I, myself, have been off both ginseng and gingko for four weeks now while I become aquainted with mucuna. It will be interesting to integrate that all back together in a couple more weeks.

Just going to paste this in from a post I just made in the mucuna thread. Just to keep the data.

Our systems are like a kid's spinning top. Young and healthy systems spin rapidly and smoothly. As we age the top slows down and begins to wobble. A gust of wind doesn't affect the fast spinner but it makes the slower one begin to wobble. It's as though our systems are like that. "Fragile" is a description more than one of us has used here. That is one reason I am drawn to purported adaptogens. They are the only thing that holds out the hope of being able to adjust such a complex system. I suspect mucuna of having some of those properties and, of course,inseng is a classic one.

Heck, checked my blood pressure just now. 122/75 I have not had any BP medication for about six months now. I had been taking it for 15 years or more. Whenever I would quit it within two days my BP would be up to 180 over 115. Now BP is controlled by a part of your nervous system that is affected by PD. Was it the ginseng? Or the mucuna? Both?

If it was the ginseng ( I have been laying off it for a month or more testing the mucuna) then that is evidence of something permanent having happened. The GI and bladder systems are still much improved as well. And my sleep pattern is much more normalized than a year ago.

bump bump bump

Last summer when I was in Wisconsin I found a wonderful and very cheap source of ginseng. I use it (just a pinch of the powder- maybe a 1/8 t.) in my green tea in the morning with some local honey.
The growers are Schumacher at www.schumacherginseng.com. I bought 8 oz of powered root for $25. and that should last me my entire lifetime. They will sell roots or capsules, etc.
Their website says that their family operation has been growing ginseng for 40 years.
I am not affiliated with them in any way.

Reverett123
You are taking meds in addition to ginseng, mucuna, etc. Out of curiosity what is your daily regimen looks like.

Drevy-
I try to keep my signature line data (below) more or less up to date although at times of upheaval (like now) I can fall behind. I have chosen to rely on sinemet monotherapy after going through the other options. I feel that we know more about it than the newer choices. Since I do tend to experiment, the question of side effects and interactions is important to me as well. In theory I take two 200 mg controlled release tablets every three hours starting about 6:00 AM and ending at 9:00 PM for a total of 2400 mg although I am constantly looking to reduce that. That is a lot, I know, but I have been at this for 20 years now. -Rick

How do you take the meds with the supplements . I mean you take so many pills, how do you keep order. I'm sorry for being so nosy, I'm a rookie. I just did what the doctors said, no questions. Now I know better because of the 2 PD forum I search everyday for alternative treatments and therapies.
Right now my meds just went off all of a sudden, and I'm at the mall. When I go on the off mode my right gets so rigid and stiff that I have to almost fall forward to get it to move and sometimes I do fall forward. Let see what I can do.

Drevy-
I live in three hour increments starting with 6:00 AM. That is about the time that I get up. If I find myself getting up earlier than, say, 4:00 AM then I shift the start of my day to a real time 3:00. If on the other hand I sleep in then I bend space and time to get lined up on either 6 AM or 9 AM and so my day begins. I am kind of like Dr. Who. A veritable Time Lord.

It is hard at first. Once you start your clock for the day, the next step is to put some meds to work. It takes Sinemet one hour to get me started to roll. If I feel that first wiggle of my CNS at 30 min then it is a good start. An avg is one hour and a slow start is 90 min or more. I don't take anything else until I have a clear launch with the sinemet. Otherwise it is easy to screw up the whole day. But once I am rolling, stand back!

I take a minimum number of pills at this point. One that is always on the first round of the day, however, is ginger. The main reason is that Chinese researchers have found that it speeds up the gastric action. This is very important because your meds are designed to work once they are past the stomach. If they are delayed by this they cannot do you any good. Worse, there is purportedly an enzyme in the stomach that will etch away at the sinemet and deactivate it. So, the solution to that problem is very important. In addition to ginseng, rhubarb makes similar claims. Diabetics have similar problems.

So, off to a good start, everything else happens at three hour intervals.

Thank Yoda, for my first Jeti lesson in the force. (PD style)