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23andme & Chronic insomnia and family history of psychiatric/CNS disorders

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
@SOC thank you for the information, although I am not really trying diagnose myself with CFS, I was just trying to get more information about 23andme, how helpful it has been for you and how helpful it could be for me, because this is prob the community online that I found people do more genetic testing. In addition the forum is a very well organized place where I could get more insight from the very knowledgeable people here like yourself. But it is very good to know I don't respect the current ICC for CFS/ME!

Good news you probably don't have ME/CFS! Nobody in their right mind would want to have this horrible disease.

Yes, this is a very knowledgeable community with many people willing to help others. I hope you get the answers you're looking for.
 
Messages
211
So here I am 5 weeks later with the preliminary results from 23andme. I received an email saying that MOST of my results are available, though for the rest I should wait a few more days.
I find this was well spent money and I want to thank you all for the help I needed at the time to decide to get 23andme test done.

Now I have the data and Ive passed it through geneticgenie which yield the following.
I could only understand I could possibly have high homocysteine levels, a problem with the MAO A (breakdown of neurotransmitters), maybe low dopamine, and Vitamin D. This honestly all feels in line with my symptoms, but where to go from here, and how to analyse this further?

Thank you for the help
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211
Detox profile is:
Heterozygous (+/-) for:
CYP1A2 164A>C
CYP1B1 L432V
CYP1B1 N453S
CYP1B1 R48G
CYP2D6 2850C>T
NAT2 I114T

Homozygous (+/+) for:
SOD2 A16V
CYP2D6 S486T

GSTT1 is Present

Where can I extract more info from the raw data and where can I get explanations on this?Maybe even an appointment
 
Messages
15,786
@xptriado - Most relevant is that you have heterogeneous MTHFR C677T. That means your folate production is at 65% of normal, hence supplementing with methylfolate (not folic acid) may be helpful if you're not a big eater of the vegetables.

Slow MAOA is very common, and not a concern in and of itself unless the relevant neurotransmitters are being produced too quickly. But that doesn't see to be the case. Hence the bigger use for MAOA is in helping to determine how well you tolerate methyl groups. Because MAOA uses methyl groups when breaking down, having the slow version means that you use methyl groups more slowly, hence might not tolerate a lot of additional methyl groups, such as you'd get if you took a high dose of methylB12. So if you do try B12, hydroxoB12 might be the more pleasant form.

If you want to play with your 23andMe data a bit more, I've got a program at http://sourceforge.net/projects/analyzemygenes/ which can download to extract your very rare results. Then you can look up the SNPs by their "rs" number at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/SNP/ to find some basic info, or on google scholar.
 
Messages
211
Hi Valentijn!

That can explain why I would get very tired and brain fog after methylcobalamin@1000mg sublingual.
Maybe I should get hydroxoB12.

You are saying that that's the only wrong thing but I find that there may be something with the VDR taq, as this could lead to lower dopamine.
When I was younger, my epileptical fits were triggered by an anti-dopaminergic drug.
And now that I live abroad, in a place not very sunny, I really have troubles adapting to the climate, while my friends seem to complain only a bit. For me a day out in the sun regulates my sleep.

I also see that CYP2D6 S486T could mean that I get more rare side effects from medications, or am I wrong? This could be in line with some life experiences.

And this SOD2 A16V, could mean I should be supplementing with anti-oxidants?

I tried your software, but I couldn't find any information on my very rare SNPs, but i seem to have a couple which are only in 0.05% of wolrd population :p

Does your software identify mitochondrial diseases related SNPs?

Thank you :)
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Actually seizures are on the list of methylation based diseases. Sleep and mental health issues also fit. See the Methylation Made Easy video #1 linked in my signature.

The way that stress fits in is, stress depletes B vitamins. So if you're already low or borderline in B vitamins, episodes of stress can cause symptoms because you don't have enough B vitamins on board to deal with it.

=-==-=-=-=-=

Methylation SNPs

You have the B12 Double Whammy - both MTR (B12 intake) and MTRR (B12 recycling). You may be deficient in and need to supplement with B12. Unfortunately, testing is not always accurate. If you're low, you're low. But if it's high or normal, you could still be low.

