I'm 75 years old and was first diagnosed with PD by a neurologist about 15 years ago. At that time the only symptoms I remember having were that I sometimes stepped a little bit funny, and I didn't swing my arms when I walked. Anyway, the doc immediately prescribed 3 Sinemets per day, with which I complied, and the symptoms gradually increased over the years. But because I also began experiencing occasional motion impediments, occasionally accompanied by anxiety attacks, which I hated, I soon began taking some actions of my own, such as micro-nutrient-intense smoothies twice daily.
I have been taught from childhood that, given the proper tools/nutrition, both the body and the brain are able to heal themselves from injury and illness, and even to become immune to disease. So obviously, my diet must be lacking something, which surprised me, since I have never in my life been even 1 pound overweight, nor ever lacking in energy, nor experienced any of the symptoms common to diabetes or arthritis nor any other disease commonly associated with the defective current lifestyle.
The challenge when we become ill, then, is to figure out what it is our body is lacking, and what to do to provide the best therapy, to support our system while our body is trying to heal itself. With these thoughts in mind, in my smoothies I included such things as fresh, live fruit and vegetables, to provide enzymes, the “life-force” that is so important to providing a healthful diet. In addition, I put in such things as powdered alfalfa leaves, kelp, turmeric, cinnamon, cacao, ginger, etc. as I gradually discovered their fundamental nutritional potential. All of these things are available on line, in organic, powdered form, in one pound bags and sometimes one kilo bags.
After beginning my smoothies, I have never experienced another anxiety attack, and over the years, my symptoms have gradually lessened until I don't need sinemet at all during the day, but found that I still needed the tablets at night, in order to have restful sleep. Then I eventually discovered that I only needed two sinemets at night to sleep well. When I awaken each morning, however, I still find myself disabled, shaking and practically unable to balance or walk much, but I associate those symptoms partially as symptoms of withdrawal from the effects of the sinemet, because without taking sinemet, they gradually disappear, as I begin to go through my daily routines.
Now I have found that the key to suppressing the symptoms during the day is to become more and more active, as much as possible, as the day progresses. For me, due to the fact that I have been living alone during all of these years, I have no choice but to be actively engaged. My situation requires that I must continue to be able to take care of myself, or I shall lose my freedom, and possibly end up living in the street, as many hundreds of thousands of other inhabitants of this nation (United States) are having to do.
This is the ideal therapy for me, as it requires that I must prepare my own meals, clean up after myself, wash my own clothes, organize my living space, and do many other little details from day to day. However, I never do anything more demanding than I can face at the moment. For the first few years, I was so disabled that I could only begin each day by playing spider solitare, which I could barely manage. But I discovered that while engaging in this activity, time passed quickly and within an hour or two, the Parkinson symptoms had all but disappeared, and I could then get on with my other daily activities. (BTW, my win rate for the most difficult level of spider solitare, after 537 games, is an unbelievable 81%!)
Anyway, my ultimate goal is to eliminate completely, the dependency on sinemet, and thus become free from its accompanying withdrawal symptoms, so I was very excited when I read about the mucuna bean as a good source of L-dopa. But once obtaining the powder, I had to figure out how to use it to replace the two night-time sinemet tablets. At first, I had tried replacing both sinemet tablets with the mucuna powder, but it turned out that the second dose only provided me with about three hours additional sleep time, and it sometimes made me sick to my stomach.
After weeks of experimenting, I have discovered that the best way to consume the mucuna powder seems to be by mixing it into a cup of matcha green tea. And I also discovered that if I just replace the first tablet with two tablespoons of mucuna powder, and then take one sinemet about two and a half hours later, I will experience the best nights sleep I've had in years. So now I'm currently down to just one sinemet per each 24 hour period.
If I understand correctly, sinemet is effective because of its C-dopa component, which protects much of the L-dopa from being broken down into the unabsorbable dopamine form, by an enzyme abbreviated AADC. Since the powdered mucuna bean lacks this C-dopa protection, it is less effective than sinemet in transmitting the L-dopa to the brain, without much of it being broken down first. However, the matcha green tea has a polyphenol abbreviated EGCG, which apparently can also protect the L-dopa from being broken down.
So now, I am experimenting to discover the best quantity of mucuna, along with the right ratio of matcha tea to use for my middle-of-the-night dosage, so that, perhaps I can finally replace the last remaining sinemet tablet. I feel that this is important because in my opinion, once we discover medication in its natural, herbal form, it is always more desirable for healing than the man-made artificial substitute, because Mother Nature always seems to be way ahead of the understanding of man.
Matcha green tea
Mucuna Pruriens
