NOW Foods Dopa Mucuna Mood Support 15% L-Dopa, 400mg, 90 Vcaps

Most helpful customer reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
L-Dopa and Gaba works for me!
By Marie Rossi
I tried these because I suffer from mild depression and I rather not share this info with a doctor and then have them tell me just how crazy I really am (just joking, I hope!) The effects, for me, were not immediate but I'd say by the end of the second week I could feel the cloud over my head beginning to disappear. I usually have trouble staying motivated when it comes to completing small tasks, simple as cleaning my apartment or taking out the garbage. I also have trouble sleeping through the night which probably doesn't help either. I began taking GABA, 100 Grams (3.53 Oz) GABA Bulk Powder Gamma Aminobutyric Acid around the same time as the L-Dopa (the GABA kicks in right away). It's been about three weeks since I've taken both consistently and I can honestly say I am feeling much better, thinking more clearly too. There's no such thing as a magic pill and neither of these are that but if you suffer from anxiety or depression, I recommend trying these supplements. They work pretty good.

32 of 39 people found the following review helpful.
It can have a dramatic effect on you, but a word of caution...
By Nick R.
!NOTE!: I strongly encourage people to read this ENTIRE REVIEW

Firstly, let me start off by saying that this product will probably effect people in different ways. Its not really just this product, but any mucuna pruriens or L-dops related product... From everything I've read about it, it effects neuro-transmitters in your brain and can alter your "brain chemistry" to some degree.

Now, I put the disclaimer at the beginning because from my experience it seems like this supplement can have a sort of PERMANENT EFFECT. I believe the likelihood of these changes may even increase with each bottle you go through. Now, while I'm not a neurologist, I do have my own personal experiences to back this up... I will now explain how this product had a dramatic effect on me.

I've always been a rather hyperactive person... I've also always been very edgy and easily agitated. I used to be very predisposed to blow up on people for nothing, and have a relatively pessimistic view of the world. I can say with a degree of certainty that this is genetic and common on my father's side of the family. I initially bought this supplement (about 8 years ago) to advance my workout regimen, as it was rumoured to help build muscle mass. I saw NO body building effects whatsoever, but the results were very interesting after only a few days into my first bottle.

The first thing I noticed was that my dreams became very vivid and I was remembering them for the first time in years. It helped spur many lucid dreams (where you realize you are dreaming while in the dream), and it was a very wild experience. My sleep was much more sound, and when I would wake up I'd feel a LOT more rested. I've always had sleep issues, so this was a very big deal to me.

Due to this, after the first bottle was finished, I bought a second one. It was about this time I started to notice effects on my attitude. I was much calmer (not hyper-active), nicer ... even a little happier. I wasn't edgy at all. My wife (or girlfriend at the time) noticed and appreciated the difference. She called them my "happy pills". Now, I don't think I had a problem with depression - I was quite happy with my life... but I was very easily angered by others, and the change in this regard was very dramatic.

After the second bottle, the effects of better sleep regressed, and I think I started to build an immunity to it. I stopped using the product at that time (for the record, if you wait like two months, you can take the product again and experience the sleep aid benefits). Strangely though, the effects on my attitude stayed for a few months before I returned to normal... In fact, I'd say that the attitude never went completely back to the way I was before.

In the following years I would buy the product again, but I reigned back on repeated use after I noticed a steady trend in personality traits that persisted after several uses. For instance, I very rarely get angry at all nowadays. I'd almost consider myself as normal as everyone else (not quite, but pretty close compared to how I was). Now this could be in part due to the fact that I am just getting older, but the change in attitude was so directly linked to my usage of this product that I cannot dismiss its role. After each subsequent bottle, it seemed it took longer and longer for me to return to the way I was before I used it.

If the product just made me a nicer person, I might not care... but it had some other weird effects that made me cautious. Little things, like being very willing to play the lottery. As an engineer, I know the odds of winning are atrocious and I never used to play it (pure math and logic). Yet, when I was on this stuff, the concept of me hitting the jackpot didn't seem that unlikely. Sometimes it almost felt like this next time I played would be the time I'd win. I'm guessing that is how gambling addicts feel. It feels sort of good to have that uplifting and "anything can happen" sentiment... but the weird thing is, that after a while, this feeling didn't quite go away. I still play every now and then. Again, its a minor little change, but the fact that it has become semi-permanent was enough to make me think twice about continual dosages.

So, I would caution people from continually taking this product. Monitor your behavior, and make sure it doesn't have any strange or undesired psychological effects. If it does, I would discontinue use. IMO, the changes have a chance of becoming permanent. To some people this may be a good thing. For myself, I think it put me more towards the societal norm, but I'm a bit wary of blowing way passed the center and into the other extreme.

Also, I did forget to mention that when taking this product I notice a substantial decrease in my restless leg syndrome. I don't feel the intense need to rock my legs. It also helps me sit down for prolonged periods, when I'd normally be very resistant to sitting in one spot (I'd have to get up, walk around, etc). The restless leg benefits are definitely not permanent, however I have noticed that I am a bit more tolerant to sitting in the same spot for long periods of time... but I'm not certain that this long term improvement is only from this product/

I hope this helps everyone.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
It does work
By Mister Pickles
I was taking 4 capsules a day (the dose is 2 capsules). Which is 240mg of l-dopa in the morning and night. I had to stop because I began to feel abnormally good...like almost 'manic'. I began to think I was about to win the lottery and other such improbable things...I got very 'excited' all the time and was in a very positive mood (again a bit delusional though). Which you would think would be nice but it is fake and unfortunately unrealistic. I stopped taking them and I am back to being 'logical' and realistic again. I knew I was getting a little overly 'excited' when it was happening but something kept super charging me. Excess dopamine can cause such issues. Maybe taking just 2 spread out over the day will be best! :)

I was to add...you have to let it build up. You can't just take 2 pills and expect anything to change. Optimally you want to take l-dopa twice a day, on an empty stomach (or at least without a lot of fat and protein). It took about 2 weeks for me to notice any difference.