vitamin levels

I went yesterday to my primary and hadhim draw labs for my vitamin levels...everything is good except he said my pth is too high and I need to double up on my D. Can anyone tell me what pth is???

Most of the vitamin "gurus" use this site to answer your questions - now you can do it for yourself!!!

http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/pth/tab/tes t

It's parathyroid hormone.  Usually when it's high, it means we are leaching calcium out of our bones.

If your vitamin D level is below 80, you won't absorb calcium well even if you take the correct amount (1500 to 2000 mg calcium citrate daily, according to the ASMBS).  If we don't absorb enough calcium to keep the level of calcium in blood good, our parathyroid hormone goes up and that causes calcium to leach out of our bones so that the level in our blood is good.  That's because if the calcium level in our blood gets too low, our muscles can't contract normally.  Our hearts is a muscle and if it cannot contract normally, as in beat, we die.  So our body is designed to protect our heart even at the cost of our bones.

You need to get your D level up fast.  How low was it?  How much D3 are you taking?

You also need to make sure you get 1500 to 2000 mg calcium citrate daily.  I would go for 2000 mg, personally, since your PTH is too high.

You should also make sure you get a bone density scan at one year out.

Im not sure where the pth is in my results but I am taking 800 IU from my vitamins, 1000 IU from my calcium w/ D3 and an additional 2000 IU of D-3 which I will now be taking 2 of.

What is your vitamin D level?  It should be listed on your lab report as "D hydroxy 25" or something similar to that.  4000 IU D3 is a very low dose.  Most post ops need at least 10,000 IU a day in order to maintain a level of 80 or above.  I have to take 50,000 IU D3 three times a week in order to maintain my level.  And if you're leaching calcium out of your bones, it's really important to get your level up to 80 as fast as you can.

this is what was written with my labs by my dr...Your pth is high . So you need to take more vit d per day. I would double whatever you are taking now 14/24 Labs are in

So you don't have a copy of the lab report?  You don't know what that level is?  You can call your doc's office and request a copy of the report so you can see the numbers for yourself.

If you've been taking a total of 3,800 IU, counting what's in your multi and calcium, then doubling that would mean going up to close to 8,000 IU a day, not just adding one more dose of 2000 IU.

You NEED to see a copy of your lab report EVERY TIME you have labs done.  Too many stories about post ops getting phone calls that "labs are ok" only to find out some time later they are really deficient.  You do need D labs with 80-90, especially of your levels that indicate your calcium issue. I've battled lower D issues for over 5 years. Recent labs finally indicated that 7 of the 50K IU dry D3 finally put me above 80, when I had a 104 for my D. I can now lower my weekly intake to 6 of the 50K IU dry D3.  BTW, if you consider doubling, tripling...up your current D3, it's far cheaper to get the higher potency dry D3.  I get both my 50K IU dry D3 and my calcium citrate from vitalady.com.  The calcium only capsules she sells are 1035mg calcium citrate with 300mg elemental calcium per capsule.  It's the elemental calcium of the calcium citrate that offers the "calcium punch"  your body needs. Almost all calcium citrate pills are only about 25% elemental calcium, meaning a 600mg calcium citrate only offers abouty 150mg elemental caclium.   I take 2 AM and 2 PM of these daily.  BTW, I did have a bone scan done about 3 years ago, that indicated I had ostopenia. It's the "gray area" between normal and osteoperosis, so I make sure I keep my dry D3 and calcium citrate at the best levels I can.  DAVE

I called my clinic and requested my number...I am able to see the rest of the labs just not the actual number for my pth/vitamin D level. I will look into getting the calcium D3 you are taking from vitalady. Tha you for the heads up!