Hemochromatosis Symptoms

Abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue, lethargy, bronzing of the skin, joint aches, energy plummeting, body hair loss, sexual libido decrease, weight loss, and generalized weakeness are all symptoms of the condition known as Hemochromatosis.

The most cited complaint for those with hemochromatosis is joint pain, but heart problems can also occur. The real problems start to occur when the iron builds up in the body’s tissues and leads to more serious conditions like arthritis, menopause, adrenal gland problems, thyroid deficiency problems, hearth problems pancreas problems, liver problems, gray skin, irregular heartbeat, diabetes, and even impotence.

All of the symptoms stem from problems caused to the organs through artificially large amounts of iron being stored in the body’s tissues.

The specific sites of the joint pain include the hands, hips, knees, and ankles so it can be hard to distinguish joint pain from other common causes like chronic pain caused by general wear and tear or old age. There are several types of liver damage and heart damage that can occur with hemochromatosis in the later stages of the disease’s hold on the body including liver inflammation, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure. Serious heart issues like irregular heartbeat, cardiomopathy, and heart failure can happen as well.

Specific sexual and cosmetic issues can include breast enlargement in men, atrophy of the testicles, loss of all body hair in rare cases, erection difficulties, and libido withdrawal and drain.

The advanced stages of hemochromatosis can portend plenty of serious symptoms like diabetes, chronically painful joints and muscle issues, darkened skin which gives an odd appearance, an enlarged spleen, and redness of the palms. If you sense that any of these symptoms are co-occurring in you, you should seek treatment from a doctor immediately and bring your ideas to his attention. Going without treatment can shorten your life.

Liver failure, liver cancer like hepatocellualar carcinoma or HCC, diabetes, and cardiomyopathy are the final results of going untreated for hemochromatosis.

Some of the early symptoms that you should watch out for include fatigue, weakness, nausea, and weight loss. Shortness of breath, dysfunction of the testicles, and arthritis soon follow. The advanced symptoms are those that cause fatal problems in the person like liver cancer and heart failure. It can be quite scary to have hemochromatosis because the first symptoms are merely unpleasant, but left untreated, it can lead to death.