Frequently Asked Questions

Multi-vitamins and magnesium

 

Parathyroid patients need multi-vitamins

You can take any multivitamin after your parathyroid operation, but something like Centrum Silver or Woman’s One-A-Day are great (for men and women). If you have significant bone loss (and most people with a parathyroid tumor do), you should also take a daily magnesium supplement. Magnesium is important for calcium metabolism and bone remodeling.

Many types of magnesium pills

There are lots of different forms of magnesium out there, and any of them will work. Note that magnesium has a laxative effect, and certain forms (e.g. magnesium citrate) are more often used to treat constipation. If you buy a magnesium that is meant to treat constipation (most often liquid magnesium citrate), the dosage will be higher than what you need, and will produce loose bowel movements.

We usually recommend taking either magnesium oxide or magnesium malate, which may also help with muscle cramps. Adults should get about 400 mg a day of magnesium. If you are requiring lots of calcium postoperatively, we recommend increasing the magnesium dose to 800 mg a day while you are needing the higher doses of calcium.

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