Lithium Treatment & Too Much Calcium

Lithium is a prescription medication used primarily to counteract the emotional highs and lows common with bipolar disorder. While effective, lithium poses a risk for side effects, including too much blood calcium or hypercalcemia.

Significance

• The risk for developing hypercalcemia increases with higher dosages of lithium, according to RxList.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of hypercalcemia caused by lithium treatment include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, excessive thirst, frequent urination, constipation, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, confusion, lethargy and fatigue, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Features

• Patients do not always experience all of the symptoms of hypercalcemia, and people over the age of 65 are more likely to develop muscle weakness than younger patients. When the levels of calcium in your body are just beginning to increase, you may not experience any symptoms at all.

Risks

• Untreated, too much calcium has the potential to cause hypertension, inflammation of your pancreas, peptic ulcers, kidney stones, kidney failure, depression, bone cysts, brittle bones and osteoporosis, warns the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Considerations

• Taking calcium-channel blockers for heart conditions like dihydropyridine increase your risk of developing high calcium levels from lithium, and medical conditions like disease of your parathyroid or thyroid can also exacerbate the affects of lithium upon blood calcium.