"The good news is that the researchers have already found a molecule, alpha-fluoromethyltyrosine (AFMT), that can stop E. faecalis from breaking down L-dopa without destroying the bacterium itself, by targeting a non-essential enzyme"
The reason I suspect this is I recall you are using a proton pump medication. I am wondering if the acid reduction caused by this medication is preventing the destruction of possible bacteria, such as E. faecalis and Eggerthella lenta.
Myself, I have very limited benefits from levodopa and important side effects (dystonia and generalized relentlessness) which disappear when I am off Levodopa. A while back, my limited benefits dropped suddently, especially exercise capacity. I also take a proton pump medication
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Questions :
Does anyone else using a PPI have Levodopa limited effect?
Does anyone know if alpha-fluoromethyltyrosine (AFMT) or a substitute, can be purchased by the general public?
Thank you
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Parkie-
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Good levels of stomach acidity are needed to promote good digestion as well as to destroy harmful bacteria; since LD needs to be digested, lowering stomach acidity will slow down its effect. Conversely increasing stomach acidity, e.g. by drinking orange juice or taking vit C, will speed up digestion of LD and is recommended if meds are not taking good effect.
My wife (who doesn't have PD) had been taking a PPI to counteract acid reflux. I showed her information on how those meds can lead to serious side effects and are almost always useless for preventing reflux. In fact, by lowering stomach acid they may often cause it because the food that needs to be broken down has to sit in the stomach longer than it should. She's done better without it.
I think it is common for doctors to prescribe a PPI when a patient complains of gastro issues such as GERD, but sometimes the problem is actually hypochlorhydria or low stomach acid in which case more acid may be needed for proper bacterial control and proper food digestion in the form of Betaine HCL with pepsin.
There are some people who feel that increasing hydrochloric acid in the stomach by supplementing with Betaine HCL + Pepsin is a better alternative than PPI's which come with the potential for significant side effects.
In the past when I have had long lasting heartburn and indigestion with bloating, I was able to reverse those problems using a Betaine HCL w/pepsin over a short period of time by following a supplement pattern with Betaine that I read about. The idea of the short course of betaine was that it could help retrain your body to produce enough hydrochloric acid on its own so that the betaine is eventually no longer needed and that is how it worked for me,
Here is an excerpt from a post where I describe what I did in order to alleviate my heartburn, indigestion and bloating :
Briefly, it entails taking increasing amounts of hydrochloric acid (Betaine HCL with Pepsin) "with each meal" until heartburn or heat discomfort is first felt and then you use baking soda water to neutralize the excess acid. At your next meal, you take one capsule less of the hydrochloric acid and this is your dose until the heartburn or heat discomfort returns and once it returns you neutralize the excess acid with baking soda water again. At your next meal, you once again take one less HCL capsule and this is your new dose. Repeat the process until no more Betaine HCL capsules are needed. I do not understand the science, but proponents of this method claim that this is one way to help retrain your body to produce enough hydrochloric acid for proper digestion, ameliorate GERD and also help repair the valve that is often leaking from too little acid production of which I do not remember the name right now. When I did this experiment, it worked just as outlined above and I was able to stop the Betaine HCL supplementing fairly quickly. These Betaine HCL capsules are available in varying doses and I chose to use a low dose capsule. It takes a little longer with the low dose capsules, but I felt it would offer me a bit more versatility in finding a more precise way of adjusting the Betaine HCL dose.
Oddly this is the opposite of what doctor's often do with their prescriptions of proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec that I believe actually reduce acid production
and can cause other health problems.
If heartburn develops at the first dose, then low acid is probably not the issue and it should be neutralized immediately with baking soda water and the test discontinued. One thing that I noticed is that meals with high red meat content were digested much easier once I had gotten to no more Betaine HCL capsules needed or during the test period itself while supplementing with the Betaine HCL.
Check with Dr. Mischley to be sure first and then proceed under her guidance or your regular doctor's guidance. You should also be able to find more exact directions on the web, I'm just giving a general outline of what I did for myself to do this test. I have repeated this process a couple of times when I felt I may be having heartburn issues and it worked about the same way each time. The effect is lasting,
Well, at least it is for me and others I have read about. The capsules I used were inexpensive and only had 325 mg of Betaine HCL with Pepsin 1:3000 at 82 mg.
Notice that the capsules at the link below have 650 mg of Betaine HCL or double what I used per capsule :
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