I will add my two cents in color. I have some misgivings about this author and what seems to me an unwarranted certainty of his own hypotheses and a tendency toward blame the victim.

Symptoms of Parkinson's are aggravated by an imbalance
of over 39 different neurotransmitters. When you take
Mucuna (or any dopamine supplement for that matter)
you are making a decision to focus on only a tiny fraction
of the problem.

Mucuna is far more than a dopamine supplement. In addition to a very impressive chemical profile, it has effects similar to adaptogenics. I suspect it also affects receptors.

The body is making fine adjustments to the production
and distribution of hormones continuously, second by
second, minute by minute. Consider the maze of
complicated adjustments your body makes to produce
and distribute the other 38 neurotransmitters when you take
any dopamine lookalike.

Ingesting a single synthetic hormone once a day creates an instant
imbalance. The body is challenged with the task of re-balancing
all the other 38 hormones that must be continuously manufactured
and distributed to the tissues. The "adjustment" that comes from
taking a dopamine supplement is crude.

Mucuna is taken once or twice a day. The body produces and
distributes hormones continuously each and every second of the day.
Do the math. The difference is mind-boggling.
If the choice is between the body and Mucuna I am betting on the
body any day of the week.

Hormones? While it is true that hormones can function as neurotransmitters, it is not true that neurotransmitters are hormones. This kind of error is sort of major, don't you think?

A second challenge you will encounter if you decide to
take Mucuna - and keep in mind this may be a good
choice for you - is that you are giving your body the
signal it does not need to produce dopamine
on its own. Think like your body and you will understand
the long term consequences of what happens when
you take a dopamine producing supplement like Mucuna.

Here is the decision sequence: Your body is busy
with the work of adjusting and balancing hormones
which, after all, is one of its important jobs. Mucuna mysteriously
appears in the digestive system.There is suddenly and
unexpectedly an external intrusion into the body. The
body begins to ponder:

"Who is in charge here?"

A critical function of the body is suddenly and unexpectedly
being handled by someone else. The mind then says to itself:

"If someone else is doing my job, why should I bother?"
Isn't this just what you do when someone else begins doing
a job you thought was your responsibility?

A reason that cells in the substantia nigra die is because
dopamine is being supplied by an external source. Cells
that produce dopamine are no longer needed. You either
use it or lose it. In this case you lose it. The body eventually
surrenders responsibility for producing dopamine.

This is ... well, I will be charitable and say misleading. Dopamine levels are down before the first symptoms appear.

John Coleman ND points out that most of the Macuna bean
that is packaged and sold in the marketplace is not actually
"natural." It is processed. The Mucuna pill capsules
are manufactured and refined, purified and converted to
powder.
That sentence makes no sense.
John Coleman has also observed in his clinic that
Macuna can induce the "same adverse effects as synthetic
levodopa if consumed in large quantities over a long period.
Coleman has a different recommendation for his clients.
He suggests you hydrate your body by taking a
natural homeopathic remedy. The body has an easier
time producing and balancing hormones when the cells
are adequately hydrated.
I wish it were that easy. And again the hormone mistake.

Mucuna may provide welcome relief in the short term.
But if it is used as a lifetime remedy your body's
incredibly intricate system for monitoring
hormones will be short circuited. Sensitivity of
the monitoring system is degraded and the system
itself is eventually disabled.

Your body gradually gives up its charge at birth to maintain
health and wellness. You eventually begin to feel lousy.
Your health deteriorates.

Why not give your body a chance to do its work whenever
possible? Wait. Be patient. Acknowledge to yourself
that you will not necessarily feel good every day. Accept
the reality that some days you will likely feel lousy. Helping
the body re-remember how to balance hormones is not an
easy task but the rewards are worth it.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery

This fellow shows some pretty basic misunderstanding of his subject. I have visited his site and get an uneasy feeling that he is trying to cover too much. I am not dismissing alternative treatments - lord knows my Reiki Master wife would leave me - but I get a feeling that he doesn't appreciate what I am up against.

Thanks Rick, I was hoping someone would have something to say about this article. Your points are very well taken and informative for anyone considering trying MP or already taking it. The pd community get different theories from all sorts of sources daily. I weed through them trying to learn what makes sense and what applies to me. You are one lucky dude to have a wife who is a Reiki Master.

Bonnie

Really for the best, most scientifically convincing, and most complete info I have read on the subject of Mucuna Pruriens, I go back to Dr. Olanow's patent application.

The last two days my calves have swelled to twice their normal size making them really taunt. My feet and toes are swollen and almost purple they are so red. Today I felt itchy all over. I jumped in the bath and had a foot massage which helped.

I have been taking MP for over a month; would I suddenly get these type of side effects?

I received the results back from the MRI. I have anterior and posterior impingement of the cord and moderate spinal stenosis of the lower neck.

In my lumbar I have moderate advanced disc and posterior facet degenerative change. There is contiguity of degenerative change in relation to descending nerve roots with multilevel spinal stenosis.

Could this cause swelling and being itchy?

For 5 years I have been telling my neurologist and MD that I was getting excruciating pain in my legs and I would have to sit or crouch down to alleviate the pain. Repeatedly I was told that I was under-medicated and to up the meds. The more meds I took the worse I got.

I am down to 4 100/25 CR Sinemet daily and taking 1 tsp of MP each time I take the Sinemet. The MP replaces the other 100/25 CR and RR 100/25 Sinemet/L-dopa I use to take. I cut out my last dose completely and take two Dopavite, one when I go to bed at night and the other one if I wake up during the night. I have never felt better.

I walk every day although my legs and buttocks go numb to various degrees. I also hang upside down on my Inversion table three times a day. I am recovering but I have to sort out these new symptoms and my spinal problems.

Does any of this ring a bell with anyone else? I am being referred to a neuro-surgeon for a consult. Hopefully surgery is not necessary.

I saw a geriatric psychiatrist who sees many patients who have pd. In his report he is also questioning my diagnosis and wonders if it is emotional driven. He has referred me to a neuro-psychiatrist.

Maybe I am a wing-nut with back problems, time will tell. Maybe when I got diagnosed with pd it threw me out of kilter in more ways than one.

Thanks Fiona, I will check out that website.

The calf muscles rings BIG bells in my head. When I was diagnosed with PD shortly after I started noticing stiffness in my calves (calfs???) ..whatever.

I started taking a calcium supplement, because milk causes me tooo much trouble. Within a day or two the stiffness was gone, and oh yes, I also get muscle spasms (charlie horse....no reflection on any Charlies in the forum).

But here's the strange part. When I started to take the MP I started noticing
the stiffness in my calves. I was running short on Calcium supplement, so I ate everything I could find with calcium in it. The stiffness was quite pronounced.
After I dicovered the other little "side effect" on my personality, I stopped taking it for a few days, and the stiffness went away. I haven't noticed it with the powder. It's looking more and more like the tincture is the most potent form, but the side effects catch up with all forms eventually.

Greetings:

How did you determine how much Mucuna to take and how often?

I have been taking macuna for 6 months in conjunction with amino acids, check out ** Anyway the aphrodisiac properties may be over stated,