The process begins with a psychiatric evaluation or medication-management review. Lori discusses your current concerns, treatment history, prior side effects, medical conditions, and complete medication and supplement list.
Finding an effective and tolerable mental health medication can take time. When clinically appropriate, pharmacogenomic testing may provide information about genetic differences that can influence how the body processes certain medications. Integrative Renewal Health may use this information as one part of a broader medication review—not as a stand-alone answer or a guarantee that a particular treatment will work.
Lori Andrews, a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, considers test results alongside your symptoms, diagnoses, medical history, current medications, previous response, side effects, and treatment goals. This whole-person approach helps keep medication decisions grounded in your complete clinical picture.
The process begins with a psychiatric evaluation or medication-management review. Lori discusses your current concerns, treatment history, prior side effects, medical conditions, and complete medication and supplement list.
If testing is clinically appropriate and you choose to proceed, the practice explains the available process, possible costs, limitations, privacy considerations, and sample-collection instructions. The exact method depends on the laboratory and test used.
When results are available, Lori reviews what the report can and cannot tell you. Categories or color codes in a report should not be interpreted as automatic instructions to start, stop, or change a medication.
Any medication adjustment is based on the full clinical picture. The plan may remain unchanged, involve closer monitoring, or change when the result is relevant and other clinical factors support that decision. Never stop or change a prescription on your own based only on a genetic report.
A provider may discuss testing when there have been difficult side effects, an unexpected response, multiple prior medication trials, or questions about how certain medications are metabolized. It may also be considered during a broader medication adjustment when additional information could support shared decision-making.
Testing is not necessary for every patient. Whether it is appropriate depends on the clinical situation, the medications being considered, the quality and relevance of available evidence, cost, coverage, and how the result could realistically influence care.
Pharmacogenomic testing examines selected genetic variants that may be associated with the way your body processes or responds to some medications. Depending on the test, a report may provide information related to medication metabolism or potential gene–drug considerations.
The report does not diagnose a mental health condition, measure whether you need medication, or predict your response with certainty. It also does not account for every factor that affects treatment, such as age, other health conditions, other prescriptions, supplements, substance use, adherence, sleep, stress, nutrition, or personal preferences.
Genetic testing cannot identify a universally “best” mental health medication, guarantee symptom improvement, eliminate the possibility of side effects, or replace careful follow-up. Most psychiatric treatment decisions depend on many genetic and non-genetic factors. Clear expectations help patients use test information appropriately.
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