Need advice...Taking Forteo and was told I had to much calcium in my blood - Osteoporosis Message Board

kopper199727 · 03-24-2008, 07:54 AM

Been taking Forteo for 2 months, had BW done and was told I had to much calcium in my blood. Doctor recommended to take Forteo every other day till April 20th for more BW. Very concerned, has anyone else experience this problem and what was the outcome? Don't know what to do?

DesertBloom · 03-24-2008, 09:32 AM

Hi Kopper: I have the same problem but I continue to take the Forteo. Do you know what your total and ionized calcium levels are? My ionized is only slightly elevated at 5.7, and it was that way before I started Forteo. The only thing I'm doing differently is that I'm not taking *any* supplemental calcium.

Forteo will raise your calcium levels by 19%, and the usual recomendation is to reduce oral calcium intake or the Forteo depending on how high your calcium is.

Since mine is only slightlty elevated and it was that way *before* I started Forteo I opted to continue with it and not take any extra calcium except what I get in my diet. If you read the Eli Lily info on Forteo it explains how Forteo raises D 125 and Calcium by 19% and lowers D 25 by 19%. I also have low D, and it's been that way for a long time, and I'm taking 2000 IU's a day of that. I'll be done at the end of June with the Forteo so I haven't had any major problems with this situation.

Let me know what your calcium and D levels are. I've heard of people doing what you are to counteract the cal situation, I've just never done it.

The info on this is in the Forteo box, it's the print out from Lily that say's "Forteo teriparatide (rDNA origin) injection 750 mcg/3mL" it's in paragraphs titled "Human Pharmacodynamics" Effects on mineral metabolism If your dr needs the same thing it's in the PDR that they have.

If you don't have the paperwork in your current box here's the link for it from Lily, same paragraphs as above:

[url]http://pi.lilly.com/us/forteo-pi.pdf[/url]