NOW Supplements, DOPA Mucuna, Standardized Mucuna Extract with Naturally Occurring 15% L-Dopa, 90 Veg Capsules

TLDR: To treat symptoms of low dopamine levels, here's what's working for me:500-700mg Glutamine (amino acid, a major brain neurotransmitter) 1-3 times per day before food.1/32 teaspoon of this mucuna pruriens (~7 mg L-dopa) every 1-2 days, watching effects.600 mg of acetyl l-carnitine before breakfastOther vitamins and minerals, especially BsUpdate 3/23/23--I am feeling mentally and physically alert, a huge improvement. (see caution below)Last summer I was prescribed the smallest possible dose of a dopamine-boosting CNS med, 5mg. After decades of untreated symptoms, I felt calm relief for the first time in my long life. Then in December, the HMO denied me further prescriptions and treated me like an addict for having asked for more. They also tried to force an antidepressant on me that would affect the absolutely wrong mechanism and worsen anxiety and sleeplessness without compensating for the low dopamine. Their timing was especially cruel. My heart goes out to all Americans who experience this medical bullying.I did not want to bother with this department further. Instead, I revisited my nutritional supplements (which I keep on an excel spreadsheet, and periodically adjust).I also suspected the CNS drug was causing symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, specifically numbness in toes, feet and lower legs. A neurologist found some long nerves to be unresponsive. (Update: Probably due to potassium deficiency, from drinking reverse osmosis water for 1.5 years, which strips out *all* useful minerals. I started taking 99mg/day potassium chloride--NuSalt--and drank filtered tap water again. Feeling slowly restored in feet and toes. Neuropathy runs in family but I feel much better.)My first choice for treating my scrambled low-dopamine brain was to take the amino acid glutamine. Gives me an immediate mental boost and durable energy, and is curbing cravings, especially for sugar. Glutamine is likely not toxic until you take massive quantities (at my weight, that would be 38 grams per day instead of 2 grams max). (google side effects of amino acid supplements)I also took one 400 mg cap of this this mucuna pruriens in the morning. Like other reviewers here, after an initial boost, in just a few days I had fatigue, blurry vision and brain fog.Stopped it for a week. Brain fog cleared. Took one pill per week, same thing. Read the label more closely. The dosage of this capsule is just too dang high.So I emptied some capsules and measured. Each capsule = ~1/4 teaspoon product = 60mg L-dopa. L-dopa does cross the blood-brain barrier and it's the precursor for dopamine. I don't know how that compares with the 5mg of my CNS drug but it was waaaay too much for me.Stopped taking altogether and was dragging and unfocused within a week. I reduced dosage further.Now I am taking about 1/32 tsp of this powdered product in my coffee before breakfast, every day. Am feeling energetic and calm throughout the day. Not speeded or anxious. The idea is to microdose--hopefully kickstart your own dopamine production, rather than replace it chemically.Plus, about 600 mg of acetyl l-carnitine in my prebreakfast cocktail, which I have noticed gives me energy and focus.We will see. I'll be watching this mucuna very closely as I don't want to develop a habituation as some have reported.3/23/23--Because I'm now feeling good, I will next stop for a couple of days to see the impact.4/25--Have not taken any more mucuna. I think it did help me for that time. But other medical issues took precedence including thyroid. Things get more complicated at 60+. And, um, reducing wine consumption to 1 bottle red per month definitely helped my alertness.Good luck to all.

Dopa Macuna is a bean. It can be cooked and eaten or used raw as a supplement. It contains L-Dopa which is where a majority of its benefits come from. There are other compounds like seratonin and even nicotine in very small amounts. I seeked it out after trying Vyvanse. It's for ADD. It produces excess dopamine which is good but bad as well. It's addictive and unnatural. I won't go into it but drugs are drugs and they have side effects. They also miss the mark most often. Anyway amphetamines are good and bad but again I digress. The point is that Dopa Mucuna is amazing. If you take other meds that suppress dopamine then you either don't need it or you do and you need to drop those meds because I tried it and it didn't work when I was on another psych med. If you are taking this as some sort of pre-workout or some other nonsense then this is not for you. If you have normal amount of dopamine this is not for you. If you are bipolar this might be for you. If you have restless leg syndrome this might be for you. If you have Parkinson's this is for you. This product is for anybody who suffers from low dopamine. There are clearly two types of depressions people suffer from. One is deficiency of serotonin. One is a deficiency of serotonin. The first thing a doctor will say is it's low serotonin but maybe not. Not for me. My depression is a low energy, low ambition and drive type of depression. I'm bi-polar and I'm not sure why but we are low in dopamine a lot. Since taking this product I'm more ambitious and happy and energetic. I'm also more confident and have more stamina. I attribute this stuff to its ability to increase human growth hormone and testosterone. It increases seminal mobility and a bunch of other stuff I'm certain I read that. Men: this product is for you. I've taken this product for about six weeks now. I take two in the morning when I wake up and the effects just continue to last 24 hours a day. There is no amphetamine that will do this for you. I sleep normally on this product. My anxiety is less. If I take one I feel depression within hours. If I take three I start to feel overly aggressive and irritated. The idea of all this is that two seems to be the perfect amount for a 170 pound man. This product has changed my life and I mean that in no small way. I always wake up feeling energetic and I love that. I really believe that my testosterone must be at least a little bit higher. I haven't read up much on human growth hormone but I'm sure the fact that this product increases it will have a positive effect on the body. HGH is the holy grail of youth! This hormone decreases with age. It gives you muscle mass and all around stamina. Don't be fooled by poor reviews if you have read my " is this supplement for me?". Most bad reviews are people who took it either improperly, for the wrong reason, or didn't have a dopamine deficiency. Other than the above this might just change your life!