<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I hang out on a number of support groups.  One person on the hemochromatosis
support group said awhile back that HH and CD are often linked.  Well, we
have so many celiacs on that group now that I have thought maybe I should
warn you all to watch out for HH!!!  The two can partially mask symptoms of
each other.   Here's how it works, from the celiac's viwepoint:
    You get diagnosed due to symptoms or family history.  Your docs have
been feeding you iron pills for years, not realizing that your anemia is
from folate/B12 deficiency.  Having a gene or two for hemochromatosis, you
absorbed a lot of that iron, much more than a "normal" celiac, but could not
use it, so it got stashed in liver and other organs.   Now suddenly, you are
on a gluten free diet, what little bit of reduced iron absorption you did
have due to duodenal damage is gone, and your iron levels are skyrocketing.
Your hair begins falling out.... next comes fatigue, breathlessness, heart
arrythmias, depression, loss of libido, joint pain, diabetes, cirrhosis or
primary liver cancer.
    See the websites on the Net for info on hemochromatosis, get your
ferritin, serum iron, TIBC, and %saturation tested.  Do it fasting, so you
don't test the iron content of what you just ate.  Don't trust the doctor,
get copies of your lab results.  Take them to the official websites for
comparison with norms.  If high, ask for advice, better yet join the FHHF
forum.  If you think celiac disease is underdiagnosed and left untreated,
it's even worse with hemochromatosis!!!  I forgot to mention, it can be very
hard to get a doctor to even test you for HH, even if you have every symptom
in the book, because they believe it's so rare that you couldn't possibly
have it.  (it's not rare, about 1 in 200 has double genes for it)    Donna H

See
http://www.americanhs.org/psa%20magazine.htm

http://www.americanhs.org/

and another organization:  [log in to unmask]

*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List*