Hemochromatosis Support Group

I 'am guessing they have not been tested. Oh I think they should at least give blood at red cross just 6 times might not be enough but at least it will be better than done. By all means have them do it. with there levels it looks like there is a good chance they have it. mine was only 210 when I started. My doc was very good about me getting check. Hope you can talk them into it

Do you know their % saturation? There are other reasons for elevated ferritin, but unlikely with your HH. From what I've read, once your ferritin hits 300 for femals, they start flebs... should be hard for docs to figure out, high ferritin, of which they both have, needs to be gone, it does damage to organs! At minimum, they should have it monitored, say every 2 months, to see how fast it's rising.... could be they'd get it down and not have to do phlebs too often. good luck, and keep pushing, no doubt it needs treated!!!!!

For the sake of their health yes they should have pheb's The Red Cross and other hospital blood banks may not take their blood if it has a lot of iron in it. This is how I ended up being diagnosed because no one wanted me as a donor and I was tired of being asked if I had ever has hepatitis. I had never heard of hemochromatosis ( not surprising here in America) so was surprised when diagnosed. The iron was settling in my liver and leading to cirrhosis which my father had and died of. Now after 8 years I am down to a good level.
For your information some states do accept my blood I travel down to Rhodes Island from Massachusetts just so I can give blood and not have it thrown away.
Hope this is helpful. Push your mother's doctor to order treatment. Have your sister look into health insurance in her state. Massachusetts pays for my lab work now that I am unemployed.

Hi Wildkat,
Yes to your question.
Aside from the discomfort of needles, unless someone is anemic, phlebs are generally beneficial. Your sister's numbers certainly seem high. Isn't it amazing in this day, how ignorant some professionals remain about HH.
Best of luck,
tuistone

Thank you folks for your input!!

The Doctor got my results of my Ferritin test, he says 44 is not low enough..sigh, it's 3 more Phleebs and go from there! I thought I was getting a break..