My friend has been off of sinemet completely now for about 3 months...didn't die as she was told she would, she is still just using fava tops tincture and fava sprout balls for l-dopa replacement, chocolate and fermented papaya. She is in about the same shape as she was months ago, but says her mind is more clear and she has no pain. We need to get her some of Ricks aminos now to rebuild what she has lost. She was diagnosed over 20 years ago and can still do the "VINE" line dance step with me. THERE IS HOPE

Dear Trixiedee

You should o to med inm. In fact you should had done it long time ago.
You need to function for having a normal life. Ir quite as good as it gets. Please go inm to visit a neuro and get back ob track and commence ti enjoy life again.

Only be careful not to have too many proteins during the daytime as they compite with the levodopa.

Selegilin helps me a lot to eliminate headache and to have an excellent mood.

Diskinesias, there always be, but the benefits are unmeasurable compare to them.

I sent that message over two years ago. Have been on Sinemet and Azilect for 2 years and am doing well on them... Wouldn't touch agonists though!

Trixiedee

What are Rick's aminos?

Trixiedee

Just kidding.

The freference is to my current experimentation with compounds that purportedly raise the efficiency of the mitochondria and thereby relieve symptoms. They include acetyl-l-carnitine; creatine monohydrate; n-acetyl-cysteine; and quercetin. The first two (or three?) are amino acids, thus....

Hello Trixiedee,
I have been diagnosed for six years now and can relate to your despair in not really knowing whether to commence allopathic medication or some alternative treatments. May I say that it appears from what you have written that you may have swamped yourself with nutrients and the like, but without any structure as to introducing them so that you can discern whether or not they are doing you some good individually or otherwise. You also say that you eat a healthy diet. How do you know that it is healthy for you? I have studied and tried several diets over the years and know that whatever way you go, there is always some diet guru who will disparage the type of diet you are on. For me personally, I have tried a low carbohydrate diet for several years and fairly stringently, but have recently discovered that my insomnia may be due to eating too much protein and not enough carbohydrate. I believe that I have a serotonin deficiency and within several days of adding other foods into my diet I am beginning to feel perceptibly improving.
I must say that I like Reveretts suggestion to you which is to try Sinemet. I have been taking it two years now and found it fairly reliable in dampening my tremor and improving my walking, But, I also know that you have to be careful not to take protein foods and Sinemet too close together. That is my experience.
Norton1.

Hi Norton, I posted this over 2 years ago, have been taking sinemet for 2 years. I take Azilect too which allowed me to halve my sinemet dose. It did, as predicted, give me my life back. The fatigue is back though which is my biggest problem. I think my adrenals are worn out. Nice to meet a fellow Brit with such a good attitude!

Trixiedee

Hello Trixiedee,
I am always pleased to hear when taking a medication(s) has worked for someone such as Sinemet and Azilect has with you. Sorry to read that you are suffering from fatigue though. Like many other PwP I am coming round to the belief that Parkinson's has, amongst other things, imbalances/deficiencies in neurotransmitters other than dopamine. Whilst I do not know the part played by neurotransmitters in fatigue I read in one of your earlier posts you believed you were experiencing a shortage of serotonin. I believe that I too, have a deficiency in this neurotransmitter and looking back to my own situation, from my reading, I now consider that a serotonin shortage preceded the showing of the tremor I have. So, to this end I have dropped the low carbohydrate diet I have been on for several years and am now eating significantly more carbohydrates. I take care not to mix them with proteins as I understand that by doing so it blocks the amino acid tryptophan from doing its job which is a precursor to serotonin. I now ensure that my last meal of the day is carbohydrate. Whilst I am only in the early stages of this change in my diet and have a long way to go, I am starting to feel an improvement.
Norton1.