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RLS: One member of our support group with bad RLS has dropped Zoloff and is now on Wellbutrin. His RLS is gone. I do not offer reasons, only one observation and he is very happy to have it gone. Melatonin: I use a brand called Melatona. The tablets are of 3 mg size. When my mind is runnning at 110 miles per hour and the rest of my body wants sleep, I will take three tablets (9 mg) with water. I than run for the bedroom less I fall asleep too quickly. There is no B6 in this brand. It shows only "pure" Melatonin. I do not use this every night, only those nights when my mind needs to calm down. I have never experienced any side effects with Melatona nor is it adictive. I can buy 60 3mg tablets for about $16. at a local health food store. Just for the record, Dr. Matt Kurth at Barrow Neurological Institute is a neurologist. The neurosurgeon is Dr. Andrew Streeter. They are very conservative when it comes to surgery in PD. Dr. Streeter is using the technique developed at Emory. The rumor I here is that Emory is finding that age is a factor in the result of the pallidotomy. The word I here is those under 70 years of age seem to do much better than those over 70. What I do not know is how much of this is due to the length of the procedure. The microrecording can take 6 to 10 hours of surgery before any decisions are made as to lesion placement. At 54, I would find this stressful. Contrast this with 55 minutes for my pallidotomy in Sweden, I can see why Dr. Laitinen has performed this surgery on older people. The older we are the more likely we have other problems of aging. These other problems can over shadow PD symptoms. In a separate posting I will list the centers performing Pallidotomy / thalamotomy that I know about. The list continues to get longer and longer. I have just started a low impact exercise program that exists at the local senior citizens center. It meets three times weekly for an hour. The cost is $0.50 per session for residents of the city and $0.75 for non-residents. One is assumed 55 years old ( I am 54). This is proving out to be an excella nt exercise program for me. Don't overlook this resource for education and exercise. Finally one comment about the pallidotomy. At my last young-onset support meeting I showed the video of Prime Time Live. No one at the meeting had seen it on TV. I tried to tell them they would see PD in very advanced stages. It is not nice to see the ravages of PD. One member told me he was in shock. He had to deal with the emotions that someday he may look like these patients. I did not do as good a job as I thought I had in preparing the members for what they would see. I know that many at the meeting never got past the problems shown by these PD patients. I would like to believe that those diagnosed in the last few years will have a better alternative to pallidotomy should their PD progression become bad. Better medications, gene therapy and the unknown will greatly benefit those recently diagnosed. On the other hand, those of you who are recently diagnosed, we need your energy to asure proper funding for research exists. You have the most to gain by research. You also have the most energy. Please do your part to actively seek increased funding by the federal government for neurological research and in particular Parkinson's research. The life you change, may be yours (and hopefully mine). Regards, Alan Bonander ([log in to unmask]) PS: AOL offers a discount for AARP members. Do GOTO AARP for details.