I bought this supplement maybe two years ago shortly after I made note of Rick's blend of herbals and supplements. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I decided on a whim to try one in the middle of a levodopa dosage, this was 500 mg. I noticed upon my next dose of levodopa that I had little wearing off and much to my surprise and delight, I might add, I was dyskinetic. Luckily I only get the choreonic too much dopamine wriggles in my legs, so it's bearable.

Things only improved the rest of the day. I was able to cut my Sinemet tabs in half the remainder of the day, and I felt fantastic. No freezing in between med dosages; absolutely no dystonia; no stress; and best of all...no anxiety attacks with noodle legs. No hypomania; more attentive to others and more alert. Fast, cluttered speech gone - my mom noted that right away. I felt off symptoms but barely and in a very muted way.

I felt better than I did pre-PD which rather freaked me out, so I got to researching and was surprised to find that could have real clinical benefit for newly diagnosed with no side effect profile as with agonists. It also seems to have more clinical benefit. I am only going to mention that it seems morally questionable for someone with power to change this to do nothing...moving right along.

Much to my chagrin I noted that it was contraindicated if taking levodopa. How can this be the case if it allows me to essentially cut the l-dopa dosage to nearly half? Interestingly, no one wants to share why. I found one site that stated it could interfere with levodopa absorption but so does waking up in the morning and eating. I am guessing it must compete with passage through blood brain barrier with ldopa. Solution to that is to stagger doses.

What bothers me is when I see to avoid a certain drug interaction but the "why" part is missing. How could an amino acid used in process of making dopamine be bad for us (unless taking too much of both).

Tried it again today but didn't have as striking a response but still much more fluid feel to medicine dosing, marked reduction in freezing, and I have to note an ability to express myself emotionally in which I actually felt connected to anger I have been trying to express for...oh say, a life time. Actually feel alive again - haven't felt like that since my son's birth.

I will say that it keeps me awake.

I want to continue this and see if I can't optimize my meds somehow. Has anyone else dared the verboten sinemet and tyrosine combo? Has anyone read that it is harmful to take both?

Thanks!

Laura

Furthermore...

it helps regulate thyroid (believe I have been subclinical hypothyroid for quite some time)

and helps stress plus mood swings brought on by it

I feel it amounts to one word: homeostasis

This is a blurb from Thorne Research (they make a pharma grade supplement)


Tyrosine is an amino acid precursor for synthesis of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine.* By improving the rate of neurotransmitter synthesis, tyrosine stimulates the central nervous system.* It appears to function as an adaptogen by relieving physical symptoms of stress, such as mood swings.* Chronically stressed individuals may not efficiently convert phenylalanine to tyrosine, making supplementation with tyrosine desirable.*

Tyrosine also serves as a precursor for the thyroid hormone thyroxine and melanin, the pigment responsible for skin and hair color and protection against harmful ultraviolet rays.* In addition, tyrosine stimulates growth hormone and is involved in adrenal and pituitary function.* Tyrosine is also a powerful antioxidant, scavenging and neutralizing free radicals and inhibiting fat oxidation.*

So much to add my two cents to this morning! I will try to split it up but that may be difficult.

Tyrosine is in need of some serious research and ould be a good White Rat project. Vitamin B6 would be another. Both these are "rate limiters" on the production of dopamine. How many more are there? If even one is in short supply, then we have a problem. Some of you chemists should compile a list that we could use for reference.

Laura, you said:
"Tried it again today but didn't have as striking a response but still much more fluid feel to medicine dosing, marked reduction in freezing, and I have to note an ability to express myself emotionally in which I actually felt connected to anger I have been trying to express for...oh say, a life time. Actually feel alive again - haven't felt like that since my son's birth."

The expression of anger is something that I have been delving into lately. More precisely, "the fear of anger" is a thread through my childhood that I have been tracing and it seems to have been helping symptoms for a week now. Most of us dread confrontation and are wiped out by it. Is this not virtually the same thing? Is there not a vital clue here staring us in the face?

