Genetic DNA blood test

Hello everyone.  I just wanted to let you know that I had a genetic DNA blood test done last June to let me know what drugs I can and cannot take.  Out of the 9 enzymes that metabolize drugs in my body, 5 are abnormal and don't work.  So this is why after only 5 months on benzos and even the short time I was on AD's I had severe and intolerable reactions and my subsequent awful w/d that I am still fighting 9 months later.  I think there are many of you that are facing this same issue regarding drugs.  Read the website www.consumer-health.com/services/newgenetictestshelpdoctorsprescribetherightmedicineforyou.php

To help you learn more.  I got my test at a local hospital from Iverson Diagnostics in Bothell,, wa. But it takes a doctor to request it for you..in my opinion every doctor should require this test before they ever prescribe you a drug!!!  It isn't cheap, cost $900 but my insurance did pay for it all.

I hope this helps someone.  I only wish I had known about this before I was given benzos.

 

Another thing I had done to protect me in the ER or in an emergency is I had a silver medical bracelet made for me that lists benzos and flouroquinolone antibiotcs as causing me severe allergic reactions.  I felt I needed to do this because I was given Ativan in the ER without even knowing it.

It only cost me $60 for the bracelet.

 

Galea

Here is a link that explains:

 

http://www.consumer-health.com/services/NewGeneticTestsHelpDoctorsPrescribetheRightMedicineforYou.php

I want to thank you Galea & Pattylu for posting that info about DNA drug sensitivity testing!

 

After reading your posts, I researched this test more, & finally asked my Family Dr to do the test for me.

We used Iverson Diagnostics..

I got the results back last week & found that I had genetic varients in 3 gene categories..

Maybe no surprise that the worst one was for the category CYP2C19 - that metabolizes Valium & SSR's medications !! Yikes!

My variant in this CYP2C19 enzyme, was of the "Ultra-Rapid metabolizer" type.

I am curious whether your variant in this one, was in the Poor, Intermediate, or the Ultra-Rapid type like mine?

Maybe this could shed some light on why some of us have very difficult tapers & withdrawal.

Would be interesting to know whether most people who get into serious trouble w/ Benzos -

have genetic DNA variants in this CYP2C19 enzyme category!

If this test becomes more available & more widely prescribed, it could shed more light on our situation here.

Feel free to PM me, & many thanks again for posting about this DNA drug sensitivity test.

It was a huge relief, somehow, to see a possible real physical cause & attribute -for the hell I've been in these last 3yrs due to taking prescribed Benzos!

I will be seeing my pharmacology Dr next week to go over these test results, & will let you now if he has any further info.

 

margaretisabel

 

 

 

I had a swab DNA test on my inner cheek to see how I metabolize different drugs. I am waiting for the results. One of my doctor's feels that I was unable to metabolize benzos and it was building up in my system to toxic levels as soon as I started to take it. Margaretisabel I am interested to hear if your pharmacologist has any further info to tell you about your test results. I am glad that you are feeling better. Galea I hope you are feeling better, too. 

I just had blood drawn for a similar kind of test, but I'm not sure the name. I'll be following this thread as I wait for my results. I wish I had asked my doc  the name of the test!

Hi Jazzy & Peace2, I will definitely let you know what I find out.

 

Unfortunately pharmacology ofc called yesterday to push my appt w/ Dr ahead few weeks.

[Maybe he wants a very long Memorial weekend, hey!]

Anyway, I wont see him now him till June 5, but will let you

know then -whatever I find out.

Sure would be great if DNA tests could help determine which medications should never be used

by an individual, & which ones might be be OK, safer, & of some help- if one really has to take something.

Thanks again Galea for starting this thread,.

And let us know Jazzy & Peace 2 -how your results turn out!

 

margaretisabel

 

Hi everyone and so glad to see that some of you are having these tests.  My worst panels are CYP1a2 and COMT panels.  Plus 3others aren't great.  Only one of my panels was considered normal.  Included in a bad panel was caffeine and epinephrine and acetaminophen.  CYP2c19 was intermediate for me.

