# Ask for the Gene Test for Hemochromatosis



## Hem0chromatosis and IBS (Dec 12, 2010)

I am a 61 yr old grandmother. I first had the IBS symptoms of extreme abdominal pain with explosive gas and watery to mucus stools when I was 14. My brother, who was 7 years younger than I, also started the same symptoms when he was 13. It was not until he was diagnosed positive for hemochromotosis by the gene DNA test when he was 51 that we found out the reason for the IBS. I also diagnosed positive for this iron overloading inherited disorder the same month. Our sister does not have the genes, and she does not have the IBS symptoms that we do. I went through years of doctors telling me that it was my nerves--like somehow this condition was my fault. Hemochromatosis is usually not diagnosed until later in life, when the damage to one's heart, liver, pancreas, and joints is already done. Ask your doctor to screen you for the disease. It is a simple test that measures the iron in your blood--inexpensive and so much less invasive than the multiple colonoscopies I have undergone, which produced no results that explained my condition. Doctors often measure to see if your iron count is too low, but rarely if it is too high. I now eat no red meat and no iron enriched foods (like cereals, etc) and take no vitamins with iron and my IBS symptoms have basically just disappeared. It is worth a check. Had I known this when I was 14, I would have saved myself over 40 years of misery.


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