DNA Testing for Addiction Recovery: What the Genes Show

Can a DNA Test Help With Addiction Recovery? What One Edmonton Practitioner Sees

Key Takeaways

• Family and twin research suggests that roughly half of a person's risk for addiction is inherited, which is why genetics is part of the recovery conversation.
• A DNA panel can show genes related to stress hormones, mood, sleep, and how the body processes medications.
• Carmen Tocheniuk, a DNA practitioner near Edmonton, uses those results to build a one-on-one lifestyle program with structured food, supplements, training, and daily coaching.
• In her experience, relapses often follow dropping the food, supplement, and training plan, and clients stabilize again when they return to it.
• DNA testing is one tool in recovery. It does not replace medical detox, counselling, or a doctor's care.

If you or someone you love has been through rehab more than once and it did not hold, you have probably asked why. Carmen Tocheniuk hears that question from almost every client. Her answer starts with a cheek swab. This article is based on our podcast episode, What Your DNA Can Tell You Before Your Body Starts Hurting, where Carmen explained how she uses DNA results to build recovery plans one person at a time.

Why do some people struggle more with addiction than others?

Part of the answer is genetic. Research on families and twins has estimated that about half of a person's vulnerability to addiction is inherited [1]. That does not mean anyone is destined to struggle. It means the body some people were born with may make stress, mood, and reward harder to regulate, and that can make recovery harder without the right support.

Carmen puts it plainly. Nobody she has worked with says they like being an addict. They say, why am I so screwed up, why can't I get this straight, I have done all these things and it is not working. In her view, part of what is not working is physiological, and that is the part a DNA test can help explain.

What genes does a DNA test look at for addiction?

A DNA panel for addiction and mental health looks at genes tied to how the body makes and clears brain chemicals like dopamine and norepinephrine, how it handles cortisol and stress, how it sleeps, and how it processes medications. Carmen's brain panel also includes genes related to anxiety, mood, cognitive resilience, and addictive behaviour patterns.

None of these results are a diagnosis. A gene that is not working well is a yellow light, not a verdict. What matters is what you do with it.

Carmen describes genes as coming in two copies, one from each parent. If both copies work well, the gene does its job. If one carries a variation, it works partly. If both do, the gene may need outside support, through nutrients, lifestyle, or in some cases a different medication choice made with a doctor.

How does Carmen turn DNA results into a recovery program?

Carmen's program is one person at a time, at her retreat on a treed property outside Edmonton. Clients stay anywhere from one to six months. She does not run the detox phase, which she says can be dangerous, so most people arrive after medical detox. Then the lifestyle work begins.

Here is what a stay looks like, in order:

1. Test the DNA. A cheek swab is mailed back and results arrive in about two to four weeks.
2. Build the plan. Carmen uses the results to design food, supplements, and training that support the genes that need it.
3. Add structure. Meals, workouts, chores, and sleep happen on a schedule. Everyone helps around the property, no matter their background.
4. Bring in psychological support. Psychotherapists or psychologists come to the house. Group therapy is added if the client wants it.
5. Coach daily for a year. After the client leaves, Carmen checks in every day for the next twelve months and adjusts the plan when things get shaky.

She calls it the bodybuilding lifestyle without the stage: commitment, consistency, and discipline. Her point is that bodybuilding is the one sport where you cannot blame the coach or the weather, and that same accountability is what she teaches in recovery.

Why does this approach differ from a typical program?

Carmen's program and a typical residential program differ in a few clear ways.

Group versus one-on-one. Most programs she has visited run in groups. Carmen has never had more than one client at a time, so the program moves at that person's pace.

Food and training. Carmen was struck by the quality of the food she saw at the rehab centres a family member attended, and by the lack of supplements and exercise. Her program is built around real food, targeted supplements, and daily training.

What happens after. Many programs end at discharge. Carmen coaches daily for a year afterward.

The starting point. Most programs start with the behaviour. Carmen starts with the genes, then builds the behaviour plan on top.

What happens when someone stops the program?

Carmen's clearest example is her own sister, whose story she shares publicly. Her sister was born with rheumatoid arthritis and became dependent on pain medication at 11. Over the years she went through many rehab programs. On Carmen's program she relapsed three times, and each time it was after she stopped the food, the vitamins, and the training, believing they could not be that important.

