Pharmacogenomics Testing and Strattera
Sharing in case it helps others:
I’ve been on varying doses of strattera for the last 3 years with great success. I recently started tapering down from my top dose at 60mg to 40mg to 25mg (as my partner and I have been thinking of starting a family). I noticed zero negative side effects during taper (1 month long each step down). On my final month, my psychiatrist had me do 25mg every other day and that was a mistake. Though 25mg is a very low dose, on every other day I had horrible norepinephrine thrash (irritability, negative thoughts, poor reaction time including while driving) forcing me to go back to 25mg daily. I have stayed here.
As part of this process I have done Pharmacogenomics testing. What I learned (amongst other factors like hereditary cancer risk) was that I am what’s called an intermediate metabolizer of the main enzyme strattera acts on - which means my body processes it slower than the average patient.
I recently met with a new OB specific psychiatrist who said the Pharmacogenomics
Testing results were extremely helpful in determining why I felt so horrible on every other day even at 25mg - as it acts more like 40mg in my system… and helped me develop a custom treatment plan.
If you’re struggling on your strattera dose, it might be worth getting this testing done to inform your treatment - it can also tell you key info about how you might metabolize other psychiatric medications too! Sending all the best to those on the journey!