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Jen I started Azilect in July '08 after being diagnosed in Feb. '08. I now take 1.0 mg daily (a.m.). [I first tried Mirapex but it made me sleepy so I only take that at night, to control my legs while sleeping.] I think the idea was to delay going on Sinemet, which seems to have a finite time span of effectiveness. Azilect was helpful but not significantly so Sinemet 25/100 was added in December '08 and I've been taking all three drugs ever since. In my experience (I'm now 75), the Sinemet has helped the most. However, I recently went off Azilect for a month in contemplation of several possible operations under general anesthetic for prostate cancer, then resumed the Azilect after the operations. I could definitely tell that the Azilect helped as I missed it. My neurologist also believes Azilect may be the first drug to slow development of the disease. He says there is a Spanish study suggesting that. It is extremely difficult to measure, however, since you would need to figure out a way to distinguish between a slowing of the disease and mere masking of symptoms. Also, any valid study would have to cover a long period of time. That said, my neurologist thinks it is worth taking. As to the conflicts, I find them manageable so far--but I clearly have to do the managing. I carry a copy of the drug package insert with me at all times. When I have dental work, for example, I show the dentist the warnings. At Sloan Kettering, where my prostate is being treated, I have had to insist on a review by a doctor of the conflict issue. In one case they changed the local anesthetic involved in a biopsy, and in another case (where general anesthetic was used) I went off Azilect for 14 days before the procedure as a precaution. My neurologist says the listed food conflicts are there because the drug has not been properly tested against those foods. He believes risks there are marginal, but of course he doesn't know and advises caution. I have had no trouble so far with moderate intake of draft beer and red wine. I'm a retired lawyer so I have no medical "thoughts or opinions", I'm afraid. I do like my neurologist a lot, however, and believe he knows what he is doing. Hope this helps. Alf -----Original Message----- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jennifer Gaudio Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 7:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Azilect question Good morning everyone, My neurologist is strongly encouraging that I switch to Azilect as it has some record of slowing the progression of PD. (I'm 38 and recently diagnosed with YOPD) I'm a little freaked by all the contraindications and side effects and am having difficulty finding unbiased consistent information on the drug. Has anyone out there taken Azilect? Does it indeed slow the progression? Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks,Jen _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469230/direct/01/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn