I am caregiver to an illiterate woman in her 70s. The problem started with night time urinary incontinence. When all possible treatment failed, she was referred to a neurologist who diagnosed Parkinsons. By then, fine tremor was becoming noticeable in one of the arms. Before then, the arthritis of the knee which she had mad us put walking difficulties to that arthritis which has given her a k-leg.
She was placed on some drugs but the reactions were so bad that she had to discontinue. It was like the drugs accelerated her symptoms. Although she had suffered TIA before, she soon suffered another one. Every little exertion causes her to become moody and weak. Sometimes she hallucinates.
I came across velvet beans and ordered a bottle of its capsule from herbal healer. Each cap is said to contain 120mg of L-dopa. I have just asked from the neutologist if it is ok for her to take it. He said he know nothing about alternative treatment. Right now, she is not on any Parkinsons drug. She takes mostly supplements. I desire that she starts on velvet beans caps but I am worried about the 120mg of L-dopa in the capsule. Is it not too much? I want to draw from the experience of those who had taken it before. I mean L-Dopa derived from velvet beans.
Please help me if you have any experience along this line.
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I saved this post and the answers about the mucauna bean. I thought it might help you.
Question:
Anyone ever try mucauna????(an herbal Ldopa source) or is it just a waste of time???
See 12 answers:
1. No, it is not a waste of time in my experience. You just have to get the dosage right.
See posts by 'Allnatural' who has been using it for months together with a reduced amount of Sinemet.
2. What is the right amount of Mucuna to use and how do you decide how much is right to use. who is "all natural" and where do you find that person's posts?
Reply to this
3. The right amount of mucuna pruriens varies from person to person and brand to brand. When I tried again it was with a brand called Zandopa. I personally use a 10mg dose three times a day together with half a 25/100 sinemet tablet each dose. You should be aware that Zandopa contains sugar to make it more palatable. This combination Gave me an 'on time' longer than my usual sinemet dose and dampened my bad tremor down and improved my walking. You can see 'allnaturals' posts by going to the directory on this site and click on her name. Her posts will show up.
4. I have dabbled with Mucuna for a time but with no success. I was using the Zandopa product. Perhaps I was not using it correctly? Blessings.
5. Yes, I have experimented with it a good bit. The most comprehensive patient experience can be found here- neurotalk.psychcentral.com/...
-that search will pull up six years of discussion by patients of their own experience so you get a varied response. Briefly, mucuna is a real drug and can be very useful. It can also come with its own problems such as being extremely messy. Mucuna pruriens is a climbing vine that grows in the tropics. It is the seed that is ground to a powder that is five to ten percent levodopa.
Zandopa is an extract of mucuna or supposedly is. Actually it is more a form of ldopa made in the lab and which therefore leaves out a lot of things that might be needed such as amino acids and enymes. It is manufactured by the second largest chemical company in India and tastes suspiciously like artificial sweetner. In short, it is not mucuna. Real mucuna is a finely ground powder and is usually brown to beige in color. It varies in the amount of levodopa that is available. It's use in treating PD is patented by a group of the top dog neurologists in the world.
The existing research on mucuna used a doseage in the 25 to 50 gram range. That is much too high. A more realistic figure is about five grams or about one tablespoon. There are a number of ways to take it but the best that I have found is to use an old pill bottle for a shaker, put in a tablespoon of mucuna, put in water to taste, cap and shake and then pop the lid and toss it down in a single motion. It will have you "on" in about 15 minutes. To me this is its main value - as a "rescue tool" when I get caught and need, well, rescue. Experiment to find how it affects you. One warning, it turns "off" as fast as it turns on so when it says "move" you had best do as it says. I pushed things a little too far once and found myself frozen in place in the middle of a large parking lot. Luckily a friend was with me and drug me to safety.
It is a real mess and an unbelievable stain. A single drop will permanently change a white porcelan sink to a deep black. It is near impossible to remove except with one of the ox gall based cleaners.
Finally, one last thing to be aware of. Whether it is a problem or not will depend on your individual circumstances. It is used by native cultures as an aphrodisiac. It works and doe so for both genders. One of our group noticed after a couple of weeks that her ex-husband was "starting to look good" and knew something was up. Depending on your relationship this can be a curse or a blessing.
I use a US grown, organic product by "Banyan Botanicals" sold through Amazon. It is about $25 for a kilo. Keep it cool and dark and out of the reach of rodents or you may wake up to the sound of heavy breathing of a tiny nature. That could get very embarassing. -Rick
PPS- Given the way the world seems to be going crazy around us, it is not a bad idea to think about worst case scenarios. If the trucks and trains stop running for a month or two this stuff could be worth its weight in gold to you. Buy a kilo and put it in a jar in the cupboard.
6. I always get a lot out of your posts on whichever site you are appearing.
Thank you for your generosity in sharing your experiences and knowledge.
7. I TAKE IT EVERY DAY! MY NEUROLOGIST RECOMMENDS IT HIGHLY!
8. GO TO "NOW.COM"
9. I'd like to know is if since mucuna is Levodopa can it still cause dyskinesia at higher doseR
10. thanks for the input--im gonna give it a try---
11. I read the previous comments with great hope. I then looked it up on a site where I buy supplements, says it cannot be taken with MAO Inhibitors. I take Azilect...seems everything is contraindicated
12. I've delayed treatment for several years now -you cant eat much of anything with MAO's-the agonists may make you passout while driving-guess i'll wait till it(PD) gets so bad i'll start with L dopa------by that time-it will be near time for my burial anyway..
Allnatural takes her zandopa with another drug. Is it okay to use velvet beans extract alone at the start? The patient has not started experiencing serious on and off moments.
The 2nd main ingredient in Sinemet is Carbidopa. Carbidopa prevents levodopa in the Sinemet being absorbed into parts of the body other than the brain. Without Carbidopa much lager doses of Levodopa need to be taken to get a decent dose into the brain where it is needed. That much larger dose is much more likely to result in nausea. Hence the name Sinemet - Sin = without and emet meaning emetic, i.e. induces vomiting so Sinemet just means "without vomiting" So far s I know the velvet bean does not include
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Researchers Discover Why L-Dopa Stops Working
Will taking mucuna pruriens (instead of Sinemet) prevent peripheral neuropathy? 
Ingredients to prevent or slow progression of PD - Knox Van Dyke - Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, West Virginia University
Mucuna-Pruriens 
Which would you rather have? Violent dyskinesia or go back to less L-dopa? Are there other options? Can we thread the needle and avoid both?