There are many signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency though. This is a great article: http://chriskresser.com/b12-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-with-serious-consequences

For your COMT/VDR mutations, Yasko suggests all three types of B12 (hydroxycobalamin, methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin) with less methylcobalamin.

The VDR Bsm could make you low in Vitamin D which would affect mood. You can test for this and supplement if you're low.

MTHFR C677T could lower your levels of methylfolate.

Shawn Bean from MTHFRsupport.com has mentioned that those with BHMT mutations could have the wiggling foot or leg, lip chewing and so forth, where a person never feels relaxed and they end up doing these repetitive behaviors as a result. I actually have the same thing - BHMTs, foot wiggles, cheek chewing.

For the BHMTs, Yasko suggests sunflower lecithin, which would provide TMG (tri methyl glycine). If you look at a methylation cycle diagram, BHMT is in the secondary shortcut methylation pathway.

=-==-=-==-=-
Detox SNPs

CYP1A2 - slow caffeine metabolizer

CYP1B1 - could cause estrogen dominance which can cause estrogen related cancers (breast, cervical, etc. for women and prostate for men). You can eat cruciferous veggies, or take DIM or IC3 supplements if your estrogen is running high.

CYP2D6 - detoxifies 20% of all prescription drugs including psych drugs - could have problems with those - see the Detoxigenomics link in my signature for a complete list of drugs. I found a study which says Metoclopramide is metabolized by CYP2D6 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24010633

NAT2 - slow detoxifier of smoke and petrochemicals - so avoid those

SOD2 A16V - affects mitochrondria, so could affect energy. You can try a GliSODin supplement or take mitochondrial supplements such as ribose, carnitine, CoQ10, etc.

GSTT1 is Present - if this were absent, you would have worse problems with glutathione than those possibly caused by your MTHFR/MTR/MTRR mutations. So that fact that it's present is good.
 
Messages
211
@caledonia, your answer is very insightful into what I have experienced through my life.

The BHMT mutations may be producing a problem as I have bitten and chewed my cheeks and lips since I was a kid! This has been completely impossible to CEASE even if I tried hard. Only time I managed to stop it was with mirtazapine+clonazepam and it went away for months-1year. Did you manage to overcome this issue?

The vitamin D receptor problem could be making me have low dopamine, which in turn can cause depression, amotivation, anhedonia, reduced sexual impulse, muscle spasms and its even connected to epilepsy. I think I really do have a problem here as I have experience all of those plus when I took Metoclopramide (anti-dopaminergic) it triggered my seizures. On top of that it is synthetized by CYP2D6, which I could have a shortage of the enzyme and make me have higher than normal concentrations of the substance and that's why I got such a rare side effect.

When I took mirtazapine and amytriptyline, it triggered my muscle spasms at night to the point I would wake up with a limb movement or not even be able to fall asleep with twitching groups of muscles. These medications are heavily metabolized by CYP2D6. The reason for the rare side effects of twitching or PLMD could be the same as for Metoclopramide: anti-dopaminergic properties, this time induced by enhancement of serotonin, as they are normally opposing eachother as fas as I understood.

I definetely must have Circadian rythm problems, which could be related to both inadequate Vitamin D and B12, since I have problems with late night insomnia, and tend to fall asleep late. I have as well unrefreshing and many times, fragmented sleep.

When I took finasteride, I got a rare side effect of gynecomastia 3 weeks into the treatment. If CYP1B1 mutation can cause estrogen dominance, this could again be the reason why I got such a rare side effect from a drug. My estrogen balance was probably off to start with and when I introduced a 5ar inhibitor, my DHT decreased, which increased my testosterone and along with it, the estrogen, becuase they go hand-in-hand.


I am making a list of what I should buy to try it out and I have by priority:

- Sunflower Lecithin - I'm going to start with this and see if I improve the lip chewing as it's the most directly observable problem I have.
- L-Tyrosine, to see if it helps spasms and mood.
- Vitamin D (this I already tried with some positivity around 15.000UI a day..but I was afraid to keep on taking so much)
- Methyl folate (this I already tried withouth any conclusion)
- Ribose or Carnitine or Coq10
- DIM or IC3
- hydroxycobalamin, methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin - (I already tried methylcobalamin but it gave me tiredness and fogginess.)
- Vitamin C liposomal - because I tried vitamin C and I get very well with it, so I want to try liposomal.
- Methionine - (Maybe this isn't a good supplement because of increased ROS in the mitochondria?)

