r/Parathyroid_Awareness

I have been weak, fatigued, urinating more than usual so I saw my primary physician..The following blood tests were elevated :
Calcium
Chloride
Alkaline Phosphatase
BUN/Creatinine Ratio

Because of the high calcium level, my physician ordered ionized calcium and pth labs.

My results were
Ionized calcium 1.34 mmol which is about 5.3 mg
PTH 82 pg

I saw these results in the portal over the weekend and messaged my friend’s husband who is a family practice physician. He said I should ask for a referral to an endocrinologist as it could indicate a problem with parathyroid.

My primary physicians office called this morning and said my ionized calcium and pth were normal. I question whether I could possibly indicate a problem with my parathyroid, and need to be referred to an endocrinologist, and they said no that everything was fine.

So now I put my numbers into the calcium pro app, and it shows highly likely to have hyperthyroidism. So I called to make an appointment with an endocrinologist and they said I can’t be seen unless I have a referral.

Any suggestions on how to go about getting in to see a specialist? Or do these numbers look like not something you might see in hyperparathyroidism?

Thanks

Hi, this is my first post on Reddit, so please bear with me.

I am a 34 y/o F. I am still relatively early in my journey with this illness. I have had around 4 blood tests over the past little over a month, between the ER (caused by a panic attack), my PCP, and my cardiologist. I do not yet have an endocrinologist yet, but will most likely make an appointment for one soon.

We noticed my calcium levels were elevated at 10.3-10.4 at the highest. My adjusted calcium levels with my albumin were 9.6 and 9.8. On Monday I had my most recent blood draw to check my PTH hormone with calcium as well as some thyroid levels, due to them being slightly off last time. Thyroid levels are all in the normal range now, but my PTH hormone was high at 93 and my calcium was 9.7. According to the lab it says that this points towards secondary hyperthyroidism, but considering my labs with calcium in the 10s last month I am quite worried. Even 9.7 is the higher end of normal calcium… so shouldn’t my PTH be lower?

I read that commonly vitamin d is looked at in these situations, and it is true that my vitamin d levels (last checked a month ago) were 26… so low but not deficient. I find it hard to believe a vitamin d level of 26 would cause my PTH to go so high, especially with the high normal calcium level, but I’m also not a doctor.

My next appointment to go over labs with my dr is on Monday. I assume they will put me on vitamin d, but that makes me worry it will only cause my calcium levels to go up again… possibly higher than before. I guess if my vitamin d levels are fixed and I still have high PTH with high or high normal calcium I will know for sure what’s going on and can continue looking for a surgeon etc…

I should mention, I don’t really notice any symptoms of HPTH, but I have struggled with anxiety almost my entire life, so it’s possible that it’s making my anxiety more severe. I also noticed high blood pressure is a possible symptom. I struggle A LOT with severe white coat syndrome… To the point that I am taking 5mg amlodipine just to control spikes due to my anxiety. At home my blood pressure typically is anywhere from 98/60-115/75 when im calm (cuff has been validated with drs office) but at the doctor it can be literally stroke level sometimes depending on how stressed I am.

This also is causing me a lot of anticipatory anxiety about possible surgery. I’d hate for my surgery to be canceled due to my high blood pressure readings before surgery… I know this is ridiculous but I have massive anxiety over my blood pressure that started due to a traumatic ER visit. I’ve also never had surgery so I’m sure I’ll be very scared when or if the time comes even with it being a fairly simple procedure. I’m probably jumping the gun already worrying about this, but it’s definitely been something that’s been occupying my mind lately.

Thank you for any help or advice 🙏

I felt pretty normal yesterday, still not doing much. Today my throat and neck pain is much less but I’ve felt high as a kite all day. I’m taking prescribed Os-Cal twice a day, eating yogurt and drinking milk. Could this still be from low calcium? Follow-up is on June 12.

