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I have been watching the boards a lot regarding Parkinsons, because my father-in-law has had PD for a number of years. He has been very active, playing tennis every week, walking, gardening, etc. up until recently. Now it looks as though his disease is severely affecting him, and we are very concerned about his health. I am writing this to elicit whatever help, advice, etc. I can get, because his health seems to be deteriorating rapidly and I would like to enlist the resources (i.e. you and others) available to me through our online community to give him some options, suggestions or maybe just a word or two of encouragement. His main struggles are as follows: 1. Severe lack of sleep. He has trouble falling asleep, many nights staying awake until 3-4am, then sleeping only for 2-3 hours and waking up again. After taking meds, he can sometimes get another 1-2 hour nap in the morning. 2. Tremors - first was only in left leg, then left side, now left side is so shaky that it shakes his right side as well. 3. "Freezing" - he says it's like trying to walk through wet cement. This usually happens before it's time for his next medication, but now seems to be coming on earlier, so he can hardly move. 4. Loss of muscle tone - he's not nearly as strong as he used to be, and the combination of this and the tremors makes even simple tasks take much longer than they used to. Also, fatigue is common now as it takes so much more effort to accomplish something. 5. This week he could not drive himself home one night due to the tremors, weakness and "freezing". Today I helped him put on his socks and shoes because it was just too difficult for him to do it - seems like it would have taken nearly all the energy he had just to accomplish that task. His medications - This is what he is taking. His neurologist has told him he can "play around" with when he takes his pills to try to get the most help from them, but this changing the schedule has really thrown him into chaos. (The reason he is trying it is that before, his meds used to get him through close to the 3 hrs between pills, now he only gets relief from symptoms for 30 minutes to an hour, then has to wait 2 more hours until he can take another pill. With the symptoms coming on more rapidly now and worsening more quickly, he's really in a bind by the time he is supposed to take another pill. He is taking: Sinemet 100 levodopa/25 carbidopa 6x/day, Sinemet CR 25/100 (time release) 1x/day (in evening) Propranolol Hydrochloride 80mg 1x/day, Amantadine 100mg 2x/day Benedryl at night to clear nasal passages and help him sleep (supposedly) If anyone out there has any suggestions, we are certainly open to hearing them. I would appreciate hearing back from you as soon as possible. EMail me at [log in to unmask], if you would. Thank you for your concern about Parkinsons, and for those who struggle with it. Nathan Lynch [log in to unmask]