Hi community, I just started on Mucuna extract 650 MG 40% L –Dopa from Barlow's herbal elixirs.. I have been taking one capsule twice a day for the past couple of days, it makes my head feel funny but have not gotten any relief from my tremors. Does it take a while before I begin to fill a positive effect? A week? Or maybe even a month? Or should the results be immediate? I am also on B1 protocol, 2 g a day. I've been on the B1 protocol for two weeks. Thanks ahead of time for any input!
Mucuna : Hi community, I just started on... - Cure Parkinson's
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James4K
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Here is a good link for you. Section 5.1 deals with Parkinson's.
When taking MP, the L-dopa should not take more than an hour to be felt. People who feel the effects of levodopa, only feel those effects for several hours.
Have you taken Sinemet, i.e., do you have experience with carbidopa/levodopa to compare it to? 650 mg of 40% L-dopa, twice a day is not a small dose.
A lot of us do not experience a diminished tremor with levodopa.
examine.com/supplements/muc...
No, at present I am taking no prescribe medicines
Hmmm. I only take a Sinemet occasionally and when I do I don't feel anything, but you're getting the equivalent of a few hundred milligrams and its bio-availability is higher with MP, so I don't know what's going on. Sorry.
Thanks for your input!
Two capsules a day is 520mg of L-dopa. Is that a lot of dopa? What is the total intake of L-dopa for the average PwP? My husband still experiments with MP. He takes two capsules of 650mg, 40% L-dopa in the morning and Zandopa powder (one scoop) in the mid-evening. Can't find the right dosage yet, still experimenting for the right one.
You will get answers all over the map on this, so I'll go ahead and throw my hat in the ring.
Bottom line; it's not possible to know with precision, so you have to go by how you feel, so PWP is going to be stuck having to go through some trial and error.
There are 15 different species of MP grown in India alone so there's probably a few dozen worldwide, each with a different composition of minerals and nutrients in the soil and water, meaning the same species grown in different regions might have different potencies. Manufacturers are continuously shopping their suppliers on price, so they may make one batch from one supplier and the next batch from a different supplier. Add to that the differences in processing also affects potencies. I would think the variations on potencies for 500 mg/day dose would be plus or minus 100 mg. I just pulled that out of thin air because it's a 20% variation.
As to your other question, what dose constitutes "a lot," is too relative to answer because it would depend on the stage of progression and one's response to levodopa. For myself, I would consider 520 mg/day to be a lot, but there's many PWP on this forum who take considerably more than that, some taking 15 to 20 (25/100) per day.
There are different theories as to what dose is the dividing line above which increases the risk for dyskinesia and that's usually around 800 mg to 1000 mg per day. Personally, I think for most people it's 600 mg to 800 mg per day. Because we're all snowflakes, some of us get dyskinesia on half that amount and some don't get it on twice that amount.
If I were to take Mucuna Pruriens, I would take a product that is 15% L-dopa because it's the other 400 compounds in the plant that caused the L-dopa in MP to be better absorbed, faster acting, longer-lasting and with less dyskinesia. In other words, it's not the L-dopa that is the valuable part of the plant, it's everything else.
I know this is kind of a non-answer because of the variations and relativity, so try to settle on a dose that works best and that might be a little different from one product to the next.
Good luck.
That makes sense, thanks for your response. I will try your suggestion and go from there. Thanks again
Thanks for your very informative reply to my questions! I understand L-dopa requirements are different for different people. I agree with you, MP whole bean powder or MP extract with a percentage of L-dopa is the best treatment for PD.
From examine.com
"Supplement-wise, 5g of Mucuna Prurients dried powder has been used with efficacy in some human studies on Parkinson's Disease and Fertility. This dose or doses upwards of it should be a good starting point.
If your supplement is standardized for L-DOPA and you are supplementing for an effect attributed to L-DOPA, then start with about 1/2 the L-DOPA equivalent and work up if needed (this is due to the same amount of L-DOPA in Mucuna being more bioactive relative to isolated L-DOPA without carbidopa).
Mucuna Pruriens can be eaten isolated as a food product, but cooking is required to destroy trypsin inhibitors in the beans (so protein absorption is not hindered) yet cooking also destroys L-DOPA.
Some supplements use the cotyledon of Mucuna Pruriens, which may have different nutrient profiles relative to the bean or whole root."
Sorry to ask but how do I get to section 5.1
scroll down
The answers provided point out that it is not easy to find the right dose or the right product. I was taking 19 g of Mucuna powder 40% under the Hinz protocol and it was not quite enough to control all my symptoms. At that level I was getting side effects that were not controlled by increasing 5 HTP like the protocol calls for. So I reverted back to sinemet and Selegiline.
I am doing the Hinz amino acid protocol and am currently at 20 grams per day of 40% mucuna seed powder. My hand tremor is mostly gone. My gait is good but my facial expressions are affected in a negative sense. My speech is a bit slurred when I'm tired and fatigue kicks in about mid day. (Still working at a desk job). Mucuna is hard on the stomach and I battle with acid indigestion. Sinemet never stopped my tremor. I am still far from where I would like to be but the 40% mucuna is helping. My Dr. says a great many of PD patients find maximum relief between 20 and 27 grams of 40% each day. If this is as "good as it gets" it's still better than where I was.
