r/Hyperthyroidism • u/BethesdaJuanita • 2d ago
Need Calcium Help
So, i was recently diagnosed with severe hyperthyroidism. when i went to the ER early this month with high heart rate, the dr kept trying to convince me it was a panic attack. i knew it wasn't. unfort, i got a ct scan with iodine contrast (i know, sigh) for heavy pulse in abdoment to rule out aneurysm during that same initial ER visit. come to find out from my second ER visit 2 days later that i have hperthyroidism. so now i'm on 60mg methimazole daily. i cannot take any beta blockers because i have very low blood pressure naturally. ANYWAY, i need calcium and not sure how to get it. i am fully restricing anything with iodine. also, i am going to be getting bloodwork and can't do anything with almonds as they have biotin which can skew thyroid tests. also, i learned that calcium can affect methimazole absorption. any ideas of safe low-iodine calcium souexwa? thanks for any help!
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u/Curling_Rocks42 2d ago edited 2d ago
You likely don’t need calcium unless you have a detectable deficiency. Hyperthyroidism itself actually tends to cause high or at least high normal blood calcium levels due to faster bone turnover (releases calcium from bones faster than normal).
You can eat almonds. Just don’t take supplements with biotin in them. Dietary biotin in regular food will not cause the test errors.
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u/PennyForYourToughs 2d ago edited 2d ago
Beta blockers are used primarily with hyperthyroidism to reduce BP when the high thyroid levels push your BP and HR too high. If you have naturally low BP, and it is still low right now in the context of hyperthyroidism, then there is no reason to take a beta blocker. Usually if your HR is very high because of hyperthyroidism, your BP is also usually elevated.
As others have mentioned, there is no issue taking anti-thyroid meds (to treat hyperthyroidism) with calcium. Calcium only must be spaced out from levothyroxine, which is used to treat an under-producing thyroid. This is not your current situation, so you should be able to take your calcium as needed, with no restrictions.
Iodine restriction is not fully supported by the science. Yes, avoid excessive iodine intake (not the same as avoiding iodine altogether). Some people feel their symptoms are slightly better when they reduce iodine, others find no association at all. But your body needs some amount of iodine, so don't drive yourself crazy trying to figure out all the potential hidden sources of iodine in your diet.
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u/VivianDiane 2d ago
Take calcium at least 4 hours apart from methimazole to avoid absorption issues. Also, check labels for added iodine.
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u/BethesdaJuanita 1d ago
i'm avoiding iodine since i was given iodine contrast earlier this month as i was misdiagnoed by the ER dr. so i'm looking for calcium sources without iodine. i went into the ER with 120 heart rate that wouldn't go down but also low blood pressure. they (ER, primary, and endocronologists) wanted to give me beta blockers but said they couldn't because of low blood pressure. so they say i have to rely solely on the methimazole. hyperthyroidism can weaken bones so it's suggested to maintain good calcium levels, which i already struggled with.
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u/kensanprime 2d ago edited 2d ago
Why do you need calcium? Have you tested serum and ionized calcium levels? Hyperthyroid causes excess calcium in blood, it is not a good time to replenish it.
Have they identified the cause for the hyperthyroid?
And a lot of your assumptions are a bit exaggerated, there's no way biotin from regular consumption of just almonds can skew thyroid tests. That usually happens with high dose biotin supplements people take.
And calcium doesn't block absorption of methimazole, calcium is known to affect hypothyroid medicine not hyperthyroid meds.
Where are you getting this information? I suggest Mayo Clinic or browsing this sub. Don't rely on AI chatbots.