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L.S., Since a fortnight I am a listener of the Parkinson's Disease - Information Exchange Network. My name is Gerard van Rossum, age 50, merried for 23 years with Leny and we have two children, a girl at the age of 21 and a son of 17. August 1993 Parkinson Disease was diagnosed with me, but before this date a long period has passed with a lot of complaints about my health and visiting a lot of Docters. In September 1993 my Docter prescribed me Eldepryl and Symmetrel, but direct after starting use Symmetrel causes problems. Special the temperature of my body. Very cold feeling during day time and very warm (feever?) at night. After three weeks of using Symmetrel it was decided, both by my docter and myself, to stop Symmetrel. Later on my Docter prescribed Eldepryl and Levodopa. Directly after the start using Levodopa my muscels became more stiff, for example footcramps, in comparison with the period before. The time I did not use this medicin (Levodopa). After three or four weeks I decided to stop taking Levodopa and through my private docter I have asked a specialist on Parkinson at the University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands, for a second opinion about the first diagnosis. (A few days after not taking Levodopa anymore, a lot of the stiffness of my muscles disappear, also the footcramps.) I have gone through a lot of tests. I does not want to border you with all the details. The main conclusion is that a type of atrophy was diagnosed with me, which causes parkinsonisme. The last docter (specialist on Parkinson) prescribed only Eldepryl. The last six weeks I have experimented with my food, especially the amount of protein which I take on a daily basis in comparison to the amounts of carbohydrates. For the last couple of weeks I am eating a daily diet with a carbohydrate to protein ratio of at least 5. Before I changed my diet, the before mentioned ratio was smaller than one. Unbelievable!!!!!, this diet changes my life completely. I have lost most of the stiffness in my muscels. My permanent headache has gone. I can run, bike and walk again, especially over longer distances. In daily life I am a consultant on environmental affairs. Up till now my parkinsonion handicaps cause not much problems in my work. Only driving is difficult, but for this problem we are working on a good and safe solution. In The Netherlands we have the association of patients with Parkinson disease. The YOPPERS (=Young Onset Parkinson), a group of youngsters with PD, is part of this association. The YOPPERS have 140 members. Since december 1993 I am secretary of the YOPPERS. Later on I will pass more information about the YOPPERS. Looking forward to any responses, regards, Gerard van Rossum [log in to unmask]