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Mucuna v Madopar
Hi everyone
I was reading about people’s experience with Mucuna supplements and, in particular, the “two per day” capsule from British Supplements. I have been using their products (not Mucuna) for quite some time now and I have to say that, for me, they have been terrific overall. However, I haven’t tried their Mucuna because I am worried about the dosage which seems to be about ten times the strength of my Madopar dosage.
I was diagnosed 6 years ago at age 65 at which time I suspected I had PD as it was in my family and I was showing symptoms so I was taking Mucuna supplements effectively (not British Supplements brand) until I was prescribed Madopar 100/25 and 50/12.5 by a Neurologist who had never heard of Mucuna and wasn’t the least bit interested in discussing it with me. Over the years my dosage has increased significantly and I am now taking 9 x 100/25 plus 2 x 50/12.5 per day spread between 7am and 7.30pm but would dearly like to go back to Mucuna as, in my memory, it was better and smoother than Madopar. Here’s my dilemma, it looks to me like British Supplements single capsule of Mecuna delivers nearly 1000mg of Levodopa against Madopar single 100/25 capsule delivering 100mg of L-Dopa! If that were the case, and I replaced my Madopar with Mucuna, I think I would be taking 10 times my current dose which seems impossible. I am struggling to get my head around the maths of this! Could the Mucuna supplement actually be 10 times stronger than the medicine or am I missing something? can anyone help me figure this out please? -
12 Replies
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I am following your questioning, mostly because I have never heard of this. I don’t think it is available in the U.S.
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Hi Karla
which one have you not heard of? Mucuna is derived from an Indian (Asian) herb (?) and, as I understand it, has been used extensively in Indian medicine for hundreds of years.
- Madopar is a form of co-levodopa a pharmaceutical medication similar, I believe, to Sinemet. I am fairly sure that Madopar isn’t used in the USA but I don’t know why not.
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I am on no pharmaceutical meds yet for my PD but I do take NOW brand Dopa Mucuna which contains 800mg of mucuna which contains 120mg of L-dopa per two capsules. My neurologist (who is very open minded) said comparing the herb with Sinemet for instance is tricky because the mucuna is not absorbed as efficiently as the Sinemet due to the carbidopa it (the Sinemet) contains. I too would be interested in the ‘math’ used to compare the two.
My symptoms don’t seem to benefit from that 2 capsule dose except to help with constipation.
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Hi Margaret
you see, that’s exactly what I don’t understand! If your 2 capsules of Mucuna contain 800mg of Mucuna and 120mg of the 800mg total is L-dopa what is the rest (680mg)? On the face of it each of your capsules deliver 60mg of L-dopa but does that equate with 60% of one of the 100mg Madopar capsules prescribed to me? It’s a puzzle I can’t solve!
However, I will say this to you, I really regret stopping the Mucuna in favour of the Madopar but, at the same time, how can we ignore the expertise and advice of our Neurologists? Hopefully, someone on here will be able to shed some light on this issue.
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Hi Robert,
I went to the British Supplement website. I found a product, Mucuna Extract 99% L -Dopa.
A serving has 353.7mg L-Dopa. That would be close to three 100/25 Madopar. You are going to need some of the <b>benserazide to help the L-Dopa to get to the brain. You are currently doing 1000mg L-Dopa/day. Find a ratio that works for you. Keep me posted</b>
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I use mucuna from a company Called CHK NUTRITION . If you email them with your zip codE, City and state they will send you a list of providers in your area because the … I have successfully remained on pharmaceuticals using mucuna.
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I use mucuna from a company Called CHK NUTRITION . If you email them with your zip codE, City and state they will send you a list of providers in your area because the mucuna. I have successfully remained on pharmaceuticals using mucuna. Hi
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Hi Janet,
How much Mucuna do you take?
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I have reduced my Sinemet dose to 1/2 of a 50/100 Sinemet ER tablet every 4 hours by supplementing it with Mucuna Pruriens that I order from Swansons Vitamins here in the U.S. Each capsule is 350 mg of Mucuna purportedly controlled to 15% l-dopa which is 52.5 mg. per capsule. I used to purchase Mucuna from Vitacost here in the U.S., but the Swanson’s brand is less expensive at last check, and seems to be more controlled for consistency of strength.
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Hi Bob
Your finding illustrate my problem! I accept that your findings are a perfectly reasonable assumption but then if you look at Margaret’s coments above then she is taking 800mg of Mucuna from two capsules which produce 120mg of L-Dopa (about 15% of the total) so, if that were correct, the British Supplements Mucuna that I take (two caps a day) are 240mg of Mucuna each which would produce 36mg per capsule of L-Dopa at 15% of the total. This would be, I think, a significant reduction on my daily intake of Madopar if the 100/25mg Madopar is producing 100mg L-Dopa or is it producing 15% of 100gm which would be 15mg of L-Dopa significanty less that the supplement? That’s also dependent on if the Levodopa in Madopar is the same as L-Dopa. It just becomes more confusing!
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Whenever you are working with natural/plant/herbal substances the problem of standardization arises. As an herbalist, I am used to working with that variability but the pharmaceutical world is not. If it were me, I might try introducing the dose of mucuna and see if it allows you to cut back on the Madopar and go from there. It’s my understanding with PD drugs that adjusting dosage is not uncommon.
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Hi Robert,
The amount of L-Dopa in the British Supplements is 353.7mg per serving of 357.5mg of Mucuna. Your Madopar is a drug which has 100mg L-Dopa, it is not an extract. Mucuna will vary in potency. Need to look at how much L-Dopa is provided. An example could be Marijuana. 100grams of marijuana may have 1gm of THC or 15 grams of THC, 1% or 15%. Hope this helps Have a nice day!
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