The crazy thing about iron overload is that it can/will cause inflammation. And also depletes vitamin C and other anti-oxidants. So I wouldn't be surprised if your CRP come back high. The best low-tech approach would be to start donating blood to reduce your iron stores. Giving blood is a healthy thing to do for men and post-menopausal women as long as they have enough to give. You just need to monitor your blood counts and FE. You can be very aggressive and do it weekly with close monitoring by your doc.

My husband has both....iron overload and high CRP. And since FE is an acute phase reactant, just about anything will cause it to spike when FE is already elevated.

Excess iron gets stored or deposited into other organs. This will not be picked up by blood tests. There are some places that can do a special MRI of the liver to detect excess iron deposits. The pancreas and heart are usually effected first.

You may want to check out www.ironoverload.org

Marlene

My cousins with hemochromosis had to get liver biopsies. It runs in my family as well.

The Cushing's is not caused by stress - it will make the body be under stress but the source will be a tiny tumor somewhere. Mine was in the pituitary.

My results came back and my CRP is normal. Ferritin, of course, is still high. My other iron tests are also normal.

make sure you get and keep copies of all your lab work, docs have been known to say something is normal when it is not

That is EXCELLENT advice!

Thankfully, I am not so stupid as to walk out of there without the lab results. I have learned from experience. Anyhow, I went to see my PCP today, and his diagnosis is metabolic syndrome, especially in the absence of any other markers. I certainly do have all the usual symptoms, like high BP, cholesterol, blood sugar, abdominal fat. However, I asked if metabolic syndrome would be enough to drive the ferritin level to 3 times the upper limit. He was not sure, but said he would consult with a blood specialist and get back to me. I may need to have more blood work done. If I had not asked, I figure he was happy to let it go at that.

I am thinking that Cushing's syndrome in MALES is hard to identify and doctors often miss it. In females the hormone changes are dramatic but in males they are just "more male".

The presence of metabolic syndrome is common. But if you have Cushing's, it will be more extreme.

Hi. Serum iron tests are useless to rule it out. The test has to be TIBC. Also a liver function test is really important regardless of the cause. Scotland has a very high incidence of this disease as well.

Oops just saw you listed your level. A low inflammation diet may help with the bloat. I see an integrated md. She says bloat is bad! Mine is from prednisone. The diet has helped a lot. Good Luck.