Suspected Hemochromatosis
Posted , 6 users are following.
Right about 2 years ago my health changed and started on a downward spiral, I am a 29yr old male nearly 30 and around this time in 2012 I began having hair thinning all over the body including head and gradually getting worse, my skin has a unhealthy dark tone to it and I'm always tired and then a a few months later the biggest shocker came and I started having erectile dysfunction, I was hoping all these issues would correct itself but obviously I'm here now and nothing is getting better and depression has set in, in all those time I done a few blood tests and the most recent 1 I noticed my iron level is in the red at 35 unml/L and the normal range says 6-25, also the Ferritin test done in a different blood test shows 285 and alot of information on this internet says normal for a adult male should be below 150? Doctors haven't noticed any of this, I wondered if anyone can shed any light if these numbers are of great concern?
1 like, 21 replies
aidan Equin0x
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Equin0x aidan
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aidan Equin0x
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sheryl37154 Equin0x
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aidan sheryl37154
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sheryl37154 aidan
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aidan sheryl37154
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sheryl37154 aidan
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aidan sheryl37154
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sheryl37154 aidan
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aidan sheryl37154
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megan36105 aidan
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Most recently, so long as I get a good nights sleep, the next day I feel less fatigued than I have in years. So clearly, my personal optimal level is potentially over 50.
sheryl37154 aidan
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However, lymph gland massage drains the lymph glands into the stomach and supposedly we excrete it - but maybe our body will absorb it again!
Lately, since I have hit on this idea, I have applied a Pro-Shiatsu massager to a spot between my shoulder blades which gets considerably painful. The pain disappears for a couple of days and so does the fatigue, then it descends on me again. If it only lasts a couple of days, I suppose having the electric massager is cheaper than paying a masseuse.
Perhaps a professional massage may last a lot longer as hopefully the iron would be dispersed further. Where to? Maybe to the lymph glands, and so the cycle continues. All speculation for now, until I have time to try it all out for real.
I think the muscle massage has to be really hard - like the massager I have does, to disperse the iron. Lymph gland drainage is reasonably gentle in comparison.
megan36105 Equin0x
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Because where I am (Alberta, Canada) the doctors have advised me that a normal ferritin level is anywhere between 12 - 200, not below 150 (not that it matters, I'm just wondering why the range is so different). My level (when I last checked in June) was 48. However, I'm letting mine climb as I'm pretty sure that I haven't yet found the optimal iron level for my body (and I also climb very slowly).
I was told by my hematologist that any sort of sexual dysfunction from haemochromatosis won't happen unless your ferritin levels were 2000+ for a number of years. The reason I asked about this was because over... I don't know, maybe three years or so, I've seen a decrease in my libido. It was enough of a decrease that it was affecting mine and my bf's relationship because, while I still enjoyed sex, I just couldn't care less if we had it or not. I just couldn't get turned on unless we were already engaging in intercourse. (I'm 25, btw, so that we can compare ages and symptoms). I felt like it was worse than it was when my ferritin level was 600+ (which is the level that I was diagnosed at, at age 21).
So then once my specialist told me that my libido issue wasn't related to my iron overload, I sought out help from a psychologist. I had two sessions with her (the last one was this previous Tuesday) and my libido problems are getting better. It's so hard when there are a number of options in terms of what could be causing your sexual dysfunction but just going off of what my specialist says, at this point, without being a doctor and without more tests, I might have to conclude that your issues (the sexual ones, not the others) could be more psychological than anything.
But at the same time, I would encourage you, and Aidan for that matter, to make your doctor be more thorough in your examinations. Make sure your iron, ferritin, b12, and thyroid are all tested. Make them. Don't let them brush you off because this is something that you're concerned about.
And don't be ashamed to mention your erectile dysfunction issues. People don't realize sometimes that having a good sex life makes everything else better. If you're in a relationship and you're having issues with libido, getting and staying hard, whatever, it bleeds into the rest of your relationship. So this is something that's important for you.
And Equin0x, the colour of your skin is definitely a sign of having iron overload, but I would also recommend getting possible tests on your liver done, and not just for iron overload, but for other causes as well.
dambudzo Equin0x
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i don't want to worry you - just something to check with your doctor that your pituitary gland is functioning ok.