Hi Karen, welcome!  Normal calcium (Ca) ranges vary from lab to lab, so it's best to look at your lab printout and see what they consider normal.  Normal ranges are based on population studies, along with age, sex; and menopausal satus' are built-in in some blood tests.

My local lab lists normal calcium as 8.5-10.5 mg/mL, but as I mentioned this varies, so check with your local lab for their normal reference ranges.  I had high blood calcium for years and my personal experience is that "most of the time" calcium levels are controlled by your parathyroid and how well it's functioning.  There are other things that can affect calcium but the main place to look is the parathyroid gland which is a different gland than the thyroid.

When you have elevated Ca, the most likely cause is parathyroid disorders, low vitamin D, medications and cancers.  Don't panic because I said cancer; that's just one cause, but it is possible.

See your physician and discuss this to find out what treatment you should consider and other tests that can be done, like PTH, vitamin D, and ionized calcium levels.  There are other tests too, so ask about these.  You can also take too much calcium, and this will raise your level, so ask about that as well.  Keep in mind that to total your calcium you need to calculate Ca from food and supplements both to arrive at your total daily intake.

Good luck and let us know how you do or what you find out from your Dr.  Here's some reading you can do on hypercalcemia (high blood calcium levels) from the Mayo Clinic and what the causes/treatments are for this.

If you have another question, don't hesitate to post again.

Take Care

dailyrx

11/28/12 4:04pm

High Blood Calcium often appears in cancer patients.  One great way to treat it is with with Zometa.  You can learn more here: http://www.rxwiki.com/zometa

Pam Flores, Health Guide

11/28/12 8:16pm

Dailyrx welcome!  Do you have hypercalcemia?  I had it for years and was tested for many cancers but nothing was found.  I would hate to treat it with Zometa though.  I know the BPs (bisphosphonates) lower calcium levels, but I wouldn't consider Zometa unless I had cancer of the bone or something as serious. 

 

Thanks for you input!  Have a great week.