Vitamin C and vitamin E. In one study, high doses of these antioxidant vitamins helped delay the need for medication.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Has been used to treat Parkinson disease, but it is controversial. Vitamin B6 can make some Parkinson disease medications less effective. Naturally-oriented physicians may use vitamin B6, to reduce the side effects of these medications. If your doctor suggests such an approach, the treatment should be done only by prescription and with the knowledge of all prescribing doctors.
(Mucuna pruriens). This herb contains levodopa. In one small study, it worked better than the form of levodopa given as prescription medication. Doses ranged from 22.5 to 67.5 g per day, divided in 2 to 5 doses. More studies are needed. Cowhage can interact with other medications, including those taken for diabetes, antidepressants called MAOIs, and antipsychotics. It can also lower blood pressure. If you take medication for high blood pressure, you run the risk of your blood pressure dropping too low. DO NOT take cowhage without your doctor's supervision, especially if you already take levodopa.
Massage may help increase circulation and decrease muscle spasm. Cranio-sacral therapy, an osteopathic form of body work that focuses on the brain and spinal column, may reduce tremors and improve function.
umm.edu/health/medical/altm...
Beware of taking a huge excess of vitamin B6 in the presence of carbidopa/levodopa, a cautionary tale: I started taking a supplement that had relatively large amounts of complex B vitamins (specifically the one labeled number two below) had 100% (400 mcg) folate, 1667% (100 mcg) vitamin B12 and 5000% (100 mg) of vitamin B6 (based on daily requirement from our diet). Over a period of several days I started feeling stiffer, weaker as if my medicine had stopped treating my Parkinson’s. I especially noticed it one day while playing golf because I had lost significant yardage on my shots, I was breathing heavily, and I was totally out of sync with my golf swing. Just in general, my entire body was not functioning well. Timing wise, I was taking the complex B vitamin pill with my early morning carbidopa/levodopa pill on an empty stomach. Something was suddenly (not subtly) wrong with the way I was feeling, and the only new addition to my treatment strategy was this complex B vitamin pill. There had to be an explanation.
I went home and started thinking like a biochemist, started searching the Internet as an academic scientist, and found the answer in the old archives of the literature. The older literature says taking more than 15 mg of vitamin B6 daily could compromise the effectiveness of carbidopa to protect levodopa from being activated in the tissues. Thus, I may have been compromising at least one or more doses of levodopa daily by taking 100 mg of vitamin B6 daily. Let me further say I found that the half-life of vitamin B6 was 55 hours; furthermore, assuming 3L of plasma to absorb the vitamin B6, and a daily dose of 100 mg I plotted the vitamin B6 levels in my bloodstream.
To take or not to take, complex B vitamin supplementation: I literally have been writing and working on this post since July; it started as a simple story about the use of complex B vitamins to reduce homocysteine levels as a consequence of chronic carbidopa/levodopa use to manage Parkinson’s. If you eat a good healthy diet you’re getting plenty of B vitamins. Do you need mega-doses of complex B vitamins? My cautionary note described taking very large amounts of vitamin B6 may be compromising both carbidopa and/or levodopa. You should talk with your Neurologist because it’s straightforward to measure folate, vitamin B6 and B12, and homocysteine levels to see if they are in the normal range if you are taking carbidopa/levodopa. The hidden subplot behind the story is the growing awareness and importance of managing homocysteine levels and also knowing the levels of folate, B6 and B12 to help maintain your neurological health. Bottom line, if you need it, take a multiple vitamin with only 100 to 200% of your daily need of vitamin B6 (what is shown in panel three and four above). And please be careful if you decide to take a larger dose of vitamin B6 (between 10-100 mg/day).
“A risk-free life is far from being a healthy life. To begin with, the very word “risk” implies worry, and people who worry about every bite of food, sip of water, the air they breathe, the gym sessions they have missed, and the minutiae of vitamin doses are not sending positive signals to their cells. A stressful day sends constant negative messaging to the feedback loop and popping a vitamin pill or choosing whole wheat bread instead of white bread does close to zero to change that.” Deepak Chopra
Question about levodopa/carbidopa
Why B1 needs magnesium and potassium
When does supplementation become toxic or counter-productive?
