He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s about 7 years ago.
His symptoms are ‘relatively mild’. He has a subtle constant tremor in his hands (he seems unaware of this). Under any stress or worry, his tremors become visible and he is aware.
He takes Levadopa daily, and a slow release nightly dose. He says if he didn’t take the medication he wouldn’t be able to walk and finds himself ‘winding down’ as each dose ‘wears off’.
He does Tai Chi 3 times a week and has recently started acupuncture. Since the acupuncture i have noticed he appears to be less stiff and standing more upright which is great to see.
Last year I met a lovely couple, one of them has Parkinson’s and had been on Levadopa for around 10 years and was doing okay, then suddenly he became very sick, bed bound, and struggled to string a sentance together. His partner took him to a naturopath/herbal doctor who explained that it was likely a result of the medication he was on that had caused this. Now, since working with this herbalist doctor he his able to walk with a frame, and getting better with his communication. However, this is in Thailand, and the herbalist grows all his own Thai herbs and compounds them there.
I have since been looking a lot more into PD and the medication that is prescribed and I worry for my Dad and don’t want him to get sick from the medication. Unfortunately, as he is given the medication from an NHS doctor (and it’s free) he doesn’t see the problem with it, as it his helping him today. My dad lives in the UK, and I am desperate to find some alternatives for him to at least try.
Finding this page has been great, reading people’s experiences is really encouraging as I realise there are others out there who aren’t just taking what the doctor says and are taking things into their own hands… which can be daunting and exhausting, but also empowering and rewarding.
Apologies for the long post. I would be grateful for any advice or insight to what others are doing/have tried. I also appreciate that no two people are the same and some things work better for others.
With much love and gratitude.
Written by
Sonnydayz
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Mild symptoms 7 years in says he's already doing pretty well for himself. Definitely continue with the Tai Chi.
There are non-prescription disease modifying treatments that many have found helpful. These do not provide instant symptom relief like levodopa but over time may reduce his need for medication. Implement supplement related interventions one at a time and see how one works before proceeding with the next:
• Exercise - universally recommended. The best exercise is whatever he likes to do.
• High-dose thiamine. Dosing instructions and other information at the links. Allow four months for full effect:
I am sorry I don't have time for a long reply, but check your library for "Shaky Past" (my story of recovery from stage 4 PD) and "Rethinking Parkinson's Disease" - describes the causes and how to reverse them. Also on Amazon
Levodopa is the gold standard in helping with Parkinson’s symptoms, I would advise if your father isn’t already to see a movement disorder specialist, probably is they may be a wait for the appointment, also who diagnosed your father?
Herbal medicines as far as I am aware have not there are not any clinical trials, also as some have benefits some may have irreversible problems.
Tai Chi is excellent, recent trial has shown to slow symptoms down.
I teach boxing to fellow Parkies, its clinically been proven if heart rate is raised to 80/85% MHR (max heart rate) symptoms slow down, do make sure you check with you fathers Dr first to make sure this is okay. The 80/85% sounds like a lot but easily achievable if correct exercises are done.
Do PM me if you require any further advise that I may be able to offer.
Yes Tai Chi does seem to be benefitting him greatly with his coordination etc. He also describes it as a moving meditation as you must be completely in the moment to flow through the movements and your mind can’t be anywhere else.
Interesting to hear about the importance of getting your heart rate up, as I feel that he is reluctant to do anything particularly strenuous as he claims this uses too much of his energy.
Mucuna Pruriens with Green Tea Extract is used by some in lieu of C/Ldopa. TCM Patent Formula 天麻钩藤玩 （Tian Ma Gou Teng Wan) - essentially Cat's Claw (drweil.com/vitamins-supplem... - helps by eliminating, uniquely, alpha-synuclein aggregates in the brain. Daphne Bryant from the B1 Thiamine FB group (b1parkinsons.org) relates how in her view B1 prevents L/dopa side-effects. Plus, there's rethinkingparkinsons.com. Best wishes and thanks for posting, helped me recalibrate.
Hi. You can look until the cows come home. You will never find a cure for PD.!
In my opinion, and it is only MY OPINION, there will never be a cure for PD because it is a CAS H COW for the MEDICAL WORLD!
PD brings in an enormous fortune for the medical world, because it does not kill us! We remain taking medication until we die.
However, there is another non-medical way to reverse PD. I was diagnosed in 1992. In 1994 I stopped taking the useless medication and started to do FAST WALKING, every second day for a maximum of ONE HOUR. iI am now 89 years old and still walking!
If you do that for the rest of your life, you will remain in good health! BUT! If you do not walk as fast as you possibly can, then you will get no benefit, so stop walking.
At the beginning, after warming up for a couple of minutes then walk as FAST AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN! You may only be able to walk fast for a few minutes to begin with, but you will soon get better and better and better and BETTER!
By 1997 I was free of my PD movement symptoms and have remained free ever since. I am now 89 years old and have had PD for 31 years, but you would never know it!
Many of my other symptoms are still present but nobody died of insomnia, depression, constipation or any other PD symptom.
I totally agree and this all the more reason to find ‘alternative’ treatments.
Wow that’s really inspiring to read your story.
My dad does seem to struggle with walking though, especially if there is a slight sloping incline.
However, understanding that fast walking is what’s important here, maybe it engages different parts of the brain as you’re pushing yourself to walk ‘as fast as you can’, rather than just regular walking which is more ‘auto pilot’. I could be totally wrong here but it makes sense that the ‘as fast as you can’ is important.
Thank you so much for sharing your story… I will share this with my dad and hopefully inspire him to at least give it a go.
A golden rule with PD. Continue with what works. If you stop your father's current medication now, you may be taking away good years from him. Although you often get the impression on this website that more is better, that is certainly not always the case for that wonderful C/L medication. Everything in moderation and only if necessary. The danger lies especially in the next phase of the disease. If problems arise with certain symptoms, many neurologists have a kind of Pavlov reaction to automatically increase the medication. Stay alert to that, are those ailments really not treatable in another way? Is your medication working efficiently? Are there no underlying problems, such as vitamin/mineral deficiency, constipation, lack of sleep, poor gut flora, lack of exercise, stress, etc. To have a guideline in this difficult puzzle, I recommend to you and your father the well-written and useful book by the Spanish neurologist Rafael Maldonado:
Ecological therapy for Parkinson’s disease: Medication, late and little.
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Doubling the amount of levadopa??
My neurologist has taken me off Madopar after being on it for 7 months because it contains Levadopa. What can I have instead? 
What does carbadopa/levadopa help the patient w/Parkinson's?
side effects????
