MUCUNA PRURIENS

[cshamb]

I know this has been posted before but can you tell me anything about this herb. My husbands cardiologist is Indian and studied that medicine for 2 yrs and said it is helpful for pd.

[badboy99]

It works

[Hikoi]

It is a plant which contains levodopa so it will work.

[muragod]

plenty of info available on google search

[clajac]

My husband has been on it for the past 4-5 months (not using any other medication) and has seen significant improvement in his symptoms.

[cshamb in reply to clajac]

Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me the brand and the amount he takes or started out with. Does it help tremors. Thanks so much

[alanrob in reply to clajac]

should there be a lot of residue left in the bottom of the cup after taking this powder in water?

[clajac in reply to alanrob]

Some residue....my husband tries to get down as much as he can of it.

[lempa_nik in reply to clajac]

Hi alanrob and clajac. No residue problem if you stir the powder into a tbsp. of applesauce (my favorite). Dr Stein mentioned it can be mixed into a huge variety of foods (such as yogurt, mashed potatoes, oatmeal . . . the sky's the limit.) The poor man's option is just to stir the water vigorously and slug it down before the powder (mucuna, tyrosine, etc.) settles out,

[clajac in reply to lempa_nik]

Thanks for this information. I will pass it on to my husband.

[Hidden]

Mucuna is an herb that the indians have used for a long time it comes from the velvet bean, but has a lot of different names.It has naturally occuring dopamine in it. Get a standardized percent of dopamine. I am on NOW brand which is 15%, but you can order Zandopa over the internet. Zandopa seems to have the most results and since it comes from India probably the strongest. Or you can grow your own beans ha ha

PS it doesn't seem to have the side effects of Sinemet. Good Luck and Blessings

[ruthgt in reply to Hidden]

i am also useing the Now brand .how much do you take?

[clajac]

40% D5 Mucuna Powder manufactured and distributed by CHK Nutrition. The dosage is variable and is set by his doctor (Osteopath who practices alternative medicine) as he evaluates symptoms and by an expensive urine analysis that measures various things (brain chemicals). It is a complex treatment in that it needs to be regulated by a doctor trained in using Mucuna. After saying all of that, again my husband has seen improvement (such as: posture, walking gait, he now is minimally swinging his arms, voice, less stiffness/pain/rigidity). He has not experienced tremors (one of the few), so I cannot speak to that. We are hopeful and cautiously optimistic. The jury is still out - we are in the early stages of this treatment. We are also grateful that my husband's neurologist is on board and supportive of the treatment.

[jmtolani in reply to clajac]

This doctor (Osteopath) , where is he located, is it possible to get his info ?

[Hidden in reply to clajac]

Hi, where is this osteopath located ? It sounds like targeted amino acid theapy? I would like to try this, but can't find anyone but a chiropractor and the MDs are too expensive and far away. Good for you that you have a neuro that supports you in the other-than-drugs way.

[clajac]

I misspoke earlier. He also takes NeuroRepleat and CysRepleat made by the same manufacturer.

[chucktheclutch]

The bottle I have states the contents is 15 % L-DOPA (A SERVING CONTAINS 2 CAPSULES) Can anyone tell me what the maximum number of capsules I can consume daily?

[zawy in reply to chucktheclutch]

I've consumed this type, about 20 at a time and did not notice anything good or bad, but my symptoms are not bad at all either, just a small thumb tremor. Theoretically, the effects should be quick, so I was disappointed to not see a difference. I've ordered a carbidopa type product from India and will see if a real pharmaceutical can have an effect. If it does not, then I have to assume there is a high chance I am not dealing with PD (the immediate benefit of L-Dopa seems to be the primary method of confirmed diagnosis, but it still is not proof of a "classical" PD where only an autopsy or would reveal the precise brain changes. Marijuana might be able to reduce tremors but I have not been able to confirm it. 2,000 mg of niacin (which causes a strong flush on the first day of taking it) seems to greatly reduce anxiety and generally improve mood and feelings of well being for about 2 hours.

[Donzim in reply to zawy]

Niacin 1000mg 3x daily will stop those infernal hallucinations too. See work by A. Hoffner

[zawy in reply to Donzim]

I have some of his books and used to communicate with him. I'll look and see if I find references to Parkinson's. I was only aware of early schizophrenia. But I recently recommended it to someone here who's husband was having bad hallucinations. I asked him about liver side effects papers kept mentioning and he said it's only time release forms. He said he's never seen an adverse side effect even at 10 g/day, which is what I'm trying at times, and comparing "niacin" days to "non-niacin" days.

