Pyroluria

My daughter was diagnosed with Pyroluria when she was almost 3, about 18 months ago.

Pyroluria is a genetic condition that causes anxiety, depression and withdrawal most often starting in late-teens and continuing throughout the person's life. It can be very severe or very mild and very much affected by levels of stress. It's onset usually occurs with a traumatic incident such as going away to college or to the army, parental divorce or death of a loved one. There may be severe depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism, autism, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder) or on rare occasions, DID (dissociative identity disorder more commonly known as multiple personalities) in the family tree. All of these are different manifestations of pyroluria.

Pyroluria is a blood disorder. When the body produces hemoglobin, a constituent of red blood cells, there is a byproduct called kryptopyrroles. Normally harmless, in this group of people the kryptopyrroles multiply too rapidly and block receptor sites for B-6 (pyrodoxine) and zinc leading to a serious deficiency of these two nutrients. Among other things, B6 and zinc directly help maintain a healthy emotional state.

Though pyroluria was identified over 40 years ago, it has only been recognized as a medical condition for about 10 years and many mental health practitioners are not taught about it in school. People with pyroluria don't respond well to common anti-depressants such as SSRIs and are often suicidal. It's wide-spread and estimates as high as 20% of all psychiatric patients and 40% of people with schizophrenia have pyroluria. It seems to affect women more than men. And the sad truth is that most people with pyroluria go undiagnosed.