Is your mucuna still working ? Thanks !
Yes no change since my original post.
Thanks.....and do you get your 40 % from your doctor, or can it be purchased OTC ?
I get my 40% mucuna powder at Barlowe's Elixirs online. There are others also.
Thank you
Hi I have a question for you. How many grams of mucuna do you take per dosis ? How many y times a day? Do you use any " carrier"to maximize the effect of mucuna? Do you take any other suplements? I am taking mucuna 100% but my hand tremor hasn't improve. Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi James
Sorry for the delay. I just had back surgery.
I am on the Hinz amino acid therapy. Besides the mucuna I take NeuroReplete and Cysreplete and some B6.. I have gradually increased my mucuna and am now at 5 grams of 40% 4 times a day. Total daily is 20 grams. I get intermittent mild dyskinesia some days. My right hand tremor was mostly controlled at around 12 grams. During major stress the tremor comes back somewhat. In 2017 I had a focused ultrasound treatment in Switzerland on the right side of my brain. This stopped my left hand, arm and leg tremors. So my tremors are mostly in control. Other aspects of PD are still slowly advancing. Balance ,speech and facial muscles are affected. I am 64 3 years since PET scan confirmed PD but I had symptoms in total for around 6 years. Sinemet never worked for me. I am still working and try to stay positive. Even with PD I am still better off than millions of others.
Regards
Glenn
Thank you for sharing all that information! I really appreciated it.
Hi, Glenn, very interesting !! Are you living in Europe ? (Switzerland) ??
I travel all over living in Europe and Asia. I am giving up on the Hinz protocol. After one year no real improvements. But mucuna still helps with tremor.
• in reply toYnot214ever
Glenn,
With the MRI guided ultrasound, did you have any of the related side effects? If so, how long did they last?
Art
I'm purchased mp extract 650mg 40per cent l dopa. Not sure how many capsules to take a day
Hi ! Two months later, is the mucuna working ?
The effects are immediate or about an hour for me that is, tremors stop, but getting the dosage right took me a while.
Brand? Mg? How many capsules a day?
Bulk powder from nutrivita.com I take an 1/8 of a teaspoon scoop
How many times a day do you take 1/8 tsp?
Twice very rarely 3
I have a Tremor 24/7 and nothing helps it. I do not take RX drugs
I have tremor 24/7 also. Mucuna pruriens from nutrivita.com works on the tremor it stops it for a period of about 3 hours, try by itself then with B1.
Thx so much. I'll try
I can't imagine three hours without tremor
It's such a relief 😌
But don't you take sinemet also besides mucuna? I don't. So how do you know if it's the sinemet or the mucuna stopping your tremor?
No i don't take sinemet only occasionally when I don't have easy access to making my mix. At times I don't get any relief from the pharmaceuticals but sometimes they work like a charm. It's a hit and miss.
Didn't know you could take sinemet occasionally
Also I went on the nutrivita website they don't have mucuna then I called the number and they say they don't have it in their shop that I had to go to us doctors or something??
😲 Where do you live?
U.s. Virginia .. I'm awake at 3 a.m. From tremor
This is the link nutrivitashop.com/l-dopa-10...
Thx
I have a large bottle of zandopa that I recently purchased. I wonder if I could just take 1/8 tsp twice a day of that instead of buying more from nutrivita.
The zandopa will work you would just have to figure out the dose because the key is that the nutrivita levadopa from mucuna is 100% pure levadopa so it's like taking sinemet with no carbidopa and no chemicals. The zandopa has other Mucuna properties which are of course beneficial but less levadopa concentration.
Thanks again
How many milligrams did you order?
I bought 500 grams because the more you buy the cheaper it gets. I really hope it works for you.
Thank you very much
I purchased 25 grams.. it's all I could afford right now. I sure hope it works I need some if not a little relief from this tremor. Very bad. If I don't get some control of it going to have to quit my part-time job.
This is going to work. Keep us updated please. We'll make it work. 😊 🤗
God bless you. I am going to take Benadryl to get through Thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes it helps a little. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Thank you happy thanksgiving 🍁
How's it going? My neurologist mentioned that Benadryl was the go to med for Parkinson's when we didn't have ldopa. Hope it worked for you over the holidays. Anyway what about the Mucuna?
Hello ! I'm wondering how you fared on Mucuna ?
I don’t know about Barlow‘s but I take some MP but is supposed to be about that strength and it works better when taken with something that is an inhibitor something essentially performing the same function as Carbidopa when compounded with levodopa . So try taking your MP with strong cup of green tea or a small portion of green tea extract containing EGCG, An effective inhibitor. And take it between meals essential y following the same instructions as if you were taking sinemet. Salmon fish oil containing significant amounts of DHA and EPA might also help if you take it at the same time
No side effects at all. So far great results.
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