[Donzim in reply to zawy]

I don't think he mentioned PD. the point was that if hallucinations could be treated in schizophrenia, perhaps the same mechanism was working in PD. Hoffner's theory was that when adrenalin was converted to too much adrenachrome, it acted very much like LSD which is very similar in chemical composition to adrenachrome. Too much adrenachrome was the cause of the hallucinations just like in LSD. That struck me as don acted like a person on a drug high when he was on the middle of the hallucination. Totally irrational. Also I was looking up too much adrenaline as he is as type A running for years on adrenaline and I noticed that every time the adrenaline got going that it was followed by the irrational behavior. Also it turns out that dopa converts to dopachrome so it may be that it is double barreled with high adrenaline people who are on dopa.

The dose I mentioned was sufficient to stop them. He was on that dose for several months and after a stent , he seemed to need less. Now he gets just what is in his B complex unless he starts seeing a dog on the lanai or a figure disappearing around a corner. That's low grade and I know to give him a few 100mg tabs for a few days. Don't know why anyone would take more than what relieves the symptoms but liver levels should be checked regularly. If I had to choose I would pick the niacin over hallucinations. This treatment does not call for niacicamide- only niacin. My husband thought all his veins showing were worms and fatty deposits near his eyes the same. They needed to be cut out according to the hallucination. His body hair was being implanted and needed to be removed. Bugs were everywhere. Gone in 24 hours with niacin. So many people have this there is a name for it...parasitosis and they all act exactly the same way, collecting little bits and pieces of debris, putting them into little containers and insisting the doctor send them for testing. Crazy. Hoffner was one of those like Tim Leary who experimented with LSD hence his interest.

[zawy in reply to Donzim]

Hoffer was about the first to do a good scientific study on a pill back in something like the 1940's, and it was showing niacin reduces cholesterol and later it was shown to increases good cholesterol while lowering bad cholesterol. Vitamin D3 and fish oil can lower cholesterol a great deal in some people who are deficient. I doubt there is any pharmaceutical that's better than niacin after all these years, and yet it is very rare to hear of a doctor in the U.S. prescribing it, and unfortunately too much of the 3rd world follows the U.S. and misses out on some non-pharmaceuticals.

Yes, I believe the Leary learned of it by Hoffer. I personally used it once a long time ago to great effect to stop the psychedelic effects of mushroom. And many years ago I noticed my brain and thinking seemed to work and feel better after 1,000 mg. The flushing only occurs the first day and yet it's used as an excuse for people to not take it for cholesterol and as an excuse to make dangerous time release pharmaceutical,s

[rsacdoolittle in reply to Donzim]

Niacin helps sooo many symptoms it seems!

[ruthgt in reply to zawy]

You took 20 capsules per dayfron Now campeny?

[rsacdoolittle in reply to zawy]

Niacin sounds like a great supplement for my dad to try. Thank you.

[zawy in reply to rsacdoolittle]

I found out later it may not be good for parkinson's. But I would still try it for hallucinatory-like things.

[Nehd]

Mucina Purines are a natural form of dopamine. My husband, in early PD, has only been taking Zandopa for nearly a year. He is also taking Ashwaganda 500 mg x2 daily, Ubiquinol 300 x2 twice daily, Bacopa 500 x1 and Keen Mind 2x1 ( keen mind is bacopa monnieri that has been very successful in clinical trials..I get it from AU)...Along with Vit E, C & B. He has no tremors, some confusion at times, mostly when he has not slept....think we have a little Capgras Syndrome going on....His neuro and internist are stunned by how well he is doing. They both admit they don't know anything about Ayurvedic medicine and have asked my to provide info on his meds, which I have done. I get the Zandopa from mall.coimbatore.com/bnh/zan...

We are very fortunate that his neuro is open and willing to support this path rather than the standard treatment. Good luck and I am happy to answer what I can.

[nourilo in reply to Nehd]

How long has your husband been taking Mucuna (Zandopa)? Is it still effective?

[Dottie2 in reply to Nehd]

Did he never have tremors or he did and they are gone? Tremor is my only problem at this time.

[Donzim]

Zandopa is approved for early PD by FDA...that doesn't mean it doesn't work later, just that the studies are on early PD. we used it for several years successfully in the beginning of his symptoms and I think if we had ashwagandha at that time we could have continued on it but the anxiety got out of hand. Right now we can't use ashwagandha as it is a blood thinner but when his anemia is resolved, we will definitely try it. now on Rytary and doing pretty well after several years of nauseating breakthroughs.

The reason zandopa isn't marketed here is due to the onerous regulations put on products here in the US (your govt protecting you). It is sold all over the world. Same was true with the anti anxiety probiotic drink...too complicated here but I hear that company is building facilities here to make it.

Problem with zandopa was that it only came in powder and I had to stuff thousands of capsules as compounding chemists are not allowed to provide that service (another govt attempt to protect us from ourselves).

If he took the powder in water it made him vomit, hence the capsulesph