I’m having a parathyroidectomy next month. I have an 8 mm adenoma. I’m an accountant so my job is very sedentary, no heavy lifting, etc. My surgery is on a Wednesday and I’m hoping to be back at work on Monday. Does that seem realistic to anyone who has had the surgery? I had a full hysterectomy and only took a week off, I can’t imagine I need that much time for this surgery. Can anyone share their experience with going back to work after surgery?

Hi all - thanks in advance to all in this community.

In short - in November 2024 I was having continued heart palpitations and a weekend of awful fatigue, nausea and vertigo. That past April, my metabolic panel was normal. I got my first-ever abnormal calcium reading right after this weekend long episode.

Fast forward - in mid-March 2026 I’ve experienced and passed a kidney stone, by then I hit a new low of 6+ months of fatigue and brain fog and general exhaustion and attitude/memory changes, along with heart palpitations and elevated blood pressure, and deep bone pain throughout my hips/SI joint and ribcage. Other symptoms persist (hair loss/general malaise that’s hard to describe/period and urinary issues) but “stones, bones, moans and groans” are all very well happening.

I have an endo appointment at the end of this month (planning on asking for repeat labs and DEXA), an endo surgeon consult in mid-July, and trying to get another local specialty parathyroid center virtual consult for July but they need to review my labs to accept me.

To the labs - they are very much in a grey area where I’ve had trouble advocating for myself and I feel like I’m on the wrong track - PCP and urologist are going with “well, the kidney stone was just bad luck and low citrate, corrected calcium is good / the pain/fatigue could be fibromyalgia?” But I’ve seen a couple testimonies similar to mine here - especially similar stories where the users wound up in the kidney stone subreddit months after posting here.

I don’t want to be sick (if it’s not this then that is information!) but I feel so ill and this seems the closest thing. 34F. (Range included). Norman app says I am low risk/not likely.

4/2026: Ca 10.2 (8.7-10.2), PTH 23 (10-65) (fasting first thing in morning), D not taken - PCP couldn’t be convinced to add it. Albumin 4.5. Noticed that Calcium and PTH both went up a hair with eachother from lab 5 weeks prior.

4/2026: 24hr Urine Ca 130 (30-200 mg/24h), potassium magnesium phosphorous sulfate urea nitrogen and citrate were all below lowest range at this time

3/2026 (post-stone): Ca 10.1, PTH 17, D 35 (urology’s lab range not provided but was told “normal”) (fasting except tons of water, early afternoon) Albumin 4.8.

8/2025: Ca 10.1 (8.7-10.2) (fasting mid-morning), Albumin 4.6.

11/2024: Ca 9.9 (8.7-10.2), PTH 43 (10-65) Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy 15.5 (30-100) (late morning, fasting) Albumin not taken. Ionized Ca 5.2 (4.5-5.6).

11/2024: Ca 10.9 (8.7-10.2) (early afternoon but can’t remember if fasting). Albumin 4.9.

Long time listener, first time caller.

I (41M) first started paying attention to my calcium when the results came back high in August of 2022. I was 37 at the time. Here are my calcium labs as far as I have records (all normal ranges in this post are capped at 10.3).

06/21/22- 10.2

07/18/22- 9.9

08/23/22- 10.4

04/06/23- 10.3

10/09/23- 10.0

04/24/24- 10.0

01/15/25- 10.0

10/07/25- 10.2

04/28/26- 10.4 (Vitamin d was 29 with normal starting at 30, only ever Vitamin d test)

I bought my own PTH test in October of last year after the numbers crept back up. That test showed a calcium of 10.0 and a PTH of 29. Those didn't seem concerning to me so I dropped it. Then last month the calcium came back high again.

As is common, my PCP brushed my concerns aside though I'm pressing for a calcium, pth, and vitamin d all in one go. I'll buy one myself if she doesn't want to give me one.

I also have some symptoms (bad inability to concentrate, hypertension, anxiety, high heart rate, and palpitations to name a few) but they're maddeningly non-specific.

I've read a lot about calcium levels repeatedly in the 10s being concerning after 35 and even more concerning after 40. But other places seem to be less concerned about low 10s calcium.

