Levodopa and Mucuna Purins

[roncourtney]

If you take Sinimet can you also take Mucuna Purins? If you take both, are you simply doubling the amount of Levodopa going into your body? I understand that taking too much meds can be as bad as taking too little. Also, does MP wear off over the years until it has no more effect?

[lempa_nik]

Both Sinemet and Mucuna contain Levodopa, so yes, by taking both, you are effectively "doubling up." If you add Mucuna, you'll want to reduce your dosage of Sinemet accordingly. As for wearing-off of Mucuna, my guess is this is very likely (by the same logic used to explain wearing-off of Sinemet, namely that progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons renders brain incapable of handling the added Dopamine.)

[daio]

My mother has replaced half of her prescribed Levodopa-based medication with the corresponding amount of Mucuna Pruriens ("Mucuna Dopa" capsules from Source Naturals) and takes them together. She's been doing so for over 3 years. It made a big difference in her sleep. MP also 'wears off' over years, but apparently at a slower rate than Levodopa.

[sparkyparky]

Hi there. Most Sinemet meds are 50mg Levodopa ( 62.5 tablet, the rest - 12.5mg is Carbidopa) ) or 100mg Levodopa (125mg - 25mg Carbidopa). The "Now" Dopa mucuna Capsules I take, 3 a day ( though they recommend 6 a day), each contain 60mg Levodopa. I have reduced my Sinemet by cutting the prescribed 125mg into quarters, each quarter being about 30mg. So I juggle the timings, depending on how active I'm being on that day, but overall, the dosage is about the same. ( e.g. 8am-ish 1xMP and 0.25mg Sinemet = 60mg + 30mg Levodopa) If that isn't enough and my PD symptoms aren't controlled, I take either MP or Sinemet and see how that works. Yes, it's hit and miss a bit, but I am now back in control of my body and my meds and it's working! And anyway, my consultant isn't interested, hasn't answered my very detailed questions, having promised a reply on 3rd February, (4 months ago!!) my generalist doesn't know much about PD and so I'm on my own. But everyone says how well I look, better than 2 years ago (I'm 5 years into PD) and I don't have the dyskinesias I was getting with full dose Sinemet. Good luck.

[Enidah in reply to sparkyparky]

Sparkyparky, thank you for the good and detailed information. I have found I am very much on my own with how much of the senimet to take and when. I do a lot of breaking in half seeing how I feel after I eat certain things... It's all trial and error, hit and miss. I'm the only one in here so I'm the only one who really knows.

[Beverly2017 in reply to sparkyparky]

Thankyou. I've been trying macuna and sinamet too. Seems to work but I'll try cutting my sinamet into quarters. Can't cut the macuna capsules though so 60 mg is too much. But if macuna purines doesn't have dyskinesia side effects...that's a huge positive. Thanks Sparky

[sparkyparky in reply to Beverly2017]

You can open the capsule though and apparently dissolve it in a little water and just drink half of it. I haven't tried doing this, but others have. Or take half of the powder. Good luck.

[sparkyparky in reply to sparkyparky]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/155...

This was the original 2004 study. More where that came from!

[Beverly2017 in reply to sparkyparky]

Thankyou so much!

[M1tz1 in reply to Beverly2017]

Is macuna available only in capsules? My husband can't swallow and he chews and chews at anything in his mouth. Would this affect the Macuna?

[neversayno in reply to sparkyparky]

Dear sparkyparky, my husband has PD and for over a year we have been trying many different formulas and workouts. Some have worked others failed. We have added John Pepper's fast walking and it's helped but not be the end all. As with you, his neurlogist has no interest in actually helping him and his first words to him over a year ago were basically, there's no cure, get used to it, you're going to die. Paraphrasing, of course. How are you doing with your treatments now? I see it's been a long time, but yours is the first post I have ever seen that substituted mucuna L-dopa for the chemical l-dopa. Do you take them both together (at the exact same time) ? or just in the same day? Any info would be helpful. Thank you!

[Fava-1]

hi. I know many people who take sinmeet and mucuna , mainly to keep the sinemet dose low to avoid the side effects of sine met that increase with dosage

[Catlou]

Does anyone know how much zandopa = 1 sineret pill that is 100 mg. The scoop in the zandopa is 7.5 mg. I know take half a 100+1/2 250 cr 4 x day and want to slowly replace the regular sineret. I was on rytary and that really threw me for a loop.

[Johngreer in reply to Catlou]

Hello Cat. I was diagnosed as a PWP about 13 years ago after I took several sessions of physical therapy to accomplish relief from a sore shoulder. After about 3 weeks of 2 times per week, of the physical theraphy was he pain was still with me a

[sparkyparky]

Parkinson's UK have just published this. I'm not sure I agree with all of it, but it is interesting nevertheless.

medium.com/parkinsons-uk/co...

[M1tz1]

Thank you, SparkyParky.