Regarding exams, do you think I should do:
- Exam to measure dopamine in blood?
- Estrogen and Testosterone?Which exactly should I test for estrogen dominance?
- Vitamin D

Do you think this is a good starting point?
I would be starting the supplements one by one to judge my reaction to them.
Do you know any doctors who could be accepting skype consultations on 23andme results and would provide further insight?

thank you:)
 
Last edited:

caledonia

Senior Member
@caledonia
The BHMT mutations may be producing a problem as I have bitten and chewed my cheeks and lips since I was a kid! This has been completely impossible to CEASE even if I tried hard. Only time I managed to stop it was with mirtazapine+clonazepam and it went away for months-1year. Did you manage to overcome this issue?

Coincidentally, I just noticed this week, to my surprise, that it's been quite awhile since I've done foot wiggling. I'm still doing the cheek chewing though, but not as bad.

I definetely must have Circadian rythm problems, which could be related to both inadequate Vitamin D and B12, since I have problems with late night insomnia, and tend to fall asleep late. I have as well unrefreshing and many times, fragmented sleep.

Sounds familiar. Methylation treatment has helped this quite a bit.

I am making a list of what I should buy to try it out and I have by priority:

Regarding exams, do you think I should do:
- Exam to measure dopamine in blood?
- Estrogen and Testosterone?Which exactly should I test for estrogen dominance?
- Vitamin D

Then I would suggest not buying and trying supps quite yet. The methylation cycle is very powerful and it's easy to make yourself worse if you don't know what you're doing. If you haven't read materials such as the Heartfixer page, (linked in my signature), that would be a good one to start with.

Ideally, it's good to do some functional testing to see what you're depleted in. The Nutreval test is a good one. If you worked with a doctor, they would likely ask for this test or something similar. It several tests rolled into one. Gut, Kreb's cycle, neurotransmitters (includes dopamine), essential fatty acids, amino acids, toxic eposures, vitamins and minerals, glutathione and so on. You can do an additional interpretation with the Nutreval Interpretation Guide document linked in my signature. Vitamin D would be good to add - I don't think the Nutreval tests for that.

I wouldn't take supps to lower hormones unless you had tested to make sure they were high first. The Genova Essential Estrogens test on this page is one I've seen recommended. There are other estrogen tests there which are cheaper, but I don't really know anything about them. I have the same SNPs and I'm just eating cruciferous veggies for now. DIM and IC3 are contained in cruciferous veggies.

I would be starting the supplements one by one to judge my reaction to them.
This is a very good practice. Please read the Start Low and Go Slow document in my signature. Sometime soon I'm also going to post a new document called Roadblocks to Successful Methylation. I'll have a link in my signature for that too.

Do you know any doctors who could be accepting skype consultations on 23andme results and would provide further insight?
Look at the Find a Practitioner list in my signature. The MTHFRsupport list has some docs who do phone or Skype.
 
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211
@caledonia , once I managed to stop my lip bitting for over one year. I made an effort to stop but it was easy. That was when I was on mirtazapine+clonazepam. Before that, I had made several efforts and I managed to stop for a few days and then automatically I'd start bitting it again.
What I'm saying is, ifyou noticed your foot wigling has stopped,probably means you're less nervous, then maybe you just need to do a small effort to stop lip bitting and hopefully you'll solve this issue.
I guess at some point, wiggling the foot or bitting the lips/cheeks turns into an habit.


Nutreval test sounds great, but do you have any idea how much it would cost? Im about to write an email asking. Ive tried supporting methylation in the past with mb12 and mb9, p5p, but i honestly didn't see anything miraculous happening.

I've heard I should be addressing the mutations by order, so maybe before MTHFR I should be addressing something else? What I want to know is , has anyone really improved their conditions by working through their genetic data?

