When the needle is inserted to draw blood, some people feel moderate pain. Others feel only a prick or stinging. Afterward, there may be some throbbing or slight bruising. This soon goes away.
A normal value is less than 25 pg/mL (25 picograms per milliliter) for males and less than 20 pg/mL for females.
Women and men can have different normal values, with men having higher values.
Sometimes, calcitonin in the blood is checked several times after you are given a shot (injection) of a special medicine that stimulates calcitonin production.
You will need this extra test if your baseline calcitonin is normal, but your provider suspects you have medullary cancer of the thyroid.
Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Some labs use different measurements or may test different specimens. Talk to your provider about the meaning of your specific test results.
A higher-than-normal level may indicate:
Higher-than-normal levels of calcitonin can also occur in people with kidney disease, smokers, and higher body weight. Also, it increases when taking certain medicines to stop stomach acid production.
There is little risk involved with having your blood taken. Veins and arteries vary in size from one person to another and from one side of the body to the other. Taking blood from some people may be more difficult than from others.
Other risks associated with having blood drawn are slight, but may include:
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Ellervik C, Halsall DJ, Nygaard B. Thyroid disorders. In: Rifai N, Chiu RWK, Young I, Burnham CD, Wittwer CT, eds. Tietz Textbook of Laboratory Medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 57.
Klemm KM, Klein MJ, Zhang Y. Biochemical markers of bone metabolism. In: McPherson RA, Pincus MR, eds. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 16.
Last reviewed on: 5/12/2023
Reviewed by: Sandeep K. Dhaliwal, MD, board-certified in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Springfield, VA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.