I was formally diagnosed in 2011. Shortly after this occurred, because I have a 40 year background in natural medicine, and also because I was unable to tolerate Sinemet, I started to try various natural protocols that had been shown to be effective for some people with Parkinson's. One of the first approaches I tried was Mucuna. Within a month, I dropped this approach because it seemed to be doing nothing for me. Little did I know that it would be many years before I found out that virtually all the Mucuna supplements in the states contained no more than 15-18%
L-Dopa. This information made it easier to understand why I had experienced no success with it.
In 2016, I was contacted by a friend with Parkinson's who lives in Europe and had been taking Mucuna extract that was 98 - 99% L-Dopa.
Roughly 3.5 years ago, I became so dysfunctional due to the symptoms of Parkinson's that I became almost bedridden for 2.5 years and 100% dependent on my wife for all daily activities. I took Mucuna extract at the 2.5 year point of being stuck in bed and in less than a week, I was out of bed and 98% independent.
I started with 250 milligrams 4 x/day. Now, 1 year later, I take between 800 -1,000 milligrams 5x/day and have been using that dosage for approximately 6 months. Because Mucuna obviously contains no carbidopa, I have found that ingesting a small amount of crystalized ginger with each dose which prevents nausea for me.
Here's my concern...
There is much information online that states that long term use of Mucuna is safe. However, it is clear that the substance used in all of that exploration was the whole herb. I have not been able to find any information regarding long term use of Mucuna EXTRACT.
ANY HELP WITH THIS EXPLORATION WOULD BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED!
This month I am starting a kind of an "alchemical" experiment. I have placed one pound of Mucuna whole herb from Banyan Botanicals into a gallon jar and have filled it with the highest quality Vodka I could find here. I am not able to get grain alcohol where I live. I have placed the jar in a dark cupboard and am shaking it vigorously each day. After roughly three weeks, I will add my Mucuna whole herb "tonic" to the Mucuna extract each time I take it.