 

I am having some good days but waves are bad.  Still having bad ear ringing, muscle shakes and anxiety.  Still loosing weight and tire easily.  Weary road we travel, dear friends, but we will recover, we will make it.

 

Thank you, margaretisabel for sharing your results.  Once we are healed we will know just what drugs will harm us the most for our futures.  Jazzy, hope you are seeing many windows.

 

God bless you all and 

Galea

Thank you Galea for getting back!

CYP2D9 & COMT were the other 2 flagged on my results & were "Intermediate" variants.

Who knows what all this means, except we are all different & can respond to medications very differently.

Hope the medical profession will take more notice of all these new studies & test.

Yes, it is a very weary road, & so unbelievably long for some. I feel simply exhausted!

Grateful for this Forum & the support & encouragement of everyone.

I understand about having bad waves after some better windows. Very tough & so unfathomable.

May we all get relief & recover soon!

Thank you again for posting about this test.

Has given me some comfort

 

margaretisabel

I had this test done 2 years ago. Find it very difficult to understand. Wasn't explained very well to me. I have the results if anyone has questions.

ScottA

If you had the test done through a dr. Have them explain it to you or....contact the lab, they should help you as well.  I know Iverson Lab was very helpful.  But, basically, the panels are numbered and should list your metabolism rate....rapid, intermediate, poor.  That means the rate your body can absorb and reacts to the drugs.  A doctor can easily then know immediately the drugs you cannot take as all drugs are numbered the same way pharmaceutically.  I made copies of my test and I keep one in my purse.  But you could copy it to your phone or iPad for easy access. 

 

Margaretisabel

You are so welcome.  I hope I can give some help to BB members.  We really need to be aware of drugs that are so often given to us by the medical profession, sometimes without our approval or knowledge unfortunately as in the ER.  They gave me Ativan twice  intravenous.  I had no clue, the nurse said it was Vitamin A.  It caused an immediate reaction...rapid heart rate, high anxiety, shaking.  Scared me to death but even I realized it was something they had given me.  I told them to remove the drip.  Sxs left.  But I was in tolerance from Xanax at the time as well, after only a few weeks.

 

I so hope that the shear numbers of us in w/d (millions worldwide)or that have gone through w/d will cause changes to be made but I doubt it.  Too much money, too many jobs and careers involved.  Even now when someone shoots people they are screaming for more drugs to be made available to the supposedly mentally ill.  When further investigation shows that many of these poor people were already on heavy prescribed drugs or had been forced into quitting and not allowed for w/d time or even taper.  Especially our children.

 

My best to you all and feel free to message me if you want to discuss the blood tests more privately.

Galea

I have test results and I don't know what they mean. I'm afraid my doctor won't be of much help because this is her first go at the test. My test is the CYP2D6 Genotype Cascade, B. My result is that I'm an intermediate metabolizer. What does that mean?

 

Peace2

Peace,

 

It means that you metabolize at an "average" rate when it comes to this CYP2D6 enzyme. I found an interesting article using those terms at emedicine.medscape.com/article/1879354-overview.

 

The testing that people are referring to on this thread, I believe,  involve liver enzymes which are known as the CYP450 complex.

 

A site that gives a good, basic explanation of this system is known as Edmunds Page. The address is www.edhayes.com/startp450.html.

Hi Intend,

After a bit of research, I've found that it means I metabolize certain drugs (25% including many antidepressants and antipsychotics) less quickly than average. I have one of the two necessary alles. Poor metabolizers have zero of the two and normal metabolizers have two of the two. My doctor thinks it's very informative for how I've reacted to medications. I'm not sure if we'll check other enzymes but I'd sure like to check the one that breaks down benzos!

 

Thanks.

Peace2

I did the swab test and they gave me my DNA  results of various enzymes that metabolize antidepressants and antipsychotics, which i didn't need to know and did not test CYP34A which I believe is the enzyme that metabolizes benzos. unbelievable! Well, I don't have to see it on paper to know I had a problem metabolizing benzos.

Just looking over my results and it says ultra rapid metabolizer for one of the enzymes, but read that it is interpreted as a very good thing to be? am I wrong?

