In episode five, I shared my medication journey over the past 15 years, and the response was incredible. But one of the most common questions I got was this, what else do you take alongside your Parkinson's meds supplements? So today I'm going to share the five things that I take with my Parkinson's medication that have actually helped me and stick around to the very end, because I'm going to share the one thing that I regret that I didn't start sooner. And surprisingly, it has nothing to do with supplements. It's, it's been a game changer for me, but just a quick disclaimer. What works for me may not work for you. I'm not a doctor and this is my personal experience, but before you add anything to your routine, always check with your doctor to make sure it's right for you. All I know is that, you know, I've been dealing with this for 15 years and I was on a slow path to this. I got my meds straight and I got everything figured out. So it took me a little while to start adding the things in, but the very first thing I added in was vitamin D3. So it's a brain, brain and bone booster. And it plays a, like it plays a critical role in bone strength and immune functions and brain health. And many people with Parkinson's are low in vitamin D and studies suggest that low vitamin D levels may be linked to higher risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Um, it also helps with bone density, which is really important because as you know, Parkinson's can increase the risk of falls and fractures. So I personally take, um, 25 IED. So I'm going to show you this here. It's a, this is what I'm taking. I don't know if you can see it well. Uh, this is what, uh, this is the one I'm taking right now. So I take one of these a day. Um, one of these a day, uh, and, and really, you should really get your levels checked with your doctor and discuss it first, but this is what I'm done. And what I do is you have to take this with a meal as well. So I take this with my dinner, the biggest meal of the day. Um, and, uh, so far so good. I've really, I really like, um, kind of what it's doing for me. I like the effects of it. Um, again, I'm taking a 2,500. I'll, I'll link the, all of the things I talk about today. I'll put a link in the description below the exact same ones that I'm using. Um, so anyway, it's more of that preventative thing for me with the vitamin D3, um, but I also feel like I don't get that brain fog as much. Like I don't, it kind of, it helps, it helps clear that brain fog for me. So for me, it's been, it's been really, really important. Um, the next thing that I take, um, is vitamin B12. This is an energy, uh, and a brain, a brain fog fighter. So, uh, vitamin B12 is essential, right? For nerve health, brain function, and energy levels. And one of the big problems for people with Parkinson's is some of the medications can actually lower your B12 levels. And when you lower that, you're lower your fatigue, uh, sorry, you can lower your fatigue. When those are lowered, you're more subset, sustainable to fatigue, the brain fog, um, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, which I've dealt with all of those, but especially the numbness. And I noticed a huge improvement in my energy and my mental clarity when I added B12 to the routine. So I take, uh, with these, um, I take, uh, a thousand MCGs of, of this, uh, B12 and I take it daily. Um, and I'll show you the one I'm using right here and I hopefully can see it. Okay. This is one that I've got. There it is. That's what I got. Again, I'll link it in the description. And what I did though, is on this one, um, I'm using the one that is, um, it's, uh, it melts in your mouth, right? It, it just, it's a rapid, rapid release. And I put it under my tongue and it, it's a very first thing in the morning. So I wake up, I take my Parkinson meds and I put one of these under my, under my tongue and you can do that with the, with the ones that are the, the, the fast release ones or the quick dissolving ones, I should say, if you're going to take, um, non quick dissolving ones, you're going to take a pill, then it's recommended to do it like an hour before or after your Parkinson's medication. So, uh, I went with these ones because I have enough trouble remembering how much and when and where, and when to take this and when I ate and all that kind of stuff. So for me, it's really, really simple. I just stick it under my tongue. I take it first thing in the morning. I know it's done. And, and these are not expensive supplements. So, um, this one though, too, again, energy levels, I feel higher, um, my brain fog again with the brain fog and just more clarity to it. So, um, that's been really, really, really, really, really good for me. So, um, I would really recommend that for sure. Um, and then vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, um, and it's for brain protection. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that helps protect brain cells from oxidative stress and inflammation. Oxidative stress is that key factor in Parkinson's disease progression. And some research suggests that antioxidants like vitamin E can help slow that cell damage. And it also supports immune health and skin repair. So it's good for overall wellness. So I'm taking about 400 IE, IE, I never say this right. 400 IUs of vitamin E per day. Um, but with this one, you don't want to overdo it. High doses of vitamin E can increase the risk of bleeding, um, and different things like that. So always check with your doctor before you take it again. I'll put a link in the description below, but that's been, been amazingly helpful to me as well. The fourth thing, the fourth thing that, that, that, um, and I'm going to throw this one in here. Um, and I'm going to kind of throw this at, uh, it's kind of a win and not a win if this makes sense. So the, the fourth supplement that I added to my routine is melatonin. So melatonin is a sleep regulator. And then I'm going to say for some people, so sleep problems, sleep problems are the worst, right? They're the one of the worst symptoms of Parkinson's and since Parkinson's affects natural melatonin production, many people take melatonin to help regulate their sleep cycle. So melatonin is like a hormone. It's a hormone that your body naturally produces and it produces it to signal that it's time to sleep. But with Parkinson's those signals get disrupted. Now, for me personally, melatonin really helped me fall asleep. Like I would literally take it. Uh, I take, you know, one or two pills, uh, melatonin every, every night and it knocked me out. My problem was I, I, um, I felt really, really groggy in the morning. Like I was re it was really, really difficult for me. And mornings are again, mornings are hard enough for me that I didn't need to add in something else that was going to stress me out or make my mornings. Um, harder. So it was making me really groggy. And, you know, that said many people swear by it. And so if you struggle, if you struggle falling asleep or staying asleep, melatonin may be worth