Can Patients With Hypercalcemia Exercise Safely?

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Andrew Schorr:

Here's a question we got in from Pam.  I'm willing to bet she may be dealing with multiple myeloma, I'm not sure, but she says, what effect, if any, does high calcium levels have on the ability to exercise?  So anything—I don't know whether Raquel, you would comment or Dr. Subbiah, let's start with you.  Calcium, you know, you have all these bone lesions and stuff like that, you can have this calcium problem but yet you want to do this stuff.  Any thought there, Dr. Subbiah?  

Dr. Subbiah:

Sure.  And so hypercalcemia, it's a very real medical entity, so you have to work very closely with your oncologist, with your physician, the provider team to make sure that the calcium is kept at a reasonably safe level.  What your body experiences as a result of hypercalcemia is real.  There is changes in energy pattern, changes in the strength, changes in your bowel function, changes in your mind and mood.  So hypercalcemia has real implications on really the whole body experience.  

So it's one of the electrolytes imbalances. You know, you have—I'm sure people listening to this have their potassium checked, their magnesium checked, the phosphorus checked among all other things at some point time during this journey.  Hypercalcemia is one where the person feels it a lot more than maybe another electrolyte that may be low or high.  So it's very important to work with the provider team to get it down to a reasonable level, and know that some of what you're feeling may be not necessarily the cancer per se or the treatment for the cancer.  It may be because of the electrolyte imbalances.   

Raquel Forsgren:

Yeah.  I think the one thing that I also would add to that too, Dr. Subbiah's point about it affecting—hypercalcemia affecting the whole body, the deep relaxation that I spoke about earlier, the way that that works specifically is around turning off that fight or flight mechanism in that part of our nervous system that kicks in when our body is in a state of trauma, which is kind of what's happening in hypercalcemia from a just simplistic perspective.  

And so when you're in that deep relaxation state and leveraging the breathing, you're reducing cortisol levels that are pumped out from your adrenal glands, and that entire cascade that happens in your body just starts to slow and relax.  And the neurotransmitters, the chemicals in the brain that are released, it's just a cyclic event.  

And so even though one might not be able to do any particular movements even, the breathing, the imagery and those deep relaxations shouldn't be underestimated for the role they play in boosting the overall health of the inside off the body and all of the other mental components with it.  So I just wanted to add that little spin on what those do even if you feel like you can't move out of your bed.  

Please remember the opinions expressed on Patient Power are not necessarily the views of our sponsors, contributors, partners or Patient Power. Our discussions are not a substitute for seeking medical advice or care from your own doctor. That’s how you’ll get care that’s most appropriate for you.