Hi I haven't been on here for sometime, but having read your post Yammy regarding tummy pain I felt I just had to write my experience.
Like you I had abdominal pain, had been going on for years and always put down to IBS. Every time I ate I would bloat and be in pain, I also suffered intermittent cholecystitis....gallbladder pain and was back and forward to dr. On top of this was ongoing health anxiety and depression. In June this year along with the pains I began feeling so tired so visited another GP and luckily she did a whole range of blood tests including FERRITIN!
Thank goodness she did! I was diagnosed with Haemochromotosis a genetic condition that I as a nurse had never heard of, or iron overload. It's where the body hasn't the ability to get rid of iron. I had the genetic test and learned that I have two faulty gene mutations one from each of my parents. My ferritin level, which should have been 50, was 950! I have since found out for all this is the most common genetic condition there is, but there are millions of undiagnosed people out there! So my point is ladies, don't be fobbed off by doctors when you feel there is something wrong, at the very least ask to have your ferritin checked and don't take iron supplements without first consulting a dr. I cringe when I think about taking multivitamins with iron for years. I'm 57 now and probably started loading at 52 when periods stopped. The treatment is ongoing I have to have a pint of blood taken every two weeks to get my iron level down. To date it is 480. I will do this until it gets to 50, then every three months for the rest of my life. If undiagnosed this condition eventually kills as iron loads in all the major organs, namely heart causing arrithymias, (I get palpatations)the liver causing cirrhosis and the pancreas causing diabetes. Luckily I was caught before any organ damage, although it could be the cause of the palpatations. Another major symptom of Haemochromotosis is extremely painful joints, again mine aren't too bad at the moment. As I say it is a rare condition and I don't want to frighten anybody, but felt I need to raise awareness of this awful condition.
