Calcium Gluconate
Calcium gluconate is a form of calcium used intravenously to treat acute symptomatic hypocalcemia (dangerously low blood calcium) in adults and children, including newborns.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 24 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
📖 Calcium Gluconate: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Calcium Gluconate — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Calcium gluconate is an intravenous calcium supplement used to correct dangerously low blood calcium levels with active symptoms. Here is what the supported products are approved for:
- Calcium Gluconate injection and Calcium Gluconate in Sodium Chloride injection are both indicated for the treatment of acute symptomatic hypocalcemia in adult and pediatric patients (including neonates)
- Both products are approved for both pediatric and adult use, with dosing adjusted by age and weight
- Neither product has established safety for long-term use — they are for short-term treatment of acute episodes only
⚙️How it works▾
When calcium gluconate is injected into a vein, it breaks apart in the bloodstream and releases ionized calcium — the form the body can immediately use. This raises the blood calcium level directly and quickly. Because the liver is not involved in this release, the treatment works the same way regardless of liver function. Both calcium and gluconate are natural components of body fluids, so the body handles them through normal processes.
💊How it's taken▾
Calcium gluconate injection is always given intravenously by a healthcare professional — never at home. It can be given as a slow bolus (a controlled single injection) or as a continuous infusion (an ongoing drip), depending on how severe the symptoms are and how quickly calcium needs to be replaced.
- Dose is individualized based on age, body weight, symptom severity, and blood calcium level
- Blood calcium is checked every 1–6 hours during treatment, depending on the type of infusion
- Patients with kidney impairment are started at the lowest dose in the recommended range
- Older adults are also typically started at the low end of the dosing range
Always follow the prescribing team's instructions — do not adjust the infusion on your own.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects from calcium gluconate injection are related to the IV line and how quickly the medication is given:
- Local soft tissue inflammation at the IV site
- Calcinosis cutis (calcium deposits in the skin) — can happen even without the IV leaking
- Tissue necrosis (tissue damage) and ulceration if the IV leaks
- Low blood pressure
- Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
- Heart rhythm problems (cardiac arrhythmia)
- Fainting (syncope)
Serious reactions — including cardiac arrest or life-threatening crystal deposits from a drug interaction with ceftriaxone — require immediate medical attention. Any redness, swelling, or skin changes around the IV site should be reported to the care team right away.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Cardiac risk with fast infusion: Giving the injection too quickly can cause low blood pressure, slow heart rate, abnormal heart rhythms, fainting, or cardiac arrest. The infusion must always be given slowly with heart monitoring.
- Ceftriaxone interaction — potentially fatal in newborns: Mixing or giving calcium gluconate simultaneously with the antibiotic ceftriaxone is contraindicated in neonates 28 days or younger — it has caused fatal crystal deposits in the lungs and kidneys. In older patients, the two drugs may be given sequentially only if the IV line is thoroughly flushed between them.
- Tissue damage and calcinosis cutis: If the IV leaks — or sometimes even without leaking — calcium can deposit in surrounding skin and tissue, causing serious damage. Stop the infusion immediately if this is suspected.
- Aluminum toxicity: This product contains aluminum, which can reach toxic levels in patients with poor kidney function. Premature newborns are at the highest risk. Prolonged use in kidney-impaired patients requires careful monitoring.
