As a follow-up to my previous post about weaning off medication, I would like to thank my friend Jeff for bringing to my attention, compounding!
Compounding is the process of customizing medications based on each person’s individual needs. Compounding is how medications used to be created before big pharma got involved and began mass-production.
In this case, compounding is deemed to be a better approach to weaning off PD medications than simply reducing the number of pills we take, as it is less likely to cause side-effects or adverse reactions.
According to Robert Rodgers, author of, The Road to Recovery from Parkinson’s Disease, we would be well advised to wean off medication under the direction of a compounding pharmacist because they have more experience than doctors. They are trained in this sort of thing, whereas doctors are not. They also have more knowledge of each medication.
For more information, please check out the comment Jeff left in the “Comments” section of my post on “my experience with medication” or check out Robert Rodgers response to an inquiry about coming off Sinemet.
FredPhillips 
Fred have you seen information from http://www.walshresearch.org ?
He’s got good hard science from 30,000 patients about the relationship between nutrition and mental illness.
But he’s mostly talking about dopamine, seratonin, norepinephrine and their relationship to B vitamins, zinc, copper, heavy metal exposure, toxic load, etc.
His name is William Walsh, PhD and there is an excellent video webinar that explains his life’s work and the treatments.
I think, because the deeper conversation is about neurotransmitters, and what goes wrong and how to make it go right with nutrients, that it is a conversation Parkinson’s folks should consider. Take a look. I’ll send you a link to the webinar too if you like.
Thank you for this Steve! Hippocrates said, all illness begins in the gut.
Here is the link to the webinar on nutrient therapies from William Walsh, PhD
http://www.ibpf.org/advanced-nutrient-therapies-bipolar-disorders-dr-william-walsh
Thank you Steve 🙂
It would be very enlightening to talk to Bianca Molle and others who have already gotten off the meds to learn from their experience of this process. Maybe you could do that and then write about the interviews in your blog.
Check this out Jeff 🙂
Cool post about Bianca, Fred . . . but I was suggesting you talk with her specifically about the process she went through to wean herself off the meds, So we can all learn more about how we might go about doing it,
I am more than happy to do that Jeff! 🙂
Hi Fred and Jeff, I talked to Bianca specifically about that about a year ago. She said she realized that she was missing doses and noticed no change and then was able to stop with no withdrawal, no negative effects, not having to do a full wean. After having that conversation and talking to my naturopath Dr. Mischley I decided that I could not wean and expect my dopamine to kick back in. My dopamine had to kick in first in order to stop. Dr. Laurie said the folks who weaned successfully waited until they had signs of dyskinesis and overdose and only then successfully reduced or stopped.
Thanks, Lena! This is good to know . . . both how Bianca got herself off the meds and Dr. Laurie’s observation about how others have done so. I’ll likely venture down that path at some point when it feels right.
I’ve been thinking about you and your April 11 surgery date in Switzerland, assuming I correctly remember the date. I’m still envisioning you as being symptom-free after the procedure. I with you all the best on the journey!
I agree Lena! I think it is necessary to stimulate natural production of dopamine and serotonin before weaning off Sinemet or Madopar. I am using a combination of CBD oil, meditation and Qigong along with the rest of my regimen to accomplish this. I’m happy to say that I just weaned off of Zoloft [sertraline] with no major issues. It took 10 days! I had been on it for three months!
Congratulations, Fred, on weaning off Zoloft!
Thank you Jeff! It went very well and I am extremely pleased!
That’s great Fred! I’m on a super small dose of Mirtazapine which I plan to wean after my surgery – one change at a time :-)Yes Jeff – actually April 10th or evening of April 9th US time. We leave in less than two days! Thank you! It takes six months for the brain to realign after surgery and the one person I talked to, who is now asymptomatic, took the full six months to reach that. However there should be immediate improvement.
I’m really excited for you Lena! I wish you well and I look forward to hearing from you when you return!