Sometimes I feel like a mutant. I just wish I had the cool super powers of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or X-Men. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Actually I am a mutant. RA is just one of the complicated diseases I have to deal with. Many years ago my absolute favorite doctor, Melinda Warren, went deeper and further than any other doctor in looking for the root cause of my fatigue and illness. She ran a DA profile. Honestly I was one of her first patients to have that done and my results were not something she had seen. So she couldn’t really tell me what it meant. My DA profile revealed that I was duplicate A1298C (homozygous) genes. I remember asking her what she meant and her response was “honestly I don’t know but I know you are a researcher so you will be on this fast”. So we learned together. This was something she was studying in her search for nutritional health for her patients. When she retired I lost a huge advocate for my health. No other doctor I have seen knows what this genetic mutation means. And they look at me like I have 2 heads when I say I have it.
The basic summary of having the MFTHR gene is that I am predisposed to having diseases. It’s a genetic defect I was given at birth. Thanks Mom and Dad! Simply because their DNA profiles didn’t jive. Because I have one genetic profile it means my brother has the other. And he’s dealt with health issues as well. But the fascinating part is that if you study this it’s easier to understand and treat your body as a whole. We also pass down this to our children. So far my son is fine. I have a niece however that has chronic autoimmune kidney disease.
I find that I forget to discuss this with doctors. When Dr Warren retired, if I discussed this with new doctors I was completely disregarded or she was viewed as being odd when really she was ahead of her peers. Because of disregarding this I have had hard lessons to deal with. For instance when I was first prescribed Methotrexate pills part of that regimen is to take folic acid with it. I was sick for months. Patients with MFTHR mutation cannot take folic acid without it being metholated folic acid. So I needlessly suffered through this treatment until I was switched.
A really great article that describes the MFTHR in more details is as follows:
https://mthfrsupport.com.au/2020/08/what-you-need-to-eat-and-avoid-for-mthfr/
If you deal with chronic health issues I strongly suggest that you get checked. You may have to do it on your own at your own costs though. However, this will really help you understand the root cause of your autoimmune diseases and helpful life style changes you can make to further your journey to a better life when living with a chronic illness.
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