My plan is to run those exams and book an appointment through a doctor to give me some more insight. Do you know any good doctor working with this in the surroundings of Belgium or in Portugal?

Ive ran Sterling App on MTHFRSupport website and I got some more things, which may be relevant, especially at mitochondrial level: NDUFS7 is +/+. I read it is linked to complex type I deficiencies. I read symptoms of this and I can correlate with fatigue and seizures. On the other hand my seizures were always triggered by something (medication, fever...). But I do seem to have a reduced seizure threshold. But how to know where it is coming from it's my quest. I was thinking it was due to low dopamine, but now I see it can also come from mitochondrial function.

Do you find something here that looks way off?

(+/+)
Detox

CYP2D6 S486T rs1135840 G GG +/+
SOD2 A16V rs4880 G GG +/+
SOD2 rs2758331 A AA +/+
Allergy/Mold
CD14 rs2569191 C CC +/+

IgA
HLA-DQA2 rs9275224 A AA +/+

Clotting Factors
SERPINC1 rs2227589 T TT +/+

Methylation
AGT M235T/C4072T rs699 G GG +/+
CBS A13637G rs2851391 T TT +/+
MAO A R297R rs6323 T T +
MTHFS rs6495446 C CC +/+
NOS3 rs1800783 A AA +/+
NOS3 rs1800779 G GG +/+
PEMT rs4646406 A AA +/+
SHMT2 rs34095989 A AA +/+

Mitochondrial Function
NDUFS7 rs2332496 A AA +/+
NDUFS7 rs1142530 T TT +/+
NDUFS7 rs7258846 T TT +/+


(+/-)
Detox
CYP2D6 T2850C rs16947 A AG +/-
CYP1A2 C164A rs762551 C AC +/-
CYP1B1 L432V rs1056836 C CG +/-
CYP1B1 N453S rs1800440 C CT +/-
CYP1B1 R48G rs10012 C CG +/-
NAT2 G590A (R197Q) rs1799930 A AG +/-
PON1 Q192R rs662 C CT +/-
SOD2 rs2855262 T CT +/-

Tongue Tie/Cleft Palate
CTH S4031I rs1021737 T GT +/-
IRF6 rs987525 A AC +/-
IRF6 rs861020 A AG +/-

Allergy/Mold
HLA rs7775228 C CT +/-
FCER1A rs2251746 C CT +/-

IgC
FCGR2A rs1801274 A AG +/-
GSTM3 V224I rs7483 T CT +/-
IgA
TRAF1 rs3761847 G AG +/-
IGF1R rs2229765 A AG +/-
IFIH1 (HLA) rs1990760 C CT +/-
CFH rs6677604 A AG +/-
MTC03P1 rs9275596 C CT +/-
HLA-DPB2 / COL11A2P rs1883414 A AG +/-

Clotting Factors
CETP rs1800775 C AC +/-
CYP4V2 rs13146272 C AC +/-
HRG rs9898 T CT +/-
Methylation
ACE Del16 rs4343 G AG +/-
BHMT-02 rs567754 T CT +/-
BHMT-08 rs651852 T CT +/-
COMT H62H rs4633 T CT +/-
COMT V158M rs4680 A AG +/-
DAO rs3741775 C AC +/-
DHFR rs1643649 C CT +/-
GAD1 rs769407 C CG +/-
GAD1 rs3791851 C CT +/-
GAD1 rs12185692 A AC +/-
GAD1 rs3791878 T GT +/-
GAD1 rs3828275 T CT +/-
GAD1 rs701492 T CT +/-
GIF (TCN3) rs558660 A AG +/-
MTHFD1 C105T rs1076991 C CT +/-
MTHFD1 G1958A rs2236225 A AG +/-
MTHFR C677T rs1801133 A AG +/-
MTR A2756G rs1805087 G AG +/-
MTRR A66G rs1801394 G AG +/-
MTRR rs3776467 G AG +/-
NOS2 rs2297518 A AG +/-
NOS2 rs2274894 T GT +/-
NOS2 rs2248814 A AG +/-
TCN1 rs526934 G AG +/-
TCN2 C766G rs1801198 G CG +/-

