• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Parathyroid UK Homepage

The national voice for people living with parathyroid conditions

Hypopara Helpline 01342 316315
  • Donate
  • About us
    • Our people
      • Board of Trustees
      • CEO & Management Committee
      • Support Team
    • Our Medical Advisors
    • Our history
    • Annual reports
    • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Professionals
  • News
  • Home
  • Hypoparathyroidism

    Hypoparathyroidism

     

    Read our Quick Guide to Hypopara

    Suspect you have hypopara?

    Find out more about hypopara

    What is hypopara?

    Causes of hypopara

    Diagnosis of hypopara

    Symptoms of hypopara

    Treatment of hypopara

    Related reading

    Thyroid cancer

    Thyroid surgery

    Related conditions

    CaSR

    • A quick guide to hypopara
    • Suspect you have hypopara?
    • Causes
    • Diagnosis
    • Symptoms
    • Treatment
    • Thyroid cancer
    • What you should know before – and after – thyroid surgery
    • Calcium-sensing Receptor (CaSR)
    • Related conditions
  • Living with Hypopara
    • Recently been diagnosed?
    • Get support
    • Self Help Guide for people with Hypopara
      • Understanding the basics
      • How to manage your calcium levels – practical steps
      • Understanding your tests
      • Understanding your medication
      • Diet
      • Exercise
      • For women
      • Fertility and starting a family
      • Pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
      • Advice for parents of children with Hypopara
      • Employment and Benefits
      • What else can I do to help myself?
    • Emergency ID items
    • Patient stories
  • Hyperparathyroidism
    • Support
    • Your parathyroid glands
    • Primary Hyperparathyroidism
    • Secondary Hyperparathyroidism
    • Tertiary Hyperparathryoidism
    • Parathyroid cancer
    • Patient stories
  • Get Involved
    • Become a member
    • Donate
    • Shop
    • Fundraise for us
    • Sponsor a fundraiser
    • Facebook Groups
    • World Hypopara Awareness Day
  • Resources
    • Patient Information Leaflets
    • Newsletters
    • Guidelines
    • Research on Hypoparathyroidism
    • Research on Primary Hyperparathyroidism
    • Useful links for patients
    • European and Global Hypopara organisations
    • Health Organisations
  • Join us
  • Recently been diagnosed?
  • Get support
  • Self Help Guide for people with Hypopara
  • Emergency ID items
  • Patient stories

Exercise

Does exercise affect my calcium level?

Calcium is needed to make your muscles contract and also regulates the rate at which your heart contracts. Every action you make uses up the calcium in your blood. Normally, when this runs low the body will use the calcium stored in your bones but without PTH, this mechanism is reduced so you need to replace your calcium you’ve used up with food or calcium supplements

During exercise you may feel the usual symptoms of low calcium such as tingling and cramps but you may also experience fatigue. Not having enough calcium in your muscles can also limit your endurance and strength.

Will I be able to exercise?

Hypopara is a very individual condition. Some people find exercising very difficult because they get so tired or crampy and then have to spend a day recovering. Others are strong enough to compete in marathons. Most of us are somewhere in between. You can learn to build up your strength gradually as long as you take care to take on board enough calcium and maintain good levels of alfacalcidol, magnesium and vitamin D3 to aid absorption. Even if you can’t do much try to keep as active as you can and move around every hour.

I went armed with information from the Hypopara facebook group and asked if my calcium tablets could be reduced, alfacalcidol increased and could I have some prescription vitamin D3 please? To my delight, my endo was very happy to comply.

Read Gillian's story

What and when should I eat?

If you are planning to exercise (or have a more strenuous day ahead than usual) a starchy, low fat meal 2-3 hours before will help you to keep going.

About an hour before, eat a calcium rich snack or take some extra calcium. (You will learn how much you need as you get more practiced).

Afterwards, a snack within an hour of stopping will help your recovery. A banana, a handful of nuts or a glass of low fat milk will work well.

Remember to keep hydrated throughout the day as exercise as you can lose calcium through sweat.

The British Nutrition Foundation has some excellent advice on what you should eat when exercising but remember to factor in your calcium needs. https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/an-active-lifestyle/eating-for-sport-and-exercise.html?showall=1&limitstart=

Athletes

There are athletes among us who run marathons and take part in Iron man and Tough Mudder. Some of them were athletes before their diagnosis but others weren’t and have built up their strength and endurance from scratch. If you are keen to build up your fitness levels there are currently facebook groups you can join for support called ‘Athletes Beating Hypopara’ and ‘Hypopara Athletes Training Club’. (These are not run by Hypopara UK).

Share your story

If you'd like to share your experience we may want to add it to a relevant page on this site. Please keep your submission limited to 2 or 3 sentences.
  • This will not be used anywhere on the site. We may use it to contact you to let you know where we've used your story on the website.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Primary Sidebar

Self Help Guide

  • Understanding the basics
  • How to manage your calcium levels – practical steps
  • Understanding your tests
  • Understanding your medication
  • Diet
  • Exercise
  • For women
  • Fertility and starting a family
  • Pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
  • Advice for parents of children with Hypopara
  • Employment and Benefits
  • What else can I do to help myself?

Footer

Parathyroid UK
6 The Meads
East Grinstead
West Sussex
RH19 4DF

Contact us

Hypopara Helpline: 01342 316315

Parathyroid UK logo
Read our quick guide to hypoparathyroidism

All about hyperparathyroidism

Parathyroid UK is endorsed by

BMA logo
British Thyroid Association
European Society of Endocrinology
Society for Endocrinology

© 2021 Parathyroid UK · All Rights Reserved · Terms · Site by Charity & Biscuits.