I'm just not sure what to think. I can go straight to an endo with my insurance. And there are a couple good parathyroid docs in Atlanta where I live. I just don't know if my numbers are at that point.

35m. I'm trying to keep this post as concise as possible but here are some of the health issues discovered last year (a very stressful year) and one prior health issue (sleep apnea 2022, treated with cpap).

Gluten sensitivity that may be celiac or non celiac gluten sensitivity. My gi Dr did not inform me to eat a lot of gluten prior to blood test and endo/colonocopy. I have marsh 1 inflammation of the duodenum with preserved villi. Ibs-c. Gastritis. A g.i. bleed condition called angiodysplasia that can randomly happen. Fodmap sensitivity. Prediabetes.

I was on iron until recently. It's believed I had more of a malabsorption/inflammation problem from gluten than it being the gi bleed. I'm eliminating a lot of foods and doing trial and error. My inflammation is way down. Prediabetes better and off metformin (5.8 A1c down to 5.3)

Im feeling better in some ways but still not great in others and here's why I am here. Symptoms as follows

-Throat pain, back and newer joint pain on both forearms and thighs and some other spots, fatigue and some trouble concentrating, trouble staying asleep, needing to use bathroom in middle of the night despite stopping hydration 2-2.5 hours prior, increased thirst and urination at times all despite good looking blood sugar, periods of racing heart feeling without stress, constipation. Some muscle twitching in hands and arms.

-My calcium from April 29 10.3 (range 8.6-10.3), 4/9 10.0, 12/9 9.9, 10/28/25 10.1

-vitamin d25 35 4/9 (range 30-100)

-albumin 4/29 4.9 (range 3.6-5.1) 4/9 5.3

-alkaline phosphate 49 (range 36-130)

-creatinine. 85 (range .6-1.26)

Dairy has mostly been eliminated from my diet for the past month. I started supplementing d3 at 5000 iu plus 1000iu from multi after 4/9 thinking low d3 was causing the fatigue but things got worse and joint pain started.

Im at my wits end here and If you read all that I thank you lol.

Hi! New to this group. 32 y/o female. Years of symptoms.

In 2022- TPO’s were elevated. All other thyroid labs “WNL”. No CBC done.

In 2024- calcium was 10.1, all other labs “WNL”. Thyroid labs “WNL” TPO’s NOT checked.

Fast forward to 2026- Got my labs done a week ago.

Calcium 10.3, TPO’s elevated, ferritin 18 (unrelated I know but worth mentioning bc of my symptoms) All other labs “WNL.” Waiting on my PTH labs, getting those done Monday.

Clearly I have something going on. I’m exhausted, some bone pain here and there, dry, itchy skin on my face, brittle nails, thinning hair, trouble losing weight, moodiness, anxiety, depression, gut issues, lightheadedness, SOB.

My cardio dx me with possible hypothyroidism vs hashimotos vs Graves’ disease and possible POTS/Dysautonomia. Running more tests. But I did research and seems like hyperparathyroidism may be a possible dx. I ordered my own PTH labs and have an endo appt in August. In the meantime, I’m seeing my PCP on Friday and going to ask her for an US of my thyroid. I’m just ready to get some answers.

Any input, tips, anything would help. 😭

My surgery was yesterday at the Center for Advanced Medicine at Barnes/ Washington University in St Louis where I live. I had a wonderful experience there. Dr Olson removed the one para he saw as enlarged on the ultrasound a few weeks ago, PTH from ankle blood draw dropped to 16 and second one was down to 12 so he didn’t need to search for other bad ones. Surgery lasted about 1.5 hours. I haven’t seen picture or biopsy results yet.

Biggest result is that my years long and worsening hip and low back pain were gone when I woke up and still hasn’t returned 24 hours later!

I’m on Os-Cal twice a day and taking Tylenol every 6 hours for pain, plus icing the incision.

