Any one still takes this stuff or zadopa? In the old forum, some who took this stuff reported great experience after taking this stuff and curious to know if it can be a complete replacement of sinemet. Does it bring long term benefits (say neuron protective effect) or it bring the same evil (say dyskinesa) as sinemet? appreciate your sharing.

LING

Ron Hutton and I both tried it in various forms a couple of years ago. My own experience was positive and I plan to get back to it. In fact, just yesterday I bought one of those little trays for filling capsules with mucuna in mind...

I tried it as raw powder, a standardized form called "Dopabean" by Solaray, and a strong concentrate by Herbalife. They all worked much like Sinemet. You had to do a little trial and error to get the dosage right, however.

I will probably reintroduce it in a few weeks. The reason I quit the powder was that it is an incredible staining agent. Black as can be and it does not come off. That's why I got the capsules. I can fill them outdoors.

Mucuna is a far more complex substance than levadopa. One thing that particularly interests me is that I was using dosages roughly equivalent to the Sinemet and getting similar results. But mucuna has no carbidopa to shield it from your body's enzymes. According to conventional wisdom, almost none should get to the brain. Yet it does.

Rick, where did you get this, please? I want to take my Zandopa and hate drinking it.

Rick, researchers surmise that mucuna contains a chemical that works like carbidopa. It's more effective that the same amount of L-Dopa via Sinemet.

This looks like a good deal:

http://www.athletes.com/store/now/cap.html

http://www.athletes.com/store/now/singlecaps.html

I got mine at a local health food store for twelve bucks. Haven't tried it yet but looks very simple. Brand is "Cap M Quick"

Have you tried the Zandopa yet?

Dear reverett123 & ZucchiniFlower,

Thanks for sharing! I have bought a couple bottles of Zandopa from India but is puzzled how to formulate the right dosage which can equate it with my current regime of sinemet. Any bright idea?

Besides, is there adverse effect/ side effect from taking Zandopa? say accelerating the deterioration of the disease...

LING

... good study done on extracts from mucuna species. It's a bit long, but for the chemically inclined good reading. Basically ,it refutes the presence of a peripheral decarboxylase inhibitor found in raw or boiled beans, so it cautions to go easy. Some samples contained little L-Dopa, others, up to 10%. Interestingly, in the raw bean (where the dopa content is greatest; cooking destroys it), tryptamine alkaloids were found in trace amounts (5-methoxy-NN, Dimethyltryptamine, also 5-hydroxy-tryptamine. These trippy halucinogens are not present in enough quantity to be biologically significant. It also states that if you have good stuff, it takes awhile to get used to the large amounts of L-Dopa that you will be taking without an inhibitor. So mucuna pruriens is stated to be of use for PWP in countries that are developing and sinemet is not usually available, but if I were to give my final analysis, I'd say stick to Sinemet (or Madopar).cs
http://www.cidicco.hn/newcidiccoengl...d%20Tebbet.pdf

Just received my Mucuna order from Banyan. My new neurologist wants to put me on Sinemet but I had a violent reaction to it before (could barely get out of bed for 3 days on one 25/100). Nevertheless, every doctor I saw afterward Rx'd Sinemet and didn't care what my reaction was. I'm terrified of trying it again.

Finally found someone to let me experiment. Nothing else has worked except Amantadine, which helped my balance for a few months but nothing else. That is wearing off. I fell 4x in the past 3 weeks, my body just went down. Had many close calls, too, when I had a little warning and was near something I could grab for support.

Bought Mucuna to try myself before my dr appt on the 20th. If Mucuna is good for me, I'll stick with that.

What dose is usual for the first?

How long does it take to feel effects?

Thank you.

the active ingredient in mucana is the same as in sinemet so i doubt it will be any "easier" on your system. what exactly made you bed ridden, nasuea?
what exactly was the mucana product you purchased?

Thank you for your response.

Inactive ingredients are not always harmless and I'm sensitive to many drugs
(and foods, and vapors from solvents, insecticides, ammonia, etc.).

I felt like my life force was being sucked out and someone had beaten my body with a club.

It may have been the sinemet or a coincidence but it's the last thing I'll try.


Banyan Botanicals "Organic Kapikacchu Seed Pwd (Mucuna pruriens)"

http://www.livestrong.com/article/37...or-parkinsons/
7.5 grams might be a teaspoonful. i've tried a teaspoon of raw mucuna powder with my oatmeal and basically felt a little nasuas and stopped after a few "tests" .
i recently purchased a product on iherb called DOPA MUCUNA, STANDARDIZED VELVET BEAN EXTRACT, 15% L-DOPA. 800MG/CAPSULE. tried 1 capsule on subsequent mornings and felt nothing. i wanted to try it as an adjunct to sinemet, to see if it increased my on time. i might continue testing it, might not since the sinemet is working ok.