- Digoxin interaction: Using calcium gluconate alongside digoxin or other cardiac glycosides can trigger dangerous arrhythmias. Avoid combining these if possible; if necessary, administer very slowly with close ECG monitoring.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Calcium gluconate injection can interact with several medications — always make sure your care team has your full medication list:
- Digoxin and cardiac glycosides: High calcium levels increase the risk of digoxin toxicity and can cause dangerous heart arrhythmias — avoid combining; if unavoidable, use extreme caution with heart monitoring
- Calcium channel blockers: Calcium can blunt how well these heart/blood pressure medications work
- Ceftriaxone (antibiotic): Never mix in the same IV line — can form dangerous crystal deposits; absolutely contraindicated in neonates 28 days or younger
- Vitamin D, vitamin A, thiazide diuretics, estrogen, calcipotriene, teriparatide: All can raise calcium levels further, increasing the risk of hypercalcemia — blood calcium monitoring is essential
- Phosphate- or bicarbonate-containing IV fluids: Physically incompatible — mixing causes precipitation and must be avoided
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Hypercalcemia (already high blood calcium): This medication is contraindicated — do not use
- Neonates (28 days or younger) receiving ceftriaxone: Contraindicated — can be fatal
- Premature newborns: At high risk for aluminum toxicity due to immature kidneys — use with extreme care and close monitoring
- Kidney impairment: Start at the lowest recommended dose; check blood calcium every 4 hours
- Older adults: Start at the lowest dose in the recommended range due to greater likelihood of reduced kidney, heart, or liver function
- Pregnancy: Untreated hypocalcemia in pregnancy carries its own serious risks (including premature labor and preeclampsia); treatment decisions should be made with a physician
- Breastfeeding: Calcium is naturally in breast milk; it is not yet known whether IV calcium gluconate changes breast milk calcium levels — discuss with your doctor
- Liver impairment: Liver function does not appear to affect how this medication works; dose adjustment is likely not necessary, but your care team will decide
🚑If you take too much▾
Too much calcium gluconate can cause hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood). Symptoms can include weakness, fatigue, confusion, depression, and difficulty concentrating urine at lower levels — and hallucinations, disorientation, seizures, or coma at higher levels. If an overdose occurs, the infusion must be stopped immediately and supportive treatment given to help the body eliminate the excess calcium.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Intravenous calcium gluconate works by directly raising the level of ionized calcium (the active, usable form) in the blood. Because roughly half of the calcium in the blood is in this ionized, biologically active form, restoring it quickly relieves the symptoms of hypocalcemia. The medication is 100% available to the body when given intravenously — none is lost to absorption through the gut.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
Calcium gluconate injection is 100% bioavailable when given intravenously — it goes directly into the bloodstream. Once there, it releases ionized calcium without needing to pass through the liver first. About 99% of the body's calcium is stored in the skeleton, with only 1% circulating in the blood and tissues; of that circulating amount, about half is in the active ionized form. Excess calcium is eliminated primarily through the urine — studies show a clear increase in urinary calcium after IV administration.
📦How to store it▾
Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) . Do not freeze.
📄 Written from Calcium Gluconate’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Calcium Gluconate — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What is calcium gluconate actually used for? ▾
How is it given — is it a shot or a drip? ▾
What side effects should I watch out for? ▾
Are there medications that don't mix well with this? ▾
Is this safe during pregnancy or while breastfeeding? ▾
What happens if too much is given by mistake? ▾
Is Calcium Gluconate available over the counter? ▾
When was Calcium Gluconate first available? ▾
Who makes Calcium Gluconate? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Calcium Gluconate’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Calcium Gluconate comes
Calcium Gluconate is available in 2 forms. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- Calcium Gluconate injection and Calcium Gluconate in Sodium Chloride injection are both used to treat acute symptomatic hypocalcemia (sudden, serious low blood calcium with symptoms) in adults and pediatric patients, including neonates
- Safety for long-term use has not been established — both products are intended for short-term, acute treatment only
- Calcium Gluconate in Sodium Chloride injection should NOT be diluted before use; any unused portion must be discarded
- Calcium Gluconate injection (pharmacy bulk package) must be diluted in 5% dextrose or normal saline before use and is not for direct intravenous infusion
- Both products must be given through a secure IV line — slowly, either as a bolus or continuous infusion — with heart (ECG) and blood calcium monitoring throughout
- Neither product should be mixed with ceftriaxone, or with fluids containing phosphate or bicarbonate, due to risk of dangerous precipitation
Topical cream, ointment or gel
📊 Calcium Gluconate across the U.S. market
How Calcium Gluconate appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
FDA-listed product records by dose form (tablet variants merged) — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Powder (9) · Granule (1) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Calcium Gluconate is used
A general measure of how commonly Calcium Gluconate is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Calcium Gluconate is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Calcium Gluconate prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Calcium Gluconate ranks #677 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 58% of them.
