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I was diagnosed last week as having a 'mild' case of Parkinson's Disease. I suspected I had the disease for a couple years and finally went to my primary care physician about 6 months ago. He diagnosed me as having familiar tremors and gave me some medication to control the tremors (which had moderate success) and scheduled me for a physical in 6 months. During the physical he changed his diagnosis to probable Parkinson's and referred me to a neurologist. As I said above the neuro said I had a 'mild' case of Parkinson's. He prescribed I start on Carbidopa-Levodopa (a generic Sinemet) to treat the symptoms and Eldepryl to slow progression. I was to start off the Sinemet at 1/2 a 25/250 tablet a day. If necessary to control symptoms I could increase it up to 3 tablets a day. I was also to take one 5-mg tablet of Eldepryl a day. I have my first follow-up on July 28th. I did 1/2 a Sinemet 25/250 tablet a day for a week and noticed some improvement in symptoms; better gait, easier time getting out of a chair, better arm swing, reduced urination, less joint stiffness and less drooling. Some of the improvements were marginal, but they were improvements. I see no improvements in tremors or sleep patterns. Now to my questions. Remember the 'mild'! As soon a got home I went straight to the internet to learn all I could...knowledge is power. From what I can see he prescribed an aggressive treatment, which confuses me. I know each patient is different and there are differing opinions on the early use of Sinemet. I think I have had Parkinson's for at least 3 to 5 years. The first symptom being a radical decline in my golf game. I think the good doctor was trying not to scare me. Am I right in concluding this is an aggressive drug schedule? My conclusions is that only experiencing slight improvements in symptoms, it is not. Yesterday I started on a second 1/2 tablet of 25/250. I take the first between 6-7 A.M. and the second between noon and 1 A.M. Yesterday I noticed my knees seemed a bit stiffer. Today I noticed that my tremors picked-up a bit after taking my early dose of Sinemet (the knees seem ok the morning). I was hoping the Sinemet would reduce tremors for a least a few years...am I wrong? Should I be concerned about the apparent increase in tremors? Base on what I have read, I am very hesitant to take the maximum he prescribed - 3 25/250 tablets a day. I think I would be willing to accept reduced symptoms to get a longer life cycle of Sinemet use. What do you think? I was 58 on Tuesday and I am retired. I am active in a few organizations that involve some stress. I plan on taking a break from those until I have settled on a meds plan. Once I know where I am, I plan on getting reinvolved. Does that sound logical? One more thing, I do like a few beers...especially after a now lousy round of golf. I asked the neuro and he said as long as I don't over do it, he saw no problem. What are your experiences? I am looking forward to reading your responses. Jim Dolan Sayre, PA USA