Tag: health

Lion’s Mane Mushrooms: The Last Word (?)

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One year ago, I started taking lion’s mane mushrooms in capsule form. This is merely a dietary supplement, so there’s no need for a prescription, and I expected it could take weeks or even months to see any results. Thus, I told you at the time that I would report back with any results after a year. And so, here we are. And I have indeed noticed significant improvements in some areas. These are those:

Better Sleep:

Prior to starting the lion’s mane regimen, I would often wake up multiple times during the night. Sometimes I could get back to sleep, sometimes not. In any case, I almost always got out of bed between 4:00 and 7:00. After about five months on lion’s mane, I began experiencing solid sleep. Once in a while, my dog wakes me up, or I’ll get up to urinate, but I almost always get back to sleep quickly. And I’m sleeping until somewhere between 7:00 and 9:00 (some days, even later).

Awakening Alive:

Before the shrooms, when I got up in the morning, I would take the day’s first dose of Levodopa (Levo) then just crash on the couch for half an hour (which is about how long it takes for the Levo to kick in). Until the Levo took effect, I usually felt incapable of doing ANYthing. Since about five months after starting lion’s mane, I have generally felt capable of doing things the instant I get out of bed. Once in a while, I even forget to take the day’s first dose of Levo!

Off Periods Reduced:

I take Levo every 3 waking hours. Prior to shroomin’ it up, I could always feel when time was approaching for the next dose. About 2.5 hours after taking a dose of Levo, I would start having anxiety, or sometimes depression. Since about five months after starting lion’s mane, the anxiety / depression have been noticeably less prevalent, and the Levo doses don’t tend to start wearing off until just a few minutes before my next dose is due. I’ve even been seriously late (up to nearly two hours late) taking a dose, and STILL didn’t have any anxiety / depression (though I did feel the ol’ physical fatigue on those occasions).

No RLS:

Before lion’s mane, I tended to experience Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) one or two nights per week. (In my case, it manifests in the upper body, so I call it Restless Arm Syndrome.) Over the past month, I have only experienced RLS / RAS once. And that one time may not even have been RAS, as I was laying on the couch in a goofy position. And I’ve also been taking nicotine supplements during that time, so it’s conceivable that nicotine is what fixed the problem.

Reduced Medication:

I might expect improvements such as those described above if I had added a new medication or increased the dosage of one I’m already on. But there have been no such additions / increases. In fact, around the time I started noticing these improvements, I actually decreased one of my meds. I get Pramipexole (Prami) in tiny 0.125 mg pills. I had been taking eleven of these each day for the last few years, but reduced it to nine each day. (Since then, I tried reducing it to eight, but that led to a significant increase in anxiety.)

In conclusion, I highly recommend all you Parkinson’s sufferers out there try taking a lion’s mane mushroom supplement for at least a few months. But make sure you read those labels first to make sure you’re getting the correct part of the mushroom. Y’see, there are two main parts to a mushroom: the fruiting body and the mycelium. According to the articles I read, the helpful stuff is found only in the mycelium. I saw quite a few products on Amazon that only mentioned fruiting bodies. In the end, I settled on a brand that says it contains both parts.

Getting Better? Is This Even Possible?

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It seems like every time I read a news article about Parkinson’s Disease (PD), somewhere in the article they mention there’s no cure for PD. If you ask any neurologist, they’ll say the same. There are treatments that may slow the progression of PD but nothing that will fully halt, much less reverse, the worsening of the disease. But I’m starting to wonder…

A friend recently informed me that a PD sufferer at his church had been taking a product called Restore Gold (TM) and reported that his tremors had stopped about two months after he started taking it. I have not yet researched this product, but a quick web search found some people claiming it had worked well against their PD, and others claiming it was a flat-out scam.

A couple weeks later, another friend sent me this link. This video asserts nicotine (yes, THAT nicotine) is in reality neither addictive nor harmful, and that it is an excellent fighter against PD and many other maladies. To be clear, the video is NOT pro-tobacco. Indeed, it blames the tobacco industry for falsely claiming nicotine is addictive, while they were secretly adding the truly addictive chemicals that are found in cigarettes. Ultimately, the video attempts to steer the user towards the nicotine patch (specifically the Rugby(R) brand of nicotine patch) as a way to reverse PD. I have not yet fully researched the use of nicotine in the fight against PD, but a quick web search found what appear to be several legitimate studies supporting this claim, including this study funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

I am tempted to add both Restore Gold and nicotine patches to my daily medication / supplement regimen. However, adding multiple approaches at once would make it difficult to know which one is doing what, assuming I actually do see some changes. And I am already seeing some changes. Changes that I can only attribute to ‘shrooms. And I don’t mean “Magic Mushrooms”, though there are studies underway trying to determine whether psilocybin has any effect on PD.

No, my friends, I’m typing about “lion’s mane” mushrooms. As you may and/or mayn’t recall, this friendly fungus was featured five months ago. For a few months, I seemed to be getting some positive results, but it was kinda hard to tell. Over the last month, I have definitely seen improvements in the following:

Better Sleep:

Prior to starting the lion’s mane regimen, I would often wake up multiple times during the night. Sometimes I could get back to sleep, sometimes not. In any case, I almost always got out of bed between 4:00 and 7:00. Over the last month, I have been experiencing solid sleep. Once in a while, my dog will wake me up, or I’ll get up to urinate, but I almost always get back to sleep quickly. And I’m sleeping until somewhere between 7:00 and 9:00 (some days, even later).

Awakening Alive:

Before the shrooms, whenever I got up in the morning, I would take my first dose of Levodopa (Levo) then just crash on the couch for half an hour (which is about how long it takes for the Levo to kick in). Until the Levo took effect, I felt incapable of doing ANYthing. Over the last month, I have usually felt capable of doing things the instant I get out of bed. On a couple of occasions, I even forgot to take my first dose of Levo!

Off Periods Improved:

I take Levo every 3 hours (except overnight). Prior to shroomin’ it up, I could always feel when time was approaching for the next dose. About 2.5 hours after taking a dose of Levo, I would start having anxiety, or sometimes depression. Over the last month, I have hardly experienced anxiety or depression at all. I’ve even been seriously late (up to nearly two hours late) taking a dose, and STILL didn’t have any anxiety / depression (though I did feel the ol’ physical fatigue on those occasions).

Reduced Medication:

Now, I would expect improvements such as those described above if I had added a new medication or increased the dosage of one I’m already on. But there have been no such additions / increases. In fact, a little more than a month ago, I actually decreased one of my meds. I get Pramipexole (Prami) in tiny 0.125 mg pills. I had been taking eleven of these each day for the last few years, but reduced it to nine each day. With the encouragement of my medical provider, I reduced it even further last week, to eight each day. So far, that’s working well.

One final note:

The news articles that led me to start taking lion’s mane supplement concluded that 1,000 to 1,500 mg per day was the appropriate dosage. But the brand of supplement I settled on comes in 7,500 mg capsules – and they recommend taking two of these each day. So far, I have only taken one of these each day because for crap’s sake, that’s already 5 times the amount recommended by studies. But I am ever pondering as to whether I should try bumping at up to two-a-days. If I do, I’ll let you know in a new post.