When I was a child facing my drunken father, a number of things were happening at the same time. There was fear for myself and my mother and brother. Fear for the family unit. Fear of what the neighbors might think. etc.

This was all marinated in a wave of adrenaline. Now, after 20 years of the formative stages of my life, how am I going to react when I encounter adrenaline from a less threatening source?

The hormone has ceased to be just a response and has become a stimulus in its own right.

I have evolved a slap-dash way of dealing with the problem. I manage my environment to minimize disruption. I avoid risk-taking behaviors. I get the job done. I can be counted on. I maintain a hypervigilant state.

In short, I display a "Parkinson's personality".

As someone who is fading fast, quite literally (vitiligo) was very interested in tyrosine as precursor also to melanin. Could there be something in this? Paula has this in her family,too. With tyrosine would the melanin return, would it return to Pd brains? Wildly speculating....

It is day four since I started treatment with l-tyrosine. I am happy to report that all benefits previously noted still apply. Oh, I have a recruit who is noting a remarkable come back; he will be posting his report in the next few days. We both have had close relatives notice and comment on improvements!

Other notes
For me, at least now, it is a matter of recalibrating med dosages and timing. Other things that I have made note of since my first report:

My speech is now near normal with much fewer periods of rapid, cluttered nonsense. My mother still can't stop smiling at this!

As for, interactions with other drugs...
It will keep you wide awake! If you are taking an agonist keep in mind that this will only add to your sleeplessness at night.

I had high hoped to report something dramatic but can say that the addition of the tyrosine has significantly reduced off time and on time meds are more stable and fluid...resulting in a big time boost in quality of life.

As for what happens with impulsive behavior effects and longer term use this (do we develop tolerance here too?)...stay tuned!

Right now it is looking like there might be others who may want to try...check with a doctor or nurse first. Then report back here, please.

Rick, I want to address the learned hypervigilance but am too tired...

Laura
Laura

Hi Laura,

That is an exciting development! Are you still taking 500mg of l-tyrosine or are you adjusting that dosage too? How many times per day? Are you always taking it while on Sinemet?

My mother started taking 500mg of l-tyrosine a couple of weeks ago ... she takes it first thing in the morning before eating for best absorption. I don't think it's making a huge difference, but possibly a minor difference (I'll report back later on this). She only takes one 100/25 sinemet tablet, but much later in the day ... not near the time she takes the l-tyrosine. I'm curious if you feel an effect from l-tyrosine during any "off" times?

Also, you probably know that l-tyrosine is the main ingredient in Dopavite (which has been discussed on this forum before) ... it also has other co-factors as shown below ...

Totals are for total daily recommended dosage (divided into 4 pills taken throughout the day)
L-Tyrosine 2000mg
Nicotinamide (vitamin B3) 20mg
Vitamin B6 2mg
Folic acid 400ug
Iron 20mg
Zinc 20mg

what exactly are you taking?
lots of l-tyrosine in eggs, meat, chicken

http://www.livestrong.com/article/25...oost-tyrosine/

I found thisi note at the rxlist.com website:

Are there any interactions with medications?


Levodopa
Interaction Rating: Moderate Be cautious with this combination.
Talk with your health provider.
Tyrosine might decrease how much levodopa the body absorbs. By decreasing how much levodopa the body absorbs, tyrosine might decrease the effectiveness of levodopa. Do not take tyrosine and levodopa at the same time.