trying. Um, and again, for me, it really, really helps. Now I still have melatonin in my house. I still have it here. And if I've gone through three or four days where I'm just can't sleep, I will take it. I mean, I will take it, um, just to get that good night's sleep. Um, so a common starting dose, I started on one milligram of melatonin and I went up to about three. Um, I tried to cut down to two for the grogginess, but again, it didn't seem, it didn't seem to matter if I took one, two or three, maybe just something in my body that it regulated with, but that rice, the right dose depends on, um, how your body responds. So if you want to try melatonin, I've also linked, um, the description, uh, linked the description. I've linked the one that I take in the description below. Just again, I just want you to see a firsthand. The one that I use, one that I could say that I would vouch for. And the one thing that, uh, I just want to make sure you understand where it is. Sometimes it's easier just to, to click and go rather Google, Google, Google. Um, I'll also say with the melatonin, you can take like a gummy bear or you can take the, um, um, a fast release pill. But one thing I found is that it might take a couple of days to kick in and start working. It seems to work best, like it stays in your system. So I would experiment with that one. Um, my doctor actually is the one that recommended that to me and it's just over the counter. So, uh, make sure you, you can try that. If you're trouble sleeping, I promise you take it. It's natural. You don't, it's not like you're taking a sleeping pill just to fall asleep. Um, and now, you know, so those are the, my supplements that I take, right? So, so the vitamin D, the vitamin B 12, the vitamin E. Um, the other thing that I want to share though, is I've got this incredible, um, vitamin E, no, it's not vitamin E. It's a magnesium spray. Now I feel kind of silly sharing this with my wife got this for me. She read about it. She tried, she, she got it for me. And to me, this has been just amazing. So I'm actually going to show you two game changers. I'm going to, I'm going to throw it up here and show you what it looks like. So this is it. It's a magnesium spray. Okay. It's a magnesium spray. And what that does, what I do is every night when I'm going, when I'm just, when I'm going to sleep, I spray the bottom of my feet and I rub my feet together. So I spray this on the bottom of my feet. I rub my feet together and I spray my calves and a little bit of my legs. Um, and understand, okay, this is someone who never took pills that didn't believe in any hokies pokie. I just, you know, I just did my, did my thing. Um, so for me, when she first brought this to me, I'm like, I'm not spraying my feet at night. What in the world is that going to do? Oh my gosh. I'll tell you what it does. It relaxes me. It relaxes my muscles. It's incredible. Absolutely incredible. And I know the nights that I don't do it or I forget to do it. I don't sleep as well. So, um, this comes in a two pack on Amazon. And again, I'll, I'll link that description, but I honestly, if you're again, trouble sleeping, the melatonin works for me, it didn't work. I've switched this magnesium spray and oh my word, I'm telling you, it's amazing. And so that was like my, my first game changer. My second one, again, to me, super surprising, not a supplement, not a vitamin, nothing like that. Um, so it's the one thing I actually regret that I didn't start sooner. And this is what I got. Well, actually I'll tell you what, well, I'll tell you what it is. So anyway, most people, they focus on what to do at night to sleep better. Right. But what, but what if the real answer to that is actually how you wake up? Okay. I started using a light therapy, wake up alarm, and I couldn't believe how much I sleep better at night. The alarm, it mimics the natural sunlight and it helps your body wake up more gently. And by resetting my body clock in the morning, it actually made it easier to fall asleep at night. You know, it's like this, your body has an internal clock, right? A wake up time and go to sleep time and wake up time and go to sleep time. You know, I used to wake up groggy. I was feeling like I barely slept, but now I wake up, I'm more refreshed and my sleep at night is deeper too. So it helps you reset that cycle, that go to sleep, wake up cycle. I'll show you what it looks like. Um, it's pretty cool. It's like a, it's like a little, Oh, geez. Look at that. So if you touch the sides or the top, it comes on. Sorry. It comes out very bright. So I'm going to try, it comes out really bright. So I'm going to show you in the, in the camera, what it looks like. So this is my, my alarm clock. Oh gee, I'm so sorry. This is live to tape. So screw me up here. Okay. I'm going to try to shut it off. I'm going to unplug it. Okay. Because I, because this is really, really cool and it's really neat and it's really important. So this is what it looks like. It sits on, it sits on my side table of my bed. Okay. It's very small and it's an alarm clock. So I set the alarm and what it does is I set it for, you know, whatever time. Let's say I want to wake up at seven 30. So I set it for seven o'clock and it starts to mimic the sun at seven o'clock. It comes on very, very, very dim, very dim. And then slowly for that half an hour, it gets a little brighter and a little brighter and a little brighter and a little brighter by seven 30. It's like the sunlight is just kissing my cheeks. It sounds like a commercial. Um, but I've done that. And again, these are the last two things I'm telling you. I was like, man, I'm not doing that, but believable. It's unbelievable. I promise those, those two things to me are just like game changers. So again, I've linked that exact, um, light that I got. Um, I've got that on Amazon. I've linked it in the description, um, for you as well. So I know firsthand, right? 15 years into this thing, I know how frustrating Parkinson's symptoms can be. And these are just some of the things that have helped me. So if you've tried any of these, or if you take something else, some other supplements that help you drop it in the drop it in the comments below. I'd love to hear about it. I'd love you to share it with the community. And if you found this helpful, hit that like button and subscribe for more Parkinson's tips, because I'm telling you, these things are a game changer. When do you start? You start now, get your meds, get your meds on, right. Get the right time, you know, get the right duration, the right time. Add these in now, the sooner you do this, the sooner you're going to start feeling better. Brain fog be gone, right? Waking up better sleeps. Oh my God, do we need that? You know, I really care for you and I'm so excited that you're part of this community. I thank you for watching this. Um, you know, hit that like button if you like this and share this with somebody else that you know, that might need this. These things will really, really, really help you. And I'll see you on the next video.