Genesight Genetic Testing and Mental Health

I’ve been sharing my mental health journey with a lot of you, and honestly, it helps! While being vulnerable can be scary, I think it’s good to admit where you are in life in realistic terms. I’ve been waiting on my results from a Genesight Genetic Test to come back, specifically to determine what anti-depressant my body metabolizes best and worst. I only heard about this test 2 months ago and it turns out most insurances now cover it!

I have been on Lexapro for 2.5 years. My new family doctor recommended this test after I explained the rough (mental) time I’ve been having and how I feel like my medication is no longer working. It turns out I was on to something. Friends – Listen to your body!

I found out that the current medication I am on, and Celexa which I was on from 2009-2011, is metabolizing poorly based on my genotype. In addition, my emergency anxiety medication Ativan is over-metabolizing. We also found out that I am lacking most of the folic acid enzyme needed to metabolize all anti-depressant medications. So even if I was on the ideal medication, my body may not respond as well to it without the help of a folic acid supplement. This is a really interesting study on the methylfolate connection with anti-depressant absorption: https://www.psychologytoday.com/…/depression-wont-go-away-f…

My doctor is switching me to Prozac and it will (hopefully) be a smooth transition. I won’t have to wean myself off my current med in order to start the new one. I stop taking one, then start taking the other at the next dose cycle.

I left the doctors office feeling excited for the first time in a very long time. Typically when I leave any doctor appointment lately I feel weighted down by everything – by my lack of energy, by my bad nutritional choices, by my horrid menstrual cycle, by everything about my body. Today I felt hope for the first time in ages. Hope that this medication may work to give me back some energy so I can make better choices. I highly recommend asking your doctor about this test if you are on any anti-depressant, anti-psychotic or mood stabilizer medications. The Genesight test offers feedback on all 3 types.

Yay for science!

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Brenda Sieglitz

Brenda Lee Sieglitz is an author and public speaker whose topics focus on travel, grief, and nature. Widowed in 2008 at 24 years of age, Brenda is an advocate for sarcoma patients, the widowed community, and conservation through her volunteerism with the National Park Service, Lancaster County Conservancy, Pennsylvania Master Naturalist, Hospice of Lancaster County, Soaring Spirits International, Angiosarcoma Awareness and Highmark Caring Place. Brenda won the 2009 Associated Content “Content of the Year” award, and in 2011 was named one of Wyndham Women’s “Women on their Way”. Most recently her love and loss memoir, Ebb from the Shoreline, won 1st Place Editor’s Choice in Nonfiction at the 2014 North American Book Awards. Sieglitz holds a degree in business and became a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist in 2015. In her spare time, she adores playing with her two nieces, going on family adventures with her husband, stepdaughter and son-in-law, hiking, camping and is working to complete her bucket list dream of visiting all National Park units. Sieglitz has been married to her best friend Dave since 2013 and continues to reside in Lancaster County with their two beagles Scotch and Fina.

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