Hi! I'm new, and have ApoE questions
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 4:59 pm
Hi everyone! So glad I found this forum.
My mother has Alzheimer's, both of her parents had it, her two brothers had it, and her grandfather had it. Also my grandmother on my paternal side had it. So I have 7 close family members who have/had Alzheimer's.
I had my mother and I both tested through 23andMe, and then ran the raw data through Promethease, and my mother has ApoE3/ApoE3. I have ApoE3/ApoE4. So I got the E4 gene from my father's side.
I'm wondering how common it is to have Alzheimer's with E3/E3 like my mother? And since her E3's are not really neutral, is it like I have two E4's, since I got my "E3" from her?
She was only diagnosed a year ago, and it's hard watching her go through this. She was always very independent and self-sufficient, and now she needs help with so much. And of course, I'm worried about myself getting it, because I have no significant other or children to take care of me. I have no-one and no money, not sure what I would do if I develop it.
I also recently found out by poking around online that certain medications contribute to developing dementia, and I've been taking 2 of them daily. I am currently working on figuring out replacements for them, they are: Sanctura/trospium (I've been taking for 3 years for bladder spasms), and Silenor/doxepin (I've been taking for 25 years for sleep maintenance disorder).
Both of the medications are to help me get good sleep, and of course, not sleeping well also contributes to dementia, so I'm trying to figure out something that will still let me get the sleep I need without taking these particular medications.
**EDITED BECAUSE I HAD MISTAKENLY LISTED MEDICATIONS (like Lexapro/escitalopram) THAT DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO DEMENTIA. Here is a useful article that describes which medications to avoid, and it has a handy chart at the bottom that gives possible replacements for them.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and ... your-brain
Thanks in advance for any info on the ApoE gene questions I have!
My mother has Alzheimer's, both of her parents had it, her two brothers had it, and her grandfather had it. Also my grandmother on my paternal side had it. So I have 7 close family members who have/had Alzheimer's.
I had my mother and I both tested through 23andMe, and then ran the raw data through Promethease, and my mother has ApoE3/ApoE3. I have ApoE3/ApoE4. So I got the E4 gene from my father's side.
I'm wondering how common it is to have Alzheimer's with E3/E3 like my mother? And since her E3's are not really neutral, is it like I have two E4's, since I got my "E3" from her?
She was only diagnosed a year ago, and it's hard watching her go through this. She was always very independent and self-sufficient, and now she needs help with so much. And of course, I'm worried about myself getting it, because I have no significant other or children to take care of me. I have no-one and no money, not sure what I would do if I develop it.
I also recently found out by poking around online that certain medications contribute to developing dementia, and I've been taking 2 of them daily. I am currently working on figuring out replacements for them, they are: Sanctura/trospium (I've been taking for 3 years for bladder spasms), and Silenor/doxepin (I've been taking for 25 years for sleep maintenance disorder).
Both of the medications are to help me get good sleep, and of course, not sleeping well also contributes to dementia, so I'm trying to figure out something that will still let me get the sleep I need without taking these particular medications.
**EDITED BECAUSE I HAD MISTAKENLY LISTED MEDICATIONS (like Lexapro/escitalopram) THAT DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO DEMENTIA. Here is a useful article that describes which medications to avoid, and it has a handy chart at the bottom that gives possible replacements for them.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and ... your-brain
Thanks in advance for any info on the ApoE gene questions I have!