Celiac Disease/Gluten Intolerance
HLA rs2858331 G AG +/-

Thyroid
FOXE1 rs1867277 A AG +/-
FOXE1 rs10984009 A AG +/-

Eye Health
BCMO1 A379V rs7501331 T CT +/-

Mitochondrial Function
NDUFS3 rs4147730 A AG +/-
UQCRC2 rs11648723 T GT +/-

Other Immune Factors
ATG16L1 rs10210302 C CT +/-
IL5 rs2069812 A AG +/-
SULT1A1 rs35728980 G GT +/-
SULT1A1 rs1042157 A AG +/-
SULT2A1 rs296366 T CT +/-
SULT2A1 rs2547231 C AC +/-
 

caledonia

Senior Member
once I managed to stop my lip bitting for over one year. I made an effort to stop but it was easy. That was when I was on mirtazapine+clonazepam. Before that, I had made several efforts and I managed to stop for a few days and then automatically I'd start bitting it again.
What I'm saying is, ifyou noticed your foot wigling has stopped,probably means you're less nervous, then maybe you just need to do a small effort to stop lip bitting and hopefully you'll solve this issue.
I guess at some point, wiggling the foot or bitting the lips/cheeks turns into an habit.

I was successful stopping the cheek biting for a couple of months, then I stopped being mindful and got back into doing it. Technically, if it was just a habit, you would be able to stop after three weeks or so. I should be able to get more improvement once I'm able to raise my methylation supps more.

Nutreval test sounds great, but do you have any idea how much it would cost? Im about to write an email asking.
It's in the $800 range. You may be able to get insurance to pay for it.

Ive tried supporting methylation in the past with mb12 and mb9, p5p, but i honestly didn't see anything miraculous happening.

Read the Roadblocks to Methylation document in my signature. There are many variables which could cause it not to work.

I've heard I should be addressing the mutations by order, so maybe before MTHFR I should be addressing something else?

You don't appear to have any "First Priority" mutations, so you're probably good to go with MTHFR, MTR, MTRR. SHMT is the only question as 23andme doesn't test that any more. You would take folinic acid for that. Many protocols (except for Freddd's) add in folinic anyway. Some people may not tolerate folinic.

What I want to know is , has anyone really improved their conditions by working through their genetic data?

Yes, many people on here have gotten at least partial improvement (including me). I'm off my thyroid medicine for the first time in 13 years. My adrenals have seen similar improvement. I'll be retesting next month to hopefully make it official. A few people like Greenshots and Freddd have gotten substantial improvement. Many autistic children are recovering speech and having many other improvements with Yasko's protocol.

My plan is to run those exams and book an appointment through a doctor to give me some more insight. Do you know any good doctor working with this in the surroundings of Belgium or in Portugal?

I don't know of anybody outside of the Practitioner List. I believe the docs who do phone or Skype in the US will also work with Europeans.

Ive ran Sterling App on MTHFRSupport website and I got some more things, which may be relevant, especially at mitochondrial level: NDUFS7 is +/+. I read it is linked to complex type I deficiencies. I read symptoms of this and I can correlate with fatigue and seizures. On the other hand my seizures were always triggered by something (medication, fever...). But I do seem to have a reduced seizure threshold. But how to know where it is coming from it's my quest. I was thinking it was due to low dopamine, but now I see it can also come from mitochondrial function.

Do you find something here that looks way off?

I'm not as familiar with all the various SNPs Sterling has dug up. Off the top of my head, I believe PEMT is also associated with the BHMT pathway. So that would be an extra block there on top of your BHMTs. 23andme doesn't test BHMT4 anymore, but if you have the other two, you probably have that one too.
 
Messages
211
Hi everyone!

Along the months I have tried some more supplements and treatments but I still haven't solved my insomnia, unfortunately, neither my PLMD-like symptoms.

I have found that out that I move a lot during my night, small movements as recorded by Sleep As Android.. even last week I was holding my arm up in the air when I woke up...resembles PLMD. It seems like triciclic and tetracyclic serotonin meds trigger or exacerbate this too. THey also don't solve my early morning awakening

Anti histamines keep me asleep but don't give me good sleep quality as I wake up tired.