This one needs to be moved up again. --

J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2007 May; 32(3): 224.
PMCID: PMC1863555
L-Tyrosine to alleviate the effects of stress?
Simon N. Young

Stress is an inescapable part of human existence and in extreme forms can cause or exacerbate psychiatric disorders, including depression, schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder. Many people feel that their level of stress is above the optimal level, and this probably accounts for the large number of herbal and “natural” compounds sold over the counter in supermarkets and drug stores and sold on the web to help counteract the effects of stress. For many of these compounds, there is little or no evidence of efficacy. However, for one, L-tyrosine, the claims cannot be dismissed summarily. Any patient with even modest Web-searching skills can discover that the ability of L-tyrosine (often referred to on the Web as simply tyrosine) to alleviate the effects of stress is the subject of several publications in respectable journals over the past decade. Most of these articles originated from research units attached to the US military; other publications originated from universities and the Dutch military.

L-Tyrosine is the precursor of the catecholamines; alterations in the availability of L-tyrosine to the brain can influence the synthesis of both dopamine and norepinephrine in experimental animals and probably in humans. In animals, stress increases the release of catecholamines, which can result in the depletion of their levels, an effect that can be corrected by giving L-tyrosine. L-Tyrosine does not seem to enhance the release of catecholamines when neurons are firing at their basal rates, but it does when firing rates are increased by stress. This is the basis for studying the effect of L-tyrosine on the stress response of humans.

The main effects of L-tyrosine that have been reported are acute effects in preventing a decline in cognitive function in response to physical stress. The physical stressors include those of interest to the military, such as cold stress, the combination of cold stress and high-altitude stress (i.e., mild hypoxia), extended wakefulness and lower body negative pressure stress (designed to simulate some of the effects of space flight). Doses of L-tyrosine in these studies ranged up to 20 g, many times the normal daily dietary intake. In one study, L-tyrosine was given at a dosage of 2 g per day for 5 days during a demanding military combat training course; it improved various aspects of cognitive function relative to placebo.

Some of the papers have titles that include the words “dietary tyrosine,” even though L-tyrosine is given without the amino acids that accompany it when it is ingested as part of protein. The use of L-tyrosine in purified form ensures that it is metabolized less via protein synthesis and more by catecholamine synthesis. Given that purified L-tyrosine is handled metabolically in a somewhat different way from ingesting it as part of the diet, calling it a dietary or natural remedy is misleading. Effectively, it is being used as a drug. Safety data on long-term L-tyrosine use in healthy people is lacking. In one of the longest studies, 2.5 g L-tyrosine 3 times daily had no beneficial or adverse effects when given to people with mild essential hypertension for 2 weeks. The measures in this study were limited to heart rate and blood pressure.

Hey great diseased minds think alike, ha! After absorbing all the reading of med lit on role of norepinephrine in PD, it is time I try the tyrosine again.

Interesting to note the high doses in "normal" brains. Ran across a blog entry relating a brother's sustained improvement (2.5 years) of 2 grams a day of TH.
Not exactly scientific but leaves me hopeful.

And this new find is super interesting...


Since tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of DA, TH may play an important role in the disease process of PD. DA regulated by TH activity is thought to interact with α-synuclein protein, which results in intracellular aggregates called Lewy bodies and causes apoptotic cell death during the aging process. Human TH has several isoforms produced by alternative mRNA splicing, which may affect activation by phosphorylation of serine residues in the N-terminus of TH. The activity and protein level of TH are decreased to cause DA deficiency in the striatum in PD.
cause DA deficiency in the striatum in PD. However, the homo-specific activity (activity/enzyme protein) of TH is increased. This increase in TH homo-specific activity suggests activation by increased phosphorylation at the N-terminus of the TH protein for a compensatory increase in DA synthesis. We recently found that phosphorylation of the N-terminal portion of TH triggers proteasomal degradation of the enzyme to increase TH turnover. We propose a hypothesis that this compensatory activation of TH by phosphorylation in the remaining DA neurons may contribute to a further decrease in TH protein and activity in DA neurons in PD, causing a vicious circle of decreasing TH activity, protein level and DA contents. Furthermore, increased TH homo-specific activity leading to an increase in DA may cause toxic reactive oxygen species in the neurons to promote neurodegeneration.


Do we help or harm with TH supplementation in light of this?

Laura