https://kdvr.com/2018/12/11/dna-tests-help-denver-man-doctors-choose-best-medication/
DENVER — This holiday season, many people are buying genetic testing kits as gifts. But there is a kind of DNA test that tells you how you may respond to different medications and how they are metabolized.
There are many different companies offering this kind of pharmacogenomic tests. Most require a medical provider to order it for you, but the FDA just recently approved 23andMe to start offering it directly to consumers.
Steve Judy, from Denver, had a good experience using a test from OneOme that cost $350. The website says it analyzes your DNA to predict which medications and dosages may work best for you.
For 18 years, Steve had battled anxiety and low-level depression, taking a number of different medications while trying to find one that worked well without side effects.
“On the previous medicine, my energy just dipped,” he said.
So, he did a cheek swab and got the pharmacogenomic test. Alison Quinn, a pharmacist who specializes in genetics with Kaiser Permanente, interpreted the results. She found that Steve should not take a certain type of cholesterol medication and that the anti-depressant he had taken for five years was not recommended for him.
“So for him, having been on a number of different medications, and really struggling a lot, we were able to use this test to try to help him get on a better medication,” Quinn said.
The difference with another anti-depressant has been noticeable.
“My wife notices my mood, you know, much less anxious, much less nervous,” Judy said.
Additionally, his energy is back, and Steve is glad his change in medication was based on science rather than a lengthy trial-and-error process.
“This really accelerated the process and got me on the right track for the right medicine for me,” Judy said.
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Filed under: General Problems
Medicaid covers the cost of this test I don’t know about private insurance but it is very helpful in determining which medications work best for your gene type. It covers all the psych meds and which opiates would work best for you as well as determine if you’re a rapid metabolizer. I have copies of my results if I could I would show yall how valuable this information is. Instead of trying to find the right anti depressant or anti psychotic this test list which would work best for you. Saves a lot of time and problems associated with matching you up with what works best. Tho i have tried a few of the recommendations I still have had negative experiences on some of the meds but instead of wasting time on continue taking that particular med you try another. Right now im on several different medications from mental health. Even tho I’m on a low dose of diazepam and a low dose of pain medications I have to give up the diazepam because of the new laws coming into effect in 2019. You’d think those that are controlling our lives would figure out if it was going to cause problems I would have already been affected by taking them together. That’s the case tho. I have to give up medication I require for severe PTSD and panic disorder in order to continue being undertreated for severe intractable pain. I doubt I will last long. The fact that ive made it this long going on five years now of either no pain relief or very little. The government needs to stay out of my medical care it’s my business. If you’re on Medicaid, request you have a gene study from your mental health prescriber.