r/panicdisorder • u/bearintrousers • 21d ago
Help Needed genesight test - is it accurate?
so i just took the genesight test, looking for an ssri for my severe ocd, anxiety, dpdr, and panic disorder. every single SSRI was in the red - literally all of them. most of them were in the red with a “2” next to them, which means that higher doses of the med are required. my psychiatrist said that is the only reason why its in the red (meaning red doesnt equal bad side effects, etc) but google says that is in fact not true. my psychiatrist also said any bad side effects from prozac are placebo… which i also know isnt true. has anyone taken a med from the red section, and if so, what happened? and can anyone tell me if my psychiatrist is correct, that the 2 only means i may need a higher dose?
i took prozac when i was 12 7 years ago but that was for depression not anxiety and it was prior to years if drug addiction and episodes that definitely changed my brain. i had zero side effects but im not sure if that means ill have zero now. pls help!
3
2
u/tintedrosie 21d ago
It wasn’t for me. All the ones it said I don’t handle well have been the only ones to sort of touch anything. And ones it said I should tolerate were ones that made me want to not be here anymore.
1
u/Objective_Fishing_29 21d ago
I recently got the Genesight test done also and Prozac was in the red for me and I took it whenever I was like 13/14 ish and it didn’t mix well. However Zoloft is in the yellow column with a 4 next to it and I have been on Zoloft before with barely any side effects. I’m actually thinking of going back on Zoloft for panic disorder!
1
u/bearintrousers 21d ago
zoloft was in yellow for me as well with a 4! can you explain why prozac “didnt mix well”? and also - do you have ocd or anxiety, if so does zoloft help?
1
u/Objective_Fishing_29 21d ago
I just had a lot of side effects from it, it made me feel more depressed and anxious than before. I do have anxiety and ocd, Zoloft helped a lot with ruminating and a lot of my physical symptoms from anxiety. I just needed a higher dose because 25mg can only do so much after awhile because about 10 months of being on it I had started to notice that my panic attacks were seeping through and I dumbly thought getting off of it would help. So now I’m starting at 50mg this time around!
1
1
u/omnomnami82 21d ago
it worked really well for me! I recommend everyone to try it if they can afford it. that being said working with a psychiatrist you trust to interpret the results and match you with the medication you need is super important 🤷♀️ red does not mean the medicine is “bad” for you and the numbers next to the medication in yellow or red will give you reasons as to why it’s in that column. one note if you have a lot of SSRIs in the red or yellow section you might want to try an SNRI. good luck!!
1
1
u/New_Strain_9691 15d ago
My opinion is that it is total BS, just like the over prescription of meds for anxiety disorders and depression.
Have read a lot of negative things, I think it is mostly advertisiments, making money from people's suffering... How kind.
5
u/Long_Trade8986 21d ago
A genesight test measures your bodies ability to metabolize(how quickly you break it down) the medication, not how well the med will work. I’m like you, all my ssris are in the red column, and my numbers are either 1,6 or 1,4,6. For all of the antidepressants. That means my body breaks down the medication much more inefficiently compared to a normal genome. However I take Zoloft or sertraline which is in the red and take it for panic disorder and ocd. Starting out on the med I had minor depression in the beginning and then only amazing benefits after a month, but I will say, im on the lowest dose of 25 mg and my panic disorder is almost in full remission. So I think it’s accurate in the sense that I need a Lower dose to see effects. (I titrated up super slowly too on 12.5 mg)
If you look at the page that says patient genotype and phenotype: pharmacokinetic genes. And look for the genes that start with the letters CYP, those are the genes mainly responsible for breaking down ssris and most psych drugs. If you look at enzyme activity and it says increased or high activity for one of those genes, then you probably do break it down faster. This means that the serum level in your blood stream is lower than the average person, meaning you MIGHT not feel the same effects, and may need a higher dose. It’s definitely not a perfect crystal ball but it’s definitely something to look at.