Utilization by Calcium Gluconate product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
calcium gluconate 100 MG/ML Injectable Solution Most dispensed
Summed across the 4 of 19 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 197435
10 ML calcium gluconate 100 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 2 of 25 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1668250
50 ML calcium gluconate 100 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 3 of 16 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1668248
50 ML calcium gluconate 20 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 3 of 9 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2117610
100 ML calcium gluconate 10 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2562542
100 ML calcium gluconate 20 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 1 of 9 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2117608
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Calcium Gluconate, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 14 of 80 listed Calcium Gluconate NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Calcium Gluconate products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Calcium Gluconate — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | A-S Medication Solutions | NDA | Find on DailyMed ↗ |
| 20 mg/mL | Intravenous | Amneal Pharmaceuticals Private Limited × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Amneal Pharmaceuticals Private Limited × 6 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | B. Braun Medical Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Caplin Steriles Limited × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg/mL | Intravenous | Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC × 6 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | NDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | General Injectables and Vaccines, Inc. × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., Usa × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Henry Schein, Inc. × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Henry Schein, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst × 5 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Nivagen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | ProPharma Distribution | NDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg/mL | Intravenous | Puniska Healthcare Private Limited × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Remedyrepack Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Remedyrepack Inc. | NDA | View NDC → |
| 98 mg/mL | Intravenous | Somerset Therapeutics, LLC × 4 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/mL | Intravenous | WG Critical Care, LLC × 4 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg/mL | Intravenous | WG Critical Care, LLC × 10 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | WG Critical Care, LLC × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Topical cream, ointment or gel | ||||
| 2.5 g/100 g | Topical | Denison Pharmaceuticals, LLC | UNAPPROVED DRUG OTHER | View NDC → |
| 💊Bulk drug substance | ||||
| 1 kg/kg | — | Global Calcium Private Limited | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Global Calcium Private Limited Unit III | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 25 kg/25 kg | — | Harman Finochem Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Honour Lab Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 35 kg/35 kg | — | Nuray Chemicals Private Limited × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 25 kg/25 kg | — | Professional Compounding Centers of America dba PCCA | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | R.L.Fine Chem Private Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 35 kg/35 kg | — | Sthree Chemicals Private Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Zhejiang Ruibang Laboratories | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
Showing 80 of 80 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 80 Calcium Gluconate NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Calcium Gluconate — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Calcium Gluconate in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Calcium Gluconate went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 1908 7 dose forms · 13 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Effervescent Oral Tablet RxCUI 1536913No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 1000 MGRxCUI 1536914 -
Dose form (SCDF) Injectable Solution RxCUI 371226In current FDA listings -
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1668247In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 10 ML calcium gluconate 100 MG/MLRxCUI 166825050 ML calcium gluconate 100 MG/MLRxCUI 166824850 ML calcium gluconate 20 MG/MLRxCUI 2117610100 ML calcium gluconate 10 MG/MLRxCUI 2562542100 ML calcium gluconate 20 MG/MLRxCUI 2117608 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Capsule RxCUI 371224No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 50 MGRxCUI 2725549 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Solution RxCUI 371227No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 230 MG/MLRxCUI 1486763 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 371228No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 600 MGRxCUI 105733650 MGRxCUI 198547 -
Dose form (SCDF) Topical Gel RxCUI 377989In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 0.025 MG/MGRxCUI 142085
Look up RxCUI 1908 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Calcium Gluconate is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
…and 3 more on the FDA NDC directory.
RxNorm drug class
Calcium Gluconate belongs to the Calcium class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 24 FDA-filed SPL label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
For canonical ingredient pages, bounded product-attributed indication and administration excerpts may be added to the AI evidence, and the generator is instructed to preserve available product, brand, route, and form qualifiers instead of treating one label as universal. Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.