What are catecholamines?
Catecholamines, which include dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine, are neurotransmitters made from the amino acid tyrosine. These chemicals are present in the central and peripheral nervous systems and are linked to pain and mood disorders. An imbalance of catecholamines have been found in people with chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia and mood disorders like depression and anxiety.
The COMT enzyme helps break down catecholamines. When COMT activity is low, it leads to higher dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is crucial for regulating emotions, pain perception, motivation, and behavior. Both COMT and dopamine receptors work together to maintain a balance in dopamine transmission, and an imbalance can lead to increased pain sensitivity and depression.
What is COMT?
We all have a COMT gene. There are three variants of this gene, simply known as fast, slow or Intermediate.
Fast COMT is known as val/val, GG or written as +/+. COMT stands for catechol-O-methyltransferase.
The COMT enzyme encodes the COMT gene which is involved in the breakdown of estrogen, caffeine and various catecholamine’s like dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine.
COMT is part of an important biological pathway in the body called Methylation and is part of your dopaminerigic pathway.
If you have a fast acting COMT enzyme, this means that it breaks down estrogen, and various neurotransmitters too quickly before the body has a chance to utilize them in the way it needs. So you can sit with lower levels of estrogen and these neurotransmitters, which can effect you in various ways.
What are some symptoms of fast COMT?
Here are some symptoms/signs that you have a fast COMT variants:
- You are a laid back person and not easily stressed, but when you are exposed to continous stress, this can start to take it’s toll on you.
- You tend to have a poor attention and focus span and get distracted easily.
- You could have ADHD.
- You tend to have a higher pain threshold.
- You work better with deadlines (but can still procrastinate to the last minute)
- You do well with stimulants like caffeine and green tea.
- You can struggle with low motivation and despondency.
- You tend to have addictive tendencies whether it is a hobby, substance addiction, gaming or food.
- You tend to cope well under short term stressful situations but not when it is drawn out.
- You might have restless legs, especially at night.
- You could have a tendency towards battling with constipation
- You might struggle to go to sleep, but once you are asleep, you sleep well.
- You seek stimulation but also get over stimulated quickly.
- You tend to have dry skin and can battle with skin issues.
- You started your menus later than other girls around you.
- You tend to struggle with moodiness, especially around luteal phase of your menses.
- Perhaps you had post-partum depression
- You have low libido
Fast COMT and Estrogen
Remember fast COMT tends to lead to lower levels of estrogen.
For women, having low estrogen can look like:
*dry and itchy skin
*low libido
*low energy
*difficulty to fall pregnant or carry a pregnancy to full term
*insomnia or difficulty sleeping
*headaches
*irregular periods
Estrogen also helps in the production, degradation and the re-uptake of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. It can increase the serotonin transporter expression, thus acting like an anti-depressant.
Estrogen during pregnancy
When a woman is pregnant, estrogen is very dominant as it helps to carry the baby to term. After pregnancy, estrogen dramatically drops because it is no longer needed in such large quantities and this is when a lot of women face post partum depression. The same is true of the menstrual cycle, when estrogen is at it lowest during the luteal phase, a lot of women struggle with PMS or PMDD.
Estrogen and menopause
Estrogen begins to decline as a woman transitions through perimenopause and menopause and so this also affects her cognitive health, and she will start to notice more brain fog, poor memory, lack of focus, attention and motivation. She may also start to suffer with depression and anxiety as estrogen also helps maintain levels of other neurochemicals such as GABA. One study showed that the loss of estrogen killed up to 40% of dopamine neurons in the brain.
Since fast COMT also controls the degradation of dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine, these levels are lower because they are getting degraded before getting a chance to be used properly. So again, we see issues with cognition and mood regulation.
Fast COMT and ADHD
With ADHD, women already have problems in their dopaminergic pathway. COMT is either typically acting too fast or too slow. So with low estrogen, low dopamine and low serotonin, a lot of women with ADHD are struggling at a baseline level. Add perimenopause and menopause the picture too and now things begin to worsen at an alarming rate, making life more stressful with less joy, less motivation, and more issues with memory, focus, attention, and mood dysregulation. For ADHD and fast COMT, they tend to tolerate stimulants like Ritalin, Adderall, Vyvanse and Focalin well. Something to keep in mind too, that you may also do well on supplements that naturally help to boost dopamine such as L-tyrosine and may not need to use stimulants. Personally, since I have fast COMT and ADHD myself, I use a combination of L-theanine and L-tyrosine which works wonders for focus, attention, motivation, mood and sleep.
How to support your Fast COMT
With fast COMT, we need to support our estrogen levels and neurotransmitter levels.
- Getting your DNA tested. If you haven’t done DNA testing before, then I recommend the DNA health which covers 7 key biological pathways and DNA Mind and reselience which take a closer look at cognitive health.
- Personalized diet and nutrition, environment, lifestyle and supplement recommendations on how to support your COMT and other biological pathways with your current health status being taken into account.
This is just one amazing way knowing how knowing your Genes can help you support such things as ADHD, hormones and help you as you transition through the premenopausal years. Contact me on getting DNA testing or coaching.
Next time I will discuss slow COMT and the implications of this.