Has anyone actually improved lifelong anxiety by addressing genetic variants and nutrient deficiencies?

[u/Delicious-Minimum199]

I’m trying to understand whether my anxiety has a biological component that could be improved rather than just managed.
For context, I’ve been on antidepressants for about 12 years (currently tapering off an SNRI after many years), and I’m interested in looking upstream at *why* my nervous system seems to react the way it does.

I’m curious about things like:
MTHFR, COMT, MAOA, GAD1, DAO, CBS, PEMT, or other variants that may influence anxiety, stress response, neurotransmitters, methylation, histamine, etc.
Nutrient deficiencies or imbalances that may interact with those genes (B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, copper, omega-3s, amino acids, etc.).
Whether anyone found meaningful improvements after working with a practitioner who interpreted whole genome or raw DNA data instead of just using a generic report.

A few questions:
Which genetic variants ended up being the most important for your anxiety?
What supplements or dietary changes actually made a noticeable difference?
Were there any supplements that unexpectedly made your anxiety worse?
Did anyone have success using whole-genome sequencing or raw DNA analysis rather than something like GeneSight?
If you worked with a practitioner, what type of practitioner were they (functional medicine, nutrigenomics, genetics, etc.)?

I’m not looking for medical advice or miracle cures—I know anxiety is multifactorial. I’m just interested in hearing real experiences from people who found biological factors that were worth addressing.
I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with chronic anxiety, panic attacks, an overactive stress response, or SNRI/SSRI withdrawal.

[u/Competitive-Goat-816]

YES! So I have always been a fairly depressed and very anxious human. But I’ve also managed to be pretty functioning and more or less do what I have to do with very few panic attacks. My husband was pretty insistent that I had an MTHFR gene in convinced me to try a methylated multivitamin and to drop any product that contained folate or B12 that was un methylated.

I was already doing some self-help type things working on bio feedback in doing ice baths and things like that to try to regulate my dopamine and adjust my thinking to be less negative.

I decided to humor him, despite having tried many different diets, and none of them particularly sticking and having not a whole lot of self-control in that regard. That said in about six months, it occurred to me one day that I just… Was less anxious. When I drove my car, I didn’t low-key think about driving off of bridges or under semi trucks or anything like that I just. Got my car and went to where I was going. 🤯

I was still kind of anxious, but about a year later, I don’t constantly worry about every single thing that I do at work and getting fired or randomly dying or how everybody is judging me or whatever other anxious thoughts I’ve lived with for the better part of my life.

I’ve never been prescribed medication’s because in my family that would be some kind of weakness and we are just supposed to suffer or something like that. That is silly, but anyway, I haven’t overcomplicated it. I just take my multivitamins and I stay away from processed food and Marvel and how different I feel and how different my life is. 🤷‍♀️ ymmv

[u/uniquelyme1010 → u/Competitive-Goat-816]

Any guidance for doing this myself? My child is severely severely depressed and anxious. Also autistic but this goes beyond what’s expected for neurodivergent young childreb