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In a message dated 96-01-03 15:13:52 EST, you write: > Have any of you >tried Amantadine/Symmetrel? What were your experiences, doses, wearing-off >time period? etc.? We tried Symmetrel long before Sinemet (7 years on Symmetrel only) in order to put off Sinemet use as long as possible. It worked very well in the early stages except for problems with insomnia. Experimentally, it has also been good to go back to when a drug holiday from Sinemet was needed. In anticipation of a "holiday" we overlapped Symmetrel with Sinemet for several days and then went off Sinemet and on to Symmetrel only for 3 to 7 days. Of course this gets more and more difficult to do as the disease progresses and should not be done without a Dr.'s supervision. Symmetrel is a good drug in our estimation with far less side effects than Sinemet but, of course, is ultimately not sufficient for the progressing symptoms. The problem with Sinemet is that it's the last resort and it has major side effects and (from reading dosages of folks on this list for several months now) it appears people get into pretty high doses of it and are ultimately more involved with managing the side effects than the disease itself. Our preference is to keep the dose low as long as possible even tho' the disorder can be pretty incapacitating (my family member with PD takes 2 , 200/50CR/day plus 1 regular 10/100 and has had the disorder for 10 yrs, is fairly incapacitated, but has little difficulty with dyskinesia, and still works in a high stress job fulltime). Hope this is of some help. Delana Vaughan (CG33y) P.S. When I was growing up with PD in a period when my mom had it, Symmetrel was not available and carbidopa was not available. I remember a very sick Mom as she had great difficulty tolerating "raw" L-DOPA. I guess I have to say drug treatment has come a long way since then even tho' it's far from ideal.