Benzos are less effective at keeping me asleep but even if they do, I wake up tired and my eyes feel strange as in very tired and also seem darker

What seems to help my sleep:
- L-Arginine+Lysine, @ 2 grams each, make me sleep the night through and give me very good sleep. but the following day I get severely depressed and unmotivated. They also trigger, one hour after ingestion, what seems to be a discomfort in the eyes, like increased pressure, and some more twitches, even next to the heart. Would you know a reason for this?
- B12 when I wake up in the morning makes me very very tired and often sends me back to sleep! I'm taking adenosyl Cobalamin from anabols, 2500mcg, and I'll probably order again methylcobalamin but not again from solgar as it seemed innefective (but sometimes made me sleepy too).. Is it safe to keep taking B12 like this? It seems to help me...

Any idea on why my reactions to L-Arginine+Lysine and B12 sleepiness?
 
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43
Hi everyone,

I am on the verge of ordering a 23andme kit.
I live in Europe and the damn thing will cost me around 150€...which is quite a lot adding to all the money I put into my chronic insomnia issues recently.

Long story short:

- Been suffering from insomnia (initial and late, as well as unrefreshing sleep) which started with a stress episode at 23years old - I'm now 30. I know people who passed similar things but they recovered and are normal now. Coincidentally or not, one year after having taken finasteride for one month and quit due to gyno which reversed..for the most part.

- Insomnia is worse during the working days, better during weekends, much much better on holidays and a few times I achieved remission to around 80-100% of my former non-insomniac self but never while under stressful situations or while working..

- If I rest more I start sleeping better, it's a cycle. And I seem to get better overral with more and more rest but for that I need to quit my job which I am considering at the moment, and I 've done in the past too.

- Feeling more loved and wanted makes it better as sleeping with someone next to you (independently of having or not sexual relations)

- Living abroad makes it far worse.

- Stressful events make it far worse.

- Around 5 epilepsy crisis throught my life and been medicated two years pre-puberty with phenobarbital as I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Since 18 years old I don't have a fit. Coincidentally the first fits happened the night after I took a medication.

- Mother had a few epilepsy crysis. Sister once had a weird numbing feeling in leg and had to be taken to the hospital. One uncle from mother side also had fits (but none was medicated like me), his brother had chronic insomnia just like mine and confessed me before he went into colonial war he suffered already from depression (from age 14 until 45) and got worse there and led to PTSD - now he is fine,sleeping great and happy; Grandma from Motherside is a nervous person too; Daughter of PTSD uncle was medicated 5 years for anxiety with Lexapro as she couldn't even leave the house (now she is fine). All in all the family is very united and happy but we suffer from what seems to be a TENDENCY towards anxiety, insomnia and depression.

- Twitchy eye lids.

- TCA's, Tetracyclics, 1st generation anti-histamines lead to Sleep Myoclonus. Clonazepam handles it. Doctor thinks it might be closely related to Periodic Limb Movement Disorder but I don't want to take dopamine agonists.

- Tendency towards depression...but it's manageable through sports and surrounding with people.


I am on the verge of ordering 23 and me kit but:
- I would like to know if you think it makes sense to order it seeing my history...
- I am afraid to become obsessed about diseases once I run my genes through the analyzer. Is it possible to analyze only MTHFR and COMT genes and skip everything else? I could care less at the moment if I have a tendency towards diseases other than MTHFR, COMT and related, and I don't want to open a can of worms. This issue was raised by a friend of mine who is a PhD in biology and he said he would only do the specific tests for MTHFR, COMT and related and nothing else...

Also:
- Is there anyone else around here with a similar problem?


Thank you so much for all your help.

First, yes, get the test. I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies. By getting this information changed my treatment and my life. I can finally see getting of of disability (U.S.) after 25 years of mental health and other neurological issues. I cannot tell you how supplements and diet changed EVERYTHING in my life.

Do not be afraid of the genetic risks. I have a lot of cancer markers but no one in my family had any cancer. They are just risk markers. But knowing the methylation cycle is key to keeping those mutations quiet. Methylation turns off the risky genes. So we see that any time the methylation cycle is messed up, whether through diet or genetics, cancer and other disease will express themselves. when I understood this I was more concern that I did NOT have the mutation.

