If you regularly consume too much calcium in your diet, you may develop a condition called hypercalcemia -- high levels of calcium in your blood. A slight increase in dietary calcium intake will not result in hypercalcemia, but consuming more than 2,500 mg per day, which is the upper limit, regularly, can be dangerous.
Calcium and the Body
Most of the calcium in your body, approximately 99 percent, is in your bones. The remaining 1 percent of calcium is divided between your muscles, tissues, blood and the fluid that surrounds your cells. The level of calcium in your blood is tightly regulated by a variety of hormones and physiological processes. If you consume too much calcium in your diet, these processes become disrupted and the levels of calcium in your blood increase.
Symptoms
Because your blood contains such a small amount of calcium, even minor increases can disrupt normal functioning and cause symptoms. The most common symptoms of hypercalcemia include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination, increased thirst, constipation, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, muscle aches, joint pain, confusion, fatigue and lethargy. If you experience any of these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.
Treatment
If you have mild hypercalcemia, you may be able to reverse your condition by reducing the amount of calcium in your diet. Reducing the amount of calcium you consume will allow the kidneys to remove excess calcium from your blood and return your calcium levels to normal.
If hypercalcemia is severe, you may require hospitalization, during which you will be given intravenous fluids to hydrate you and diuretic medications that can help increase the rate at which you remove calcium from your body. You may also be given a variety of hormones that can help control your calcium levels. If your kidneys are damaged, you may require dialysis to help remove calcium from the blood.
Complications
Untreated hypercalcemia can lead to the development of calcium kidney stones. Over time, hypercalcemia can also lead to serious complications, such as kidney failure, nervous system dysfunction and abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias. If you suspect you have hypercalcemia, you should seek treatment as soon as possible to reduce your risk of developing these complications.
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