Mucuna pruriens

[mellivora]

Has anyone here tried Mucuna pruriens? Its actually been suggested to me to try by a doctor, all be it speculatively.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucuna_pruriens
Doc says it can boost dopamine (contains l-dopa) and testosterone to some extent. I've done a fair bit of reading about it now.

I haven't yet tried any dopamine/ testosterone supplementation and I plan on trialling this, starting with a low dose and slowly increasing. I am one of those for whom niacin hasn't worked when I've tried it...

Please let me know if you've had any experiences with Mucuna pruriens. Thanks..

[demografx]

Hi, Mel!

I found some mucuna pruriens posts at our old alma matter:
http://tinyurl.com/mw7v3xy

Demo

[demografx]

Also, this was posted by Vincent M:

"Mucuna Pruriens: 350mg. Improves energy and cognition slightly and improved my eye burning moderately. Noticed stronger heart beats after about a week daily and taking that into account it's possible that the beneficial effects for me are from improved blood circulation. This increased heartbeat lasts for roughly another week and is annoying because when I lay down I can feel my heart beating in my chest without putting my hand to the area. Due to this I now think that tyrosine might be a better option to increase dopamine levels."

[mellivora]

Thanks Demo! I can never remember how to do the search thing on the NS website - it never works well if you use the site itself. I think you have a way of doing it via google...could you remind me please? Sorry if it seems like I'm being lazy, I'm sure you've posted it on the NS site many times before. Then again...I'd have to do a search for it to find it!

I'll see how it goes with Mucuna, some arrived today...

[demografx]

SEARCH THE NSF FORUM ARCHIVES WITH GOOGLE

We have an overwhelming amount of NSF data: more than 5 years' worth of posts (over  15,000 posts!) from 200+ Forum members, and an additional 200 POIS sufferers found elsewhere on the Internet by Member B_Jim.

In the Google search box, type
whatever-it-is-you're-interested-in-finding-out[space]POIS[space]site:http://thenakedscientists.com/

for example, I tried
nocturnal emission POIS site:http://thenakedscientists.com/

and 740 results came up for "nocturnal emission" within the Forum.

be careful with spaces (you can use them before the word "site") and no-spaces (everything after the word "site")

Google even provides you results with the Message# for each result. But Message #'s do change, so be patient and look for the approximate Message#.

[mellivora]

Thanks!

[Vincent M]

Thanks demo for posting that for me while I was away.

The problem with mucuna pruriens  is that, while it does contain levodopa and levodopa does cross the blood brain barrier and convert to dopamine, too much of it is converted to dopamine before it reaches the brain. This excess of dopamine in the peripheral nervous system isn't good and doesn't provide the same benefit that dopamine has in the brain. I think I remember reading something about how high peripheral dopamine is harmful to the heart, but I'm not sure. If I took it again I'd take only 350mg daily for three days and monitor my heart for the following week before taking any more just to make sure. I've never had any problems with my heart before so it made me sort of concerned.