Hello all,
Curious if anyone has ever had issues with taking too much or even overdosing on Mucuna? I have been taking an eighth of a teaspoon 2 to 3 times a day but I found that my symptoms would get worse and I would throw up more often, my heart would be pounding out of my chest and also my blood pressure was going to the roof. This morning I took half of the 1/8 teaspoon and I feel much better and not so unwell as I have been. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!
Sounds like you are taking a Mucuna extract which is mostly levodopa. Better results can be obtained by taking a non-concentrated Mucuna powder. Much larger quantities are required to get the same amount of levodopa - think tablespoons - but the nausea problem is avoided, plus you get Mucuna bean cofactors, such as they may be.
Yes I was wondering about that. I do have some non-concentrated powder that I will be trying at this point. For me what I have been battling is the fact that my metabolism is so slow due to my Hashimoto’s but it takes a while for things to become absorbed into my system.
I noticed in your bio that you take Thiamine HCl. What is that exactly good for?
I and many other people with Parkinson's have experienced considerable improvement as result of high-dose thiamine. For details about the treatment, including dosing, see the website here:
It takes 3 to 4 months for most improvements to become apparent. Relief from constipation, if you have the issue, takes only a week or 2.
Great to know and yes I do have IBS and constipation can be an issue but not always. The weird thing is either I go a lot more, or I don’t go for more than a few days. Very odd.
Any particular brand that you like?
Here is one that I have used. It seemed to work okay:
amazon.com/gp/product/B07RY...
What brand of Thiamine do you take?
According to Dr. Costantini's group, thiamine HCl is required form.
Vitacost brand seems to be the best deal, but they are out of stock right now:
vitacost.com/vitacost-vitam...
Solgar is a 2nd choice. They are tablets which are harder to swallow:
vitacost.com/solgar-vitamin...
My husband has been taking the powder but isn't too fond of it. I told him i would try and find it in pill form. Do you know if that is available? and if so how do you compare it to powder for dosage? Thank you I also got him some nuts - broad bean plant - from nuts.com which he seems to like but have no idea how to compare it as far as dosage.
Are your questions entirely about Mucuna or are some of them about thiamine?
Just Mucuna in pill form - dosage.
If you are looking for a pill, go with a prescription levodopa medication. Regarding Mucuna, go back to the top of this thread and reread my first comment. Regarding broad beans/fava beans, here is a reference:
hindawi.com/journals/pd/201...
Scroll down to section 2.2. Based on this reference it appears that fava beans contain 1/10 the amount of levodopa of Mucuna beans
Well I just talked to my doctor tonight and I was given a prescription of I levodopa carbidopa. Makes me a little bit nervous because i’m just so anxious about the side effects and given the fact that my body may have to rely on it and then at some point it’s going to not work anymore and it’s also nerve-racking but I need some thing because the tremors are just too bad. Everything else is fine for me, I have a ton of energy I sleep well, I don’t thrash in the night, but the tremors do make everything much more difficult. Plus I’m a psychotherapist and that makes it really difficult to sit still and talking to clients LOL
Levodopa never stops working. Patients with advanced Parkinson's are eventually subject to levodopa -induced dyskinesia, but that is because of advanced Parkinson's not because of the length of use of levodopa.
Is your prescription for the default levodopa carbidopa immediate release version or levodopa carbidopa ER (extended release)?
Yes controlled release. I assume that’s better? Starting with half a tab, 3x a day.
Definitely. Big credit to your M.D. for knowing to prescribe it. A cut above the usual.
Pretty safe to say you will be feeling a lot better. You may need to experiment a bit to get the dosage and timing right. This is only symptom relief, but symptom relief is really important while we pursue other modalities that offer improvement.
Yes! My Dr. and his NPP really came together quickly to help me today. They’ve been wonderful. Symptoms showed in 2015 and Dx 2017, and I’ve gone all natural until today. Hopefully I’ll be able to type better soon!
One more thing - allow two hours of spacing between carbidopa levodopa and a multivitamin or B complex if you take one. If carbidopa and vitamin B6 meet up together in the G.I. tract they bind and disable each other. I wrote about this here:
healthunlocked.com/parkinso...
More about vitamin B6 here:
healthunlocked.com/parkinso...
Oh wow ok! So 2 hours until the next dose? She’s starting me out with 1/2 tab 3x a day then a whole tab 3x a day. So B complex should be taken at night?
Hi Rita, briefly I'mm also a therapist -psychologist in fact- and have found that it is best to come out in the open with your clients and just inform them that you have PD. It is much to stressful to try not to show that you sometimes tremble. Self induced stress is a no no! Just be who you are and let your patient deal with this in the open. Hope this helps...
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am not a fan of self-induced distress by any means I’m just trying to figure out the best way to tell certain clients because my fear is that clients will start to think that I won’t be able to do my job because there seems to be such a stigma over having Parkinson’s and the fact that it looks different for every person that I’ve ever talked to. Very frustrating decisions I have to make.
