Hi. I am a new member. (Frankly, I'm not happy about being a member). I've been sitting here next to my husband, who is watching "The Bourne Ultimatum" for the 6th time while I have read every posting of this thread. My brother, who is not a doctor, (but plays one on television) has been trying to persuade me to begin using mucuna pruriens. I liked the concept but my problem has been that I am unclear about 1. where to get it; 2. what brand or formula to get, 3. how much to take with my regular medication, and 4. what are the negative side effects??

After reading all these comments, I now know even less. Maybe someone could give me a SIMPLE answer to the above questions. (You can bill in the morning.) My stats are that I started getting PD symptoms @ 45. I am now 52 (yikes!). I have been on sinemet 25/100 for 1.5 years and I am finding that it is not losing its potency, but rather its longevity. When I first started using it, I took 3 pills/day along with 3 pills /day of Mirapex. The longevity of the medication has decreased so quickly that in order to function "normally" I now have to take 5-6 doses per day and the longevity is still getting shorter.

I would love to take anything to improve my symptoms. As an aside, when I asked my doctor about mucuna, she feigned not knowing what I was talking about. Also that if there was stuff that worked that well, that the main medical community (not pharmaceutical) would jump on it. (She also warned me about getting info from the Internet.) BTW, my doctors are the big cheeses at Columbia Presbyterian NYC (allegedly some of the best around ).

So, any words of wisdom oh great ones? (The movie just ended, I'm off to bed.)

Mira