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Dear P.Schark: . I'm a caregiver not a PD patient so I can't know how it feels to be in your shoes but I have a working knowledge. You bring up 2 different issues : (1) when to retire/go out on disability and (2) the conservative treatment of PD. After reading some of the other responses I may be isolated in my viewpoint but here it is anyway. Personally I think you should work as long as you can not only to protect your retirement benefits but to keep a good quality of life mentally. Sure, you can find mentally challenging things to do in retirement and we all have to realize our lifestyles will change someday when we each retire, but it won't be the same and the change is not reversible once you take the step. Of course if you continue to work there will come a time when you wonder about the quality of your work and whether anyone else is wondering too. Maybe you feel you're at that point now. So ultimately the decision to retire can only be yours based on all of these considerations an more. Regarding treatment, I've known a lot of PD Drs. over these 3 decades and I felt some were just experimenting because they really had/have so few answers up their sleeves on how to treat PD. However, the trap you don't want to fall into is to only listen to Drs. who tell you what you want to hear. Some responders to your post make it sound like you should discard a doc if he/she doesn't see things your way. Certainly you can and should get 2nd opinions but I don't think there's anything wrong with a Dr. who treats this disease conservatively, and it was an M.D. PD patient who brought me to this viewpoint; why?...because in terms of L-DOPA, there's no turning back once you are into it cause there's no alternative for the "everyday PD patient" who isn't at the pallidotomy crossroads and because the drug ultimately turns against you with its increasingly uncontrollable side effects. If you're able to stay on Symmetrel as long as possible, for example, it's not too difficult to take drug holidays, but once you're on Sinemet its harder to do. (For this I feel sorry for Janet Reno if Sinemet is the drug they put her on right away just to stop her newly discovered tremor. She may be trading the conservative approach for the appearance of normalcy in the public eye). I think your Dr. sounds pretty sensible at face value. There are many people, including Drs., who think Eldepryl may not slow the disease and that melatonin may be contraindicated.. There aren't too many answers for this disease right now that don't have a catch to them. Hats off to the Dr. who has the courage to lay out his/her concerns to you whether it's what you want to hear or not. In conclusion, once you've made the decision about retirement, then you have to find a Dr. who helps you with the disability paperwork so you might have to shop around. Good luck with your decision. At least you have found a lot of people here with an opinion for you. Delana Vaughan 51y(CG 33y)