Please spell it out for me.

[ladyaudree]

I am new here and I am interested in cutting down my doses of prescribed C/L and trying mucuna but I can not understand how to translate the amounts. I currently take 2 tablets of generic for Sinemet 25mg carbidopa 100mg levodopa 4 times per day at about 6 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and midnight or when I wake during the night. I am also doing the HCL thiamine and after much experimentation settled on 1 500mg capsule in the a.m. My main symptoms are tremoring at times, lack of balance, and strength, and stiffness. Also if you can please talk dietary restrictions with taking mucuna. I am mostly on a plant based diet and do not eat for at least 30 minutes after taking my c/l. If possible I would like to take the mucuna in a tablet or capsule form rather than having to mix it. Thanks for any advice you can pass my way.

[MBAnderson]

Audree,

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer here and to make it even harder, there's a lot of different opinions, but here's mine.

My best advice would be to put MP in the search window and spend a couple hours of reading. There's probably 100 threads on it here.

For example, some people think pure levodopa extracted from a MP plant is better than levodopa as a pharmaceutical, which it is not. They are either molecularly identical or it's not levodopa and if they are identical, one is not better than the other.

Therefore, the trick in understanding MP is that it is not the levodopa that makes it act faster, last longer, and with lower frequency of dyskinesia, it's all the rest of the plant that accounts for that.

MP comes in many different formulations, i.e., 15%, 40%, 45%, 90%, 99% -- whatever. Those claims of percent are supposed to represent the amount of levodopa, meaning if you had a 500 mg capsule, claim to be 15%, 75 mg of it would be levodopa. (Unprocessed, the actual amount of levodopa in the plant is, I believe, 4% or less.) All those claims may be true (and I don't know that they are) you have the 2 other variables of 1) I think there's about 15 different strains grown around the world each with a different potency, and, 2) manufacturing processes. The same brand may source their product from different places from one batch to the next.

Some people believe, and I'm 1 of those, the best and only way to determine the correct dose if you're mixing Sinemet and MP is how you feel. Even if you're taking just MP by itself, there is still the other 2 variables mentioned above.

There probably are some brands that are more consistent and trustworthy then others. Other people on this forum may be able to steer you in that direction.

Good luck.

Marc

[MBAnderson in reply to MBAnderson]

PS. I don't believe the diet restrictions would be any different than they are for Sinemet, i.e. protein and B6 are considerations.

[danfitz]

I agree with Marc’s reply. The only thing to add is that if you don’t read anything about using green tea extract or ECGC, search for them. It is needed to get the l-dopa in the mp past the blood brain barrier.

[condor39]

Why are you interested in reducing the dose of your C/L?

[ladyaudree in reply to condor39]

See some of the comments below.

[condor39 in reply to ladyaudree]

It is all a matter of L Dopa, whether you take it in an accurately measured about or in another form where it can only be estimated.

John Pepper is right about taking it away from ingesting protein, but most agree that 30 minutes before a meal is OK

[trishtheteacher]

Audree,

I have found that Zandopa is the most effective brand of mucuna pruriens. In the US, it's available on Amazon.

[JohnPepper]

I am not a doctor but a patient like yourself.

You speak about waiting 30 minutes after taking medication. Are you aware that if you have any protein in your gut at the same time as levodopa then they combine and the levodopa does not get to the brain. So you are throwing good money away. You should wait at least an hour after taking levodopa medication before eating any protein. Google "Food containing Protein" to see what foods contain protein, you will be surprised.

Wait at least 90 minutes If you have eaten any protein before taking levodopa.

You already sound as if you are taking too much levodopa. Are you aware that no Pd medication, except Selegiline and Azilect have any affect on the progression of your Pd? That means it is only masking one or two of your symptoms and does nothing for your Pd.

There is only one thing you can do to reverse your Pd symptoms and that is Exercise. The best exercise for that is FAST WALKING. Visit my website - reverseparkinsons.net and contact me. Perhaps I can help you do something to help yourself, at no CHARGE!

[tarz]

My own experience is, if I eat any meal within at least 3 hours BEFORE taking any meds, it interferes with the effectiveness of the medication. I think I read that perhaps it must be due to the fact that the food in the stomach must be digested before the meds can be moved from the stomach to the small intestines, where the l-dopa can be absorbed by the specific amino acid receptors. I don't know whether my digestive system is slower than average, or perhaps my meals are bigger than average.