip and I hate lemon argggggg.

Ok thanks again will let you know in a week or so how I get on many hugs to you tabunny :-*

Glad

are you taking any other medication that might be interacting with the Calcit ?

TaBunny

are you taking any other medication that might be interacting with the Calcit ?

My meds

weekly methotrexate injection (low dosage chemo for joints)

calcit d3

monthly depo medrone injections (steroids)

iron daily

folic acid weekly

thyroxin daily

Thats about it I think, been told non of them really effect the others but who can tell. The one with the worst side effects is the chemo drug, it does do wonders for keeping me walking but the side effects are c**p, mood swings, tiredness but unable to sleep, headaches from hell, eyes blurred, worst of all though it gets to me I can't even have the odd tipple, gees I could do with a drink. Oh and I have to stick to a very strict diet there's so many things I can't eat mainly due to the worry of listeria.

jellyhead

erk, iron upsets my tummy.

i don't know if you can afford to buy calcium but if you can, the calcium my son takes is in a sugar stick. it tastes of orange i think. there's only 400mg in each stick though so if you need 1000mg a day you'd need to use 5 sticks over 2 days. 30 sticks is £5.99 but boots always have their vits on 3 for 2. it would still cost you around £12 for a month though i think.

always happy to help a bunny :-)

Glad

as far as I cam see, nothing you take should be causing your symptons although taking calcium salts reduces absorption of levothyroxine (thyroxine). I would assume though that your GP would be monitoring that.

TaBunny

as far as I cam see, nothing you take should be causing your symptons although taking calcium salts reduces absorption of levothyroxine (thyroxine). I would assume though that your GP would be monitoring that.

Thanks for pointing that out Glad, I'm not sure they are monitoring it as its the gp that wrote me up for the thyroid tablets for under active gland and its the rhuematologist who wrote me up for the calcium after I broke my hip back in June. I'm up hospital every Monday so will ask them next week but for now have stopped the calcium and blow me down my tummy's gone all flat and no pain so looks like it was that causing it