Jazzy,

This link was helpful to me.

 

http://www.consumer-health.com/services/NewGeneticTestsHelpDoctorsPrescribetheRightMedicineforYou.php

 

Ultra rapid would mean you break it down more quickly then your body maybe able to use it. It says you would need a larger dose of medications metabolized by that enzyme or to use a different medication that's metabolized by a different enzyme.

 

Peace2

Thanks so much Peace. The results revealed that I am an ultra rapid metabolizer for CYP1A2. I believe that includes coffee, which I don't drink as it keeps me up at night even if I had it during the day. Can only drink decaf. Acetaminophine and naproxen are on the list. I very rarely take them, but when I did, I didn't like something about them. I feel better with an Advil. Maybe there is something to this. Anyway, I really would like to know why benzos clobbered me. Thanks again Peace for your response.

I did a little more research on this subject and found an article from the Merck Manual. I'm on my iPad here so I'm pulling off pieces of it for information. Hopefully it adds a little more clarity for this subject.

 

"The liver is the principal site of drug metabolism. ...Metabolism typically inactivates drugs....The goal is to make the drug easier to excrete. ...Drug metabolism rates vary among patients. Some patients metabolize a drug so rapidly that therapeutically effective blood and tissue concentrations are not reached; in others, metabolism may be so slow that usual doses have toxic effects. Individual drug metabolism rates are influenced by genetic factors, coexisting disorders(particularly chronic liver disorders and heart failure), and drug interactions(especially those involving induction or inhibition of metabolism)....The most important enzyme system of...metabolism is CYP450, a microsomal superfamily of isoenzymes."

 

The article goes on to give a table of some of these enzymes and some various drugs that are metabolized by them. The drug that is metabolized is called a substrate. And it also gives drug interactions, either inhibition which means slowing down metabolism, or induction which means speeding up metabolism, that occurs in a drug interaction between the substrate and another drug.

 

The table shows that enzyme CYP3A4 is principally responsible for metabolizing benzos although it also shows enzyme CYP2C19 specifically involved in the metabolism of Valium.

 

I got this article at www.merckmanuals.com/professional/clinical_pharmacology/ pharmacokinetics/drug_metabolism.html.

 

Another article that was much shorter but explained this concisely was at www.mcmanweb.com/drug_metabolism.html.

 

 

 

 

I had the cheek swab test that Jazzy had done - mine was by Genesight.

 

I still couldn't take the meds on my green list (the go ahead column) so I'm not sure how dependable the results are.

 

Lisa

Thanks Intend. I do see the enzyme you sited that Valium came under CYP2C19. I came out as an extensive metabolizer regarding that enzyme, which is normal. My beef is with Xanax and kalonapin. It is interesting to try and understand this.

 

Free. I did my swab with Genesight also. Do you think blood tests are more accurate? I know one thing, that benzos caused this hell I have been through and no mater what it says on paper, the proof is in the pudding (as they say). This drug was not metabolized.

 

Love you guys. Praying for Good health and peace.

 

Hi Jazzy -

 

I had the blood test done too through Mayo quite awhile ago and I don't see that doctor anymore and he never gave me the printout.  I do have those Genesight results at home, though.

 

All I know is that he tried me on several meds from my GREEN ok list before I figured out tolerance wd was my issue, not depression, and every drug made me sick in three - ten days.  On the other hand, I can use Elavil in very low doses and it's on my red NO list, so go figure.

 

That was all from my"bad luck doctor" as I think of him.

 

I hope you're feeling better.  I read your progress log from time to time to live vicariously in NYC since I can't travel as yet.  Take care and keep enjoying your wonderful life!

 

Lisa

You know something Free, my friend's daughter took a swab test years ago and she said that the drugs it said she should stay away from, she never had any troubles with.  I'm starting to feel that it might not be so accurate. Oh well!

 

In answer to your question, I am feeling better, but not done with this mess. I hope you get to travel to NYC when you feel better. There is lots to see and do. It's a fun city.

 

Feel good. You are stronger then these drugs!

 

 

Thanks Jazzy!  You feel better too.

 

Lisa