Agree with park_bear, i.e., sounds to me like you're taking an extract.
I think my dad gets worse on to much macuna. What brand do you have 1/8 of a TSP of ? Do you use green tea extract ? With food or not? I read that Aloe vera is a carrier for Macuna. ? It use to work with dad. Then we ran out and start again but it does not stop propulsive gait anymore. We tried now 15,%. Nutri vita 98% and zandopa. Any advice from anyone is handy when it comes to experience.cheers.
Nutra Vita powder. I didn’t know Aloe vera is a carrier for it. If I do it with food it takes forever if I don’t do it with food I throw up. Lol I can’t win!
If I remember correctly, it has been established in previous discussions on this forum that the 98% NutriVita levodopa powder is not from mucuna prurient at all. Please check the label again. In any case, with such high-purity levodopa, any benefit of ‘going natural’ would be lost.
If you are taking an extract you are taking levadopa. Levadopa metabolised in the brain helps your PD symptoms with a bit of luck.Levadopa metabolised in the body makes you sick, causes your heart to race, affects your eyes and a bunch of other shit.
Over 50 years ago MSD discovered that if you mixed levadopa with carbidopa you could stop it being metabolised in the body and deliver it efficiently to the brain, and revolutionised Parkinson therapy.
At least try Sinemet
I'm taking one tablespoon of non concentrated powder 3 times a day in green tea but am experiencing slight dyskinesia sometimes so I adjust the next dose accordingly. Strangely my response to it varies and I often wonder if my body's production of dopamine varies on a daily basis depending upon how I'm feeling.
and the timing of stomach emptying.......and yes your dopamine use coincides with muscular and cognitive/visual use.........the more you use smooth muscle the more dopamine recquired
I experienced the same problem when I took NutiVita brand of Mucuna extract. I combined 1/8 tsp of the powder with green tea extract(EGCG) to help cross blood brain barrier and a pinch of ginger for nausea. I found it to be very strong. When it worked, I felt really good and the dose would last 4-6 hours but more often than not, I reached the tipping point of levadopa overdose. Dilated pupils, fast heart rate, tightness in my chest.
I switched over to NOW brand Dopa Mucuna which contains Mucuna in its more natural state. I take 2 capsules with 1/4 tablet of 25/100 Sinemet and that has been working fine for me. If I take Sinemet only, I experience dyskinesia; with Mucuna/Sinemet combination I seldom have problems with dyskinesia.
I also take high dose thiamine and have had extremely good results. Please check out my website that provides dosage info, useful links and more. b14pd.com
High dose thiamine is suppose to help with Hashimotos.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/243...
That’s so great to hear. I put a call into my doctor for Sinemet.
My husband started sinemet in December 2020. It has been amazing for him. He was completely dependent on me for everything except for walking. He is back to himself. He still does the mucuna and B1. I hope the sinemet works for you.
I have also been using the Nutra Vita and yes it’s strong but it does work. I’m going to try the green tea/ginger combo.
Wow I had no idea that HT could help with hashimotos. I’m definitely trying that and I’m checking out your site.
How much do you weigh? I think body weight is a factor in dosage.
I wondered about that! 145 lbs, and I workout daily, I’m a a very fit 145 
At this time hwp takes 1 tsp. in his smoothie and hasn't had any difficulties.
I agree with the others! Concentrated versions are not the same... you can get raw mucuna powder that will be easier on your body, plus have a whole lot of other health benefits, including neuroprotective qualities. (I believe in this form, only 5-7% of the powder is levodopa)... my dad felt nausea when he first started on mucuna, but now its his saviour, and works better for him than his sinemet. He is still on sinemet but on so much less than before he started on mucuna. There is a lot about mucuna on this site! Good luck!
What brand does your father use?
We purchase our raw mucuna powder from an herb store here in Toronto... I'm not sure where you are located, but I had to ask around, looking at different health food stores and shops that sell supplements to find it.
Here is where we get ours:
alpineherb.ca/products/mucu...
My dad has had PD for almost 14 years now, so the amount of meds he needs is a lot...
Other mucuna extracts he uses are Dopaboost, DopaMax and Barlowe's... all are easily accessible in the US.
Here is a summary of our mucuna journey. Perhaps you might find it helpful:
healthunlocked.com/parkinso...
It takes a lot of experimenting, but I know that there are clinics in the US that help with this stuff! Best of luck 🌸
I thought this would be an interesting comment to put on this thread. When I talked to my nurse practitioner today and my neurologist they said they had never had a client use Mucuna - and I had to laugh because they have both been in this business for 20+ years and I thought no one has ever come in here using this product before? They both said no and I said that’s kind of odd because there are so many people around the world that do use it for this purpose. It made me chuckle. At one point in the conversation with the nurse practitioner she actually referred to it as Hakuna Matata LOL
Mucuna my natural protocol
Sleeping too much
Too much Sinemet