The great news is that, using supplements and diet, we can overcome our genetic mutations and silence those genes. You NEED all the markers of the methylation pathway or you will be blind to the whole map. It is EXTREMELY important. If you just treat MTHFR without knowing your CBS you can end up feeling a lot worse.

You need to know your NATURE so you know how to NURTURE it.

Onward..I have some similar issues:
I had sleep disturbances, not insomnia, but waking up a lot in the night, sometimes with panic.
The eye twitching, ugh, yes. I have had it on and off and noticed long ago it changed with diet and supplements.
Depression and Anxiety, yes certainly.
I noticed that you were treated for BPH. I always thought it was my prostate was the issue but the problem is highly a part of the sympathetic nervous system. I had the same issues and self diagnosed BPH. But it is not BPH. It is a big sign that finestride helped you because it converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and testosterone has a lot to do with the COMT enzyme.

I have NONE OF THESE symptoms any more. And I was bad, in the psychiatric hospital twice.

My guess is that the TCAs are stopping the norepinephrine uptake leading to your myoclonus, which makes sense why klonopin helps it.

You sound like you will be COMT++ like me. It is actually called "The Worrier Gene".

The epilepsy could point to homozygous GAD1 in your family.

I am guessing your mothers side is from Poland, Sweden or Lithuania area?
 
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43
I wouldn't completely disregard it - treating any methylation problems can certainly be helpful. But I think it's unlikely that a simple methylation problem would cause so many serious symptoms in yourself and your family members, such as epilepsy. Problems with eye muscles are also involved in various genetic disorders, but don't particularly sound like a typical B12 or folate issue.

It's also unlikely that a typical methylation problem would affect so many people in one family, since the yasko/heartfixer type SNPs can often be compensated for by diet. Hence if one of those relatives is a big veggie eater, there probably wouldn't be a noticable folate issue. And all of your relatives with related problems who you have listed come from one side of the family, which again is an indicator of a more significant genetic component.

It's also interesting that all but one of the people you've listed (uncle's daughter) would have exactly the same mitochondrial DNA: mutations in mitochondrial DNA are responsible for various mitochondrial diseases which might be capable of causing your symptoms.

I highly disagree with this. It was not until I took supplements that I started feeling perfect.

Yes, COMT, MAO, they are all on the X chromosome.
 
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43
I was talking with my mother on the phone.. I'm really into this.

@merylg and @Valentijn , you may not be too far off with the mitochondrial disease.

Since DNA Methylation happens in the mitochondria, any methylation problems whether environmental or genetic, are called mitochondrial diseases.

I hope in the future we can stop grouping these symptoms into different diseases and treat the basic underlying issue, which is methylation. I have been diagnoses with MS, CFS, FM, Anxiety, Bipolar, etc...but none of those diagnosis's or the medications to treat them helped me one bit.
 
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I highly disagree with this. It was not until I took supplements that I started feeling perfect.
That's very nice for you. But we weren't talking about your issues, whatever they might be. A methylation protocol potentially fixes methylation issues, and/or B12 issues and/or folate issues. It's unlikely to fix epilepsy, or ME/CFS, or many other diseases.
 
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That's very nice for you. But we weren't talking about your issues, whatever they might be. A methylation protocol potentially fixes methylation issues, and/or B12 issues and/or folate issues. It's unlikely to fix epilepsy, or ME/CFS, or many other diseases.

I am wondering why you think it methylation has nothing to do with CFS?

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0104757

DNA Methylation Modifications Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, is a complex multifactorial disease that is characterized by the persistent presence of fatigue and other particular symptoms for a minimum of 6 months. Symptoms fail to dissipate after sufficient rest and have major effects on the daily functioning of CFS sufferers. CFS is a multi-system disease with a heterogeneous patient population showing a wide variety of functional disabilities and its biological basis remains poorly understood. Stable alterations in gene function in the immune system have been reported in several studies of CFS. Epigenetic modifications have been implicated in long-term effects on gene function, however, to our knowledge, genome-wide epigenetic modifications associated with CFS have not been explored. We examined the DNA methylome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from CFS patients and healthy controls using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array, controlling for invariant probes and probes overlapping polymorphic sequences. Gene ontology (GO) and network analysis of differentially methylated genes was performed to determine potential biological pathways showing changes in DNA methylation in CFS. We found an increased abundance of differentially methylated genes related to the immune response, cellular metabolism, and kinase activity. Genes associated with immune cell regulation, the largest coordinated enrichment of differentially methylated pathways, showed hypomethylation within promoters and other gene regulatory elements in CFS. These data are consistent with evidence of multisystem dysregulation in CFS and implicate the involvement of DNA modifications in CFS pathology.
 