Don’t be afraid of this surgery. My next hope is for weight loss. I’ve been on Zepbound for 19 months but completely stalled 6 months ago. The hope is that the inflammation will leave soon and I can continue to my goal in 13 lbs.

So after removing parathyroid due to tumor , they confirmed it was cancerous and the doctor even removed some nearby tissue during surgery which also turned out to be cancerous , now calcium and pth levels normal, and he said no need for anything except blood tests every 2-3 months.

What do you guys think ?

Idk if that question makes sense but basically I have a gut feeling that something is wrong with my parathyroid, however thats about it. I got some routine bloodwork done and found that I have relatively high calcium (but still within normal range) at 10.1. The reason I think it might be parathyroid related is that I’ve been having sharp bone pain all over that comes and goes, and a few weeks ago I was having pain in my left abdomen while urinating, which makes me think something might be affecting my kidneys. I also had trace amounts of blood in my urine found in a standard urinalysis test. I also have muscle weakness and fatigue but I know those symptoms are not exclusive to this disease. The final thing that has me scared for my parathyroid is that I had a benign tumor in my jaw (mandible) that I had to get removed when I was in high school, and I saw that for some people with a certain gene (CDC73) you are likely to get both hyperparathyroidism and jaw tumors. My PCP already seems very reluctant to do any sort of testing on me and thinks I just have health anxiety. My question is would it be acceptable to make an appointment with an endo or would they just laugh in my face since I don’t have tests to back up why I’m there?

My calcium is 10.7 at 20 and my pth is 27.30 i have systoms of high calcium left renal concreation lump sensation in thoart and also reduced sex drive frequent urination and racing heartbeat without doing anything weak bones specially hand finger and wrist and teeth rather than taking good amount of milk and vit d supplement also my bile flow is disrupted and my pancrease left side dull pain

PREOPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS: Primary hyperparathyroidism. | POSTOPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS: Primary hyperparathyroidism.

OPERATION:

1. Left upper parathyroidectomy (CPT 60500)

2. Intraoperative ultrasound.

3. Intraoperative PTH monitoring.

4. Intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring.

 

ANESTHESIA: General with NIMS

FINDINGS:

1. Enlarged left upper parathyroid running along the esophagus

2. Recurrent laryngeal nerve was visualized. Normal nerve monitoring (VN1VN2 = 2mA, 200uV)

3. Intraoperative PTH results: Pre 1 = 140, Pre2 = 93, Post 1 = 29, Post 2 = 21, Post 3 = pending (Drawn from IJ)

4. On intraoperative ultrasound there was a heterogenous thyroid

 

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION: The patient was taken to the operating room. General anesthesia was induced and an endotracheal tube with NIMS monitoring was placed. The patient positioned with a very gentle neck extension and all pressure points appropriately padded. I performed a preoperative ultrasound with the findings noted above. 0.25% Marcaine was administered in the anticipated incision. The neck was then prepped and draped sterilely in the usual fashion.

 

A skin crease incision was made. Subplatysmal planes were developed on each side. The strap muscles were then separated in the midline. We identified the Vagus nerve which stimulated well. We rolled the thyroid medially and dissected the peri-thyroidal tissues back to the spine using a combination blunt and sharp techniques. We found the recurrent nerve and it stimulated appropriately. We then identified an enlarged left upper parathyroid sitting along the esophagus. This was dissected off of the adjacent structures using both blunt and sharp dissection. This was elevated away from the recurrent nerve and the feeding vessel was taken with a Ligasure device. The parathyroid was removed and passed off the table for pathologic evaluation

 

Hemostasis was assured and a Valsala performed. The Vagus and recurrent nerve stimulated well at the end of the case. The wound was irrigated. Intraoperative PTH dropped appropriately. The muscle layers were then closed with interrupted 4-0 vicryl sutures. The skin was closed with 5-0 Monocryl and Dermabond. The patient tolerated the procedure well and was then taken to the recovery room in stable condition.

Final PTH 15.8

Throat is still scratchy and some soreness (expected).