Story Genetic testing for medications

[ferrie]

My psychiatrist had me do genetic testing to help figure out what psychiatric medications would work better for me bc I've failed a lot of meds & obviously my current ones aren't working. Basically you take a swab of the inside of both cheeks (you want a tissue sample, not saliva), and the lab tests your DNA for known genetic markers that influence the metabolism of medications. It isn't always indicative of how you will truly react to certain meds bc phenotype is influenced by both genotype & environmental/lifestyle factors, but it can be a good starting point. The test I did gave results for antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, & non-stimulants with a result for each major medication in each category. Unsurprisingly, the results indicate that I don't tolerate SSRIs well. The category I had the most severe drug-gene interactions though was antipsychotics, which is really interesting bc there's family history of treatment resistant schizophrenia. I also got information about my enzyme markers & surprisingly they all indicate I should have normal metabolism bc my doctor expected I'd have excessively high metabolism with how harshly meds affect me. Still could have phenotypically high metabolism, just isn't in my genetic code. I also have reduced folic acid conversion & am genetically predisposed to megaloblastic anemia which would actually correlate to some of my health issues which is WILD. Idk it's been a really interesting experience & science can be really cool sometimes