Hemochromatosis - do i have to be a gene carrier to have symptoms? my gastro is just ck for gene not actual blood levels. seems he may be skip a step?

Gene's not the key: If you're shown to be iron-overloaded, the key is "get the iron out of you." it's fun and good to go looking for the gene, and it'll be helpful for when other family members need to be worked up, but it's not going to make or break the diagnosis. There are a couple of common alleles at the main locus, some uncommon alleles and some other loci -- all part of a thorough workup.