Posted by FourFeathers on July 13, 2009, at 12:34:00
I recently began seeing an ND to evaluate if I could find a root cause to my long-term dysthymia and anxiety symptoms. I am 36 and have had symptoms much of my life. After a comprehensive urine test of metablites the following items were found:
- Homovanillate was low
- Vanilmandelate was low
- 5-hydroxyindoleacetate was very high
- Phenylacetate was highI understand that urine tests are not the most accurate when it comes to neurotransmitter performance and all that is being shown is the metabolite markers of these. I have met with ND and he seemed to feel that this was all due to adrenal fatigue. As I got to researching this I had a couple of thoughts that I wanted additional input on from those much more knowledgeable than I. My questions are:
1) It is my understanding that Vanilmandelate and Homovanillate are markers of the catecholamines(epi, norepi, and dopamine), is this correct? If so, then a low level of metabolites would lead to believe a low level of neurotransmitter?
2) The very high level of 5-hydroxyindoleacetate I understand correlates to 5-HTP-Serotonin. Could a very high level of this decrease the levels of the two metabolites mentioned in 1 above? I should mention that the ND had put me on a supplement which included 5-HTP prior to this test which I believe may have increased these levels abnormally. This has now been decreased.
3) The phenylacetate being high was an interesting finding. It appears this is created when phenylalanine is not converted to tyrosine as in the case of PKU. Based on the other findings, is it plausible that I have a minor case of PKU which could be causing the above imbalances? If so, would it be a good idea to get a phenylalanine blood test done to confirm or refute this concern?4) With high levels of phenylacetate already I am assuming that I would want to stay away from phenylalanine supplements and would only want to look to Tyrosine to increase the catecholamines?
The rest of the testing did not provide any significant abnormal metabolite findings, including abnormalities of vitamin and mineral.
Thank you in advance to anyone that can offer some assistance in this area as I prepare to meet again with my ND later this week.
poster:FourFeathers
thread:906544
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20090410/msgs/906544.html