Mental Health: I had a patient who was on Lexapro, a very common antidepressant. But this was not her first antidepressant. She was previously on Celexa but had switched to Lexapro because Celexa was ineffective. She reported she did not feel like the Lexapro was working very well for her either. As we reviewed her report, she was a rapid metabolizer of both medications, meaning she cleared the medication out so quickly, she was likely to experience some benefits and some side effects, but likely at the standard doses, she was not going to be optimized.

Someone with her genetic outcome would require a higher-than-standard dose. We reviewed her report in its entirety and saw there was an opportunity to consider alternative antidepressants that were not metabolized by that gene and would likely be more effective for her. After working with her provider and switching to a more genetically compatible alternative, the patient let me know about three months later she was finally starting to feel better!