April 7, 2005
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Other Illnesses
Question from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA:
About a year ago, my doctor told me I am at risk of developing hypercalcemia in the next few years. As I understand it, that’s when you have an excess amount of calcium in your blood. Also, diabetes runs in my family. What I want to know is if the hypercalcemia and diabetes are related in some way, because lately I have had symptoms of diabetes, such as more thirst, increase in urination, fatigue, shakes, nausea and a weight gain in a week. I’ve had a family member take my blood sugar on three occasions when I had the shakes really bad. On Sunday, it was 185 mg/dl [10.3 mmol/L];, on Tuesday, it was 107 mg/dl [5.9 mmol/L]; and on Wednesday it was 149 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L]. Would this be just a fluke or does it look like I have something new to look forward to?
Answer:
You need to find out from your physician why you were told you were at risk for hypercalcemia. There are some familial syndromes where this is the case. It can be the result of activation by parathyroid hormone. This occurs with syndromes called multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes where the parathyroids become hyperplastic. Symptoms of hypercalcemia can mimic elevated blood sugars by causing frequent urination and thirst. However, elevated calcium levels would not cause low blood sugar type symptoms.
JTL
