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My husband Nelson was diagnosed just five years ago this month. He is 74. He had sufficient symptoms for the diagnosis of PD except he had no tremors and never has had them. In April '95 he was reviewed for pallidotomy and was rejected because there was no indication he could be helped. At that time he was also re-diagnosed as having a form of Parkinson's called Multi-System Atrophy. He is now in the last stage of this disease. For the past four years he has had spells of extreme blood pressure drops, 60/40 being very common. With the drop came weakness and faintness and the drop was accompanied by a vision distortion, vision breaking up and with a high glare. This "aura" often preceded the drop in BP and he would usually be sitting down. So he never fell. Until recently he did not lose complete consciousness. In his recliner, the lowering of his head and raising of his feet, and rest, helped restore appropriate BP. In the morning on rising, his BP was at the upper end of the scale, as high as 190/115. Tests revealed no blockage or other heart problems. The cardiologist said "It is a difficult problem." To help stabilize the BP, he was put on a schedule of 1/2 a 0.1 mg Florinef every other day. The only tie-in we could determine was that the combination of sinemet and protein in any meal might be the trigger for the BP drop. By controlling the timing of the sinemet and the amount of protein, we achieved a better balance all around and the "fainting" episodes were less frequent. More recently he has had periods of complete uncounsciousness,onef of which required the Paramedics and a trip to the ER. Last week his BP dropped to 57/33 and he lost consciousness briefly. This was unexpected as he has been bed-ridden for the past two months and the episodes are now rare. With all our research and tests and examination, we still have no answer except to make him comfortable until he revives. If he should not revive in moments, we would call the medics again. Jacklyn, we wish you and your family the best in dealing with this aspect of the disease. Regards, Barbara Quackenbush