Each time she went back on the program, she stabilized. She has now been sober for years, and Carmen says she is her strongest advocate because she understands that the lifestyle is supporting real weak points in her body.

Carmen sees the same pattern in other clients. In her experience, the slide back into old behaviour usually follows dropping the plan, and it does not take long for most people to notice and get back on it.

This is Carmen's clinical observation, not a controlled study. But it fits with broader research showing that regular exercise is associated with higher rates of abstinence and lower anxiety and depression symptoms in people recovering from substance use [2].

Can DNA testing show which medications may be a problem?

A pharmacogenetic panel looks at how a person's body processes different categories of drugs. Carmen says most clients arrive on five to ten medications, and she believes that being on a medication that does not fit their genetics makes stress and trauma harder to manage.

There is real science behind the general idea. Clinical guidelines now exist that use a person's genotype to guide the choice and dose of certain medications, including some opioid pain medications, because the same drug can be processed very differently from one person to the next [3].

The rule that never changes: a DNA report goes to your doctor or pharmacist. Nobody should stop, start, or change a medication on their own.

What the evidence says

• Inherited factors account for a meaningful share of addiction risk, with estimates from family and twin studies landing around half [1].
• A meta-analysis of exercise studies in people with substance use disorders found that physical activity was linked to higher abstinence rates and fewer withdrawal, anxiety, and depression symptoms [2].
• Pharmacogenetic guidelines from the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium give prescribers genotype-based direction for select medications, including certain opioids, because metabolism varies by genotype [3].

As Carmen said on the episode, "the answer is actually within you. It's in your DNA already. You just have to get it read for you."

How can this help someone who is not in a residential program?

Not everyone can spend a month at a retreat. But the principles travel. Learn what your body needs. Eat real food. Move every day. Sleep on a schedule. Get support for stress and for your nervous system.

At Unpain Clinic we see the nervous system side of this often. Clients dealing with chronic stress and nervous system overdrive frequently struggle with sleep and pain at the same time. Tools like NESA neuromodulation, which sends gentle electrical signals through the nervous system, may help calm a system stuck in overdrive. It is not a treatment for addiction. It is one way to support the foundation that recovery is built on. If trouble falling or staying asleep is part of the picture, that is often where we start.

Frequently asked questions

Can a DNA test tell you if you are prone to addiction?

A DNA test can show genes related to stress, mood, reward, and sleep that may make addiction harder to manage. It cannot tell you whether you will or will not struggle. Roughly half of addiction risk is thought to be inherited, and the other half comes from life and environment.

Is DNA testing a treatment for addiction?

No. DNA testing is information. It is used to build a lifestyle and support plan, and it works alongside medical detox, counselling, and a doctor's care, not instead of them.

How long does Carmen's recovery program take?

Clients stay anywhere from one to six months, followed by daily coaching for the next year. The length depends on the person and their pace.

Does DNA testing show which medications are safe for someone in recovery?

A pharmacogenetic panel shows how the body may process different categories of drugs. That information should go to a doctor or pharmacist, who can decide whether any change makes sense. Never change a prescription on your own.

Do you need to repeat a DNA test?

No. DNA does not change, so one cheek swab gives results that last a lifetime.

Why do people relapse after rehab?

There are many reasons, and every person is different. In Carmen Tocheniuk's experience, relapse often follows dropping the food, supplement, and training plan that supports the body, and clients tend to stabilize again when they return to it.

About the author

Uran Berisha is the founder of Unpain Clinic in Edmonton and the Medical Shockwave Institute. He has over 20 years in rehabilitation and has personally delivered tens of thousands of shockwave treatments.

Medically reviewed by Uran Berisha on October 1, 2026.

A quiet next step

If stress, poor sleep, or pain are getting in the way of the life you are trying to rebuild, we can look at where your body is and what may help. Book an assessment at Unpain Clinic

Listen to the full conversation with Carmen Tocheniuk on our podcast episode, What Your DNA Can Tell You Before Your Body Starts Hurting.

References

1. Goldman D, Oroszi G, Ducci F. The genetics of addictions: uncovering the genes. Nature Reviews Genetics. 2005.
2. Wang D, Wang Y, Wang Y, Li R, Zhou C. Impact of physical exercise on substance use disorders: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE. 2014.
3. Crews KR, et al. Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guideline for CYP2D6, OPRM1, and COMT genotypes and select opioid therapy. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2021.