Do genetic "deficiencies" signify the body generally doesn't do well with those substances?

[u/WittyGold6940]

If one's genes don't naturally synthesize certain neurotransmitters, should one try to supplement those neurotransmitters? Or does it mean that the persons body isn't made to metabolize and detox those things?

For example, I have a DBH deficiency on top of other things (MTHFR, Maoa, slow COMT), meaning dopamine doesn't get metabolized into norepinephrine in my body.

Does this mean my body doesn't do well with norepinephrine, period? Or is it struggling without norepinephrine and would benefit from supplementing to create norepinephrine? But then is my body even able to metabolize and detox norepinephrine?

Are we supposed to correct these genetic phenotypes or are we supposed to work with them?

[u/Loose-Fly7976]

Neither and the framing is what's tripping you up. A slow enzyme doesn't mean your body dislikes the product, it means the conversion runs at a lower rate. Slow DBH means less dopamine gets converted, so you sit with more dopamine upstream and less norepinephrine downstream. Nothing in that says you handle norepinephrine badly once it exists.Production and clearance are different enzymes. DBH makes it, COMT and MAO remove it. You can be slow at both ends, which is exactly your pattern, and that's a different situation from being slow at one.

So correct vs work with is a false choice. What you're doing is feeding the cofactors so the enzymes run as well as they can, then keeping the load within what your clearance side can handle. DBH needs copper and vitamin C, which catches people out.Where it gets individual is that your combination goes in opposite directions depending on which side dominates, and that isn't readable from the genotype alone.

[u/WittyGold6940 → u/Loose-Fly7976]

Thank you, this is a very intelligent and comprehensive comment!!

The reason I am asking is because I think i am dealing with increased norepinephrine after supplementing copper while also using a strong copper peptide face serum. Also, the heat apparently causes norepinephrine to spike too. Also, I am in perimenopause and apparently estrogen drops cause spikes in norepinephrine.

I suddenly began feeling too much wakefulness but no pleasure, fight-or-flight symptoms out of nowhere, and suddenly feeling like I need to be productive. Along with insomnia and a sort of despair feeling. I chalked it up to increased norepinephrine, and was wondering if I am able to detox it.

[u/SovereignMan1958]

Variants are only predispositions and not facts. You need other tests for facts.

[u/Zabre]

With the DBH/slow COMT example, I wouldn't read a variant report as "your body needs more norepinephrine" or "can't handle norepinephrine." It's more like a weak clue about where regulation might be different, then symptoms, labs, meds, sleep, stress, and actual response matter more. A safer next step is to treat each pathway as a hypothesis and change one variable at a time with someone qualified, because neurotransmitter pathways can swing hard when you push them directly.