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On Sat 19 Feb, Dorothy Regnier wrote: > My brother who is 46 has just been diagnosed with PD. He is not yet on any > medication and is wondering if it is best to stay off of medication as long > as possible? > He is interested in the use of alternative medicines - vitamins and other > supplements. > Some of the information we have come across suggests that it is best to stay > off Sinemet as long as possible because of side effects. Any information > will be helpful. > Please reply to > > [log in to unmask] > Thank you very much, Dot > > > Hello Dot, i am sure that you are having a rough time at the moment, and finding it difficult to see any sort of good news, but I am sure that, in a few weeks you will look back and marvel at how much you have learned. I was diagnosed in 1979 at the age of 39 - First symptoms (with hindsight) at age 34, Age now 60. (Now you know about those funny clumps of numbers at the end of people's letters)! Early use of Levodopa or not ? You have identified one of the biggest controversies of the moment. the medical profession are divided, so you cannot trust what your doctor or your neurologist tell you - they could be in the wrong camp. Looking back on 20 years of Levodopa, (and I still take a very fine- tuned 800 mg per day. I Know I did the right thing: I took Artane (Now outmoded) and after 1 year, I was seriously thinking of retiring - my shakiness was quite bad. Then I started on levodopa, and continued in my job for a further 14 years! If you would like to learn more about levodopa, you might like to read an article which I wrote a while ago, and was kindly printed by Simon Cole in his Web-site. You can read it at :- http://james.parkinsons -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]> (60/39/34)