More Than Just MTHFR: Why We Need to Look at the Whole Picture

Jessy
Jun 25
3 min read

For years, I was told that my symptoms were either unrelated, psychosomatic, or just bad luck. When genetic testing finally revealed that I had the MTHFR mutation, I thought I had my answer—but doctors quickly minimized it:

“Lots of people have that, it doesn’t mean much.”

What they failed to do was look at the full picture.

I don’t just have MTHFR. I also have impaired detoxification through CYP3A4 and UGT2B15. That means my body doesn’t break down or clear medications, food additives, and environmental toxins the way most people can. On top of that, I carry variants in OPRM1 and HTR2C that make my nervous system more sensitive to pain, medication, and stress.

When you combine these, it’s not a minor inconvenience—it’s a physiological traffic jam, a perfect storm. My body accumulates what it can’t eliminate fast enough, and when it reaches its threshold, I react. Insomnia, hyperreflexia, fatigue, mast cell activation symptoms — these aren’t random. They’re a direct result of overload.

👩‍⚕️ Functional Medicine Helped Me Connect the Dots

Traditional medicine looks at symptoms. Functional medicine looks at patterns.

It was functional medicine who first explained how stacked genetic bottlenecks in detox and methylation pathways are affecting me — and why my reactions to food, meds, and environmental exposures aren’t psychological. They are biological.

⚠️ The System Is Built for Average – Not for everyone

Here’s the problem:

The government’s idea of “helpful public health” — like adding folic acid to grains or fluoride to tap water — is based on the average person.

But for people like me?

Those things are toxic.

Folic acid (the synthetic version) blocks methylation in people with MTHFR
Fluoride competes with iodine, accumulates in bones and brain, and burdens the detox system
Food dyes, BHA/BHT, MSG — all “approved,” but processed poorly in people with CYP3A4 or UGT2B15 variants

We shouldn’t be forced to ingest these things just to live in society.

What’s medicine for one person is poison to another.

💸 And Then There’s the Cost of Staying Well

To avoid these exposures, I have to:

Buy filtered or bottled water
Eat organic or additive-free food
Pay for supplements my body can actually use
Find non-toxic personal care products
Budget for bodywork or recovery care just to function

That’s hundreds of dollars every month — just to feel halfway normal.

The system is stacked against people like me, and it doesn’t care whether we can afford to protect ourselves.

🧬 This Matters for EDS, POTS, MCAS, and Complex Chronic Illness

If you live with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, MCAS, chronic pain, or mystery fatigue, and feel like your body is constantly overreacting — it’s not all in your head.

It might be in your detox bottleneck.

Or your methylation failure.

Or your inflammatory cascade from repeated exposure.

Your body isn’t broken.

It’s just trying to survive in an environment it wasn’t built for — with fewer tools and more obstacles than most.

🛠 We Deserve a System That Works for Everyone

People with detox bottlenecks shouldn’t be forced to ingest folic acid and fluoride
Clean food and clean water shouldn’t be a luxury
Our genetics should be used to personalize care, not dismiss symptoms
And the healthcare system should look at the full picture, not one gene at a time