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First, yes, get the test. I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies. By getting this information changed my treatment and my life. I can finally see getting of of disability (U.S.) after 25 years of mental health and other neurological issues. I cannot tell you how supplements and diet changed EVERYTHING in my life.

Do not be afraid of the genetic risks. I have a lot of cancer markers but no one in my family had any cancer. They are just risk markers. But knowing the methylation cycle is key to keeping those mutations quiet. Methylation turns off the risky genes. So we see that any time the methylation cycle is messed up, whether through diet or genetics, cancer and other disease will express themselves. when I understood this I was more concern that I did NOT have the mutation.

The great news is that, using supplements and diet, we can overcome our genetic mutations and silence those genes. You NEED all the markers of the methylation pathway or you will be blind to the whole map. It is EXTREMELY important. If you just treat MTHFR without knowing your CBS you can end up feeling a lot worse.

You need to know your NATURE so you know how to NURTURE it.

Onward..I have some similar issues:
I had sleep disturbances, not insomnia, but waking up a lot in the night, sometimes with panic.
The eye twitching, ugh, yes. I have had it on and off and noticed long ago it changed with diet and supplements.
Depression and Anxiety, yes certainly.
I noticed that you were treated for BPH. I always thought it was my prostate was the issue but the problem is highly a part of the sympathetic nervous system. I had the same issues and self diagnosed BPH. But it is not BPH. It is a big sign that finestride helped you because it converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and testosterone has a lot to do with the COMT enzyme.

I have NONE OF THESE symptoms any more. And I was bad, in the psychiatric hospital twice.

My guess is that the TCAs are stopping the norepinephrine uptake leading to your myoclonus, which makes sense why klonopin helps it.

You sound like you will be COMT++ like me. It is actually called "The Worrier Gene".

The epilepsy could point to homozygous GAD1 in your family.

I am guessing your mothers side is from Poland, Sweden or Lithuania area?

Actually we are Portuguese (I think I was asked this before).

Well..the only way to know for sure what is impacting commonly me, my mom, my uncle and my cousin, would be to have them all do a 23andme lol that would come out very expensive.

The Nutreval is a very expensive test. Maybe I could get an insurance to cover it...but it would honestly be a shot in the dark. Also my problem with these tests is you are left with more questions than before you did it since these nutrients values measured are at an extracelular level...So i guess the best bet here is to go by my mutations.

So far, the only useful sups I tried are L-Arginine, L-Lysine, L-Tryptophan, Glycine, AdenosylCobalamin, and Metafolin. Theanine did something too, but Im not sure what. It seemed to relax me but I prob need higher dosages and I just finished the bottle...I was taking around 1gr withouth noticing much. So far I spent lots of money and have no solution yet. Anyway...

I suspect high glutamate too, and Ive been asking for tianeptine (glutamate blocker and increases dopamine) at doctors but no one listens to me. Its so frustrating that I tell them: look, I have low dopamine, that''s why im having not such a good reward from social situations, im unmotivated, sexual issues, i had epilepsy fits from an antidopaminergic and gynecomastia from finasteride (prolactin went overboard since dopamine was already low - my guess), i have PLMD like symptoms and reactions to meds...but all the do is prescribe me serotonin meds.. i find it very frustrating. I nowadays just tell them to keep the prescription for themselves, i dont want serotonin meds again.

Have you heard about enhancing D3 absorption throuhg a probiotic? Did this work?
L. Reuteri http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23609838

Is the urinary Gluthatione test reliable indicator of impaired methilation?

Would you know why I'm having these reactions to the Lysine+Arginine combo, and why am I getting sleepy on the B12?