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Group - I am seeing more and more people talking about Sinemet and their fears about its use. Here's my 2-cents worth. I have had PD for 22 years; diagnosed in 1980 at 32. I'll be 54 next month. And I have been on Sinemet since Day 1. So I guess you could say I've had a lot of experience with this medication. As a general rule I believe it is best to delay use of most medications for PD for as long as "reasonably" possible. A possible exception to this is if the drug industry develops medications that offer a delaying of an increase in symptoms or some other "protective" prescription. There was talk of Eldepryl's abilities in this regard. To the best of my knowledge this is largely unproven. Sinemet is a good drug; probably the best, for that matter. Still, people and many of their neurologists seem to want to use it only as a last resort. As a result many of us go through needless anguish and suffering. This is madness. It's kind of like not using your "good" china. You'll save it for an "important" occasion. Well, guess what? You've wasted too many potentially good moments. And life has passed you by in the meantime. This isn't a good thing! Over the years I've tried them all: Eldepryl (gave me sudden, projectile vomiting - not attractive at a cocktail party), Comtan (dyskinesia from Hell - injured my neck), Parlodel (made me very "bitchy"), etc. But Sinemet, although not as effective as it was 10 years ago, still shines as The Gold Standard. Problems with it? Of course. As PD progresses one of those problems is erratic or unpredictable performance. It goes with the territory. One drug that DOES help - me, at least - is amantadine. This little capsule goes far in controlling dyskinesia. Is it perfect? No, it isn't. But it makes me a Hell of a lot more functional and comfortable. I still drive and repair my sports car, go shopping, travel on air planes, etc. With occasional bouts of dyskinesia? You bet. But they're not nearly as disabling as before. And dyskinesia was 1 of the most serious problems with Sinemet use. For those of you who don't know my story, I underwent a highly experimental surgery in 1996 which involved the implantation of pig cells into my brain. You can read all about it at the URL shown below. <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/jimcfinn/index.html"> http://www.geocities.com/jimcfinn/index.html</A> But the point is that after 22 years of PD and 22 years on Sinemet, the medication is still a useful one. And now, since the operation, I use less of it, too. Take heart. Going on Sinemet is not the end of life as we know it. Until some other kind of therapy comes along it's the best bet. While it is probably best to use the minimum amount of it, do not shun its potential benefits. And use your "good" china, too. Regards - Jim Finn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn