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To Linda Herman Just came across your message of Aug 31 on the PD list. Immediately upon diagnosis of pd I became a subject of the Upjon trial of pramipexole (pp). That was three years ago: 6mos. on the double blind part and 2.5 years on the open label phase with pp=1.25 mg at 3/day augmented by eldepryl (10 mg/day). At the end of the double blind phase my tremor, festination, balance, etc had degraded far enough that acquaintances readily recognized my condition as pd.Obviously had been on the placebo. Within a week of starting the open label phase of the trial my symptoms abated so that even my wife was unaware of them most of the time. Over the last six months I have noticed slow increase in my tremor, particularly when under stress, but even here the effect is minor, being controlled by repositioning my hands. My neuro has also noticed a mild increase in my symptoms, not enough, however, to switch medications. Side effects so far. Only periods of rapid-onset drowsiness (narcolepsy ?). So my wife now drives us at least 1/2 of the time. This side effect, I am told, is frequently observed in pp takers. I have heard that pp is most effective at the early stages of pd, but offers some help those in the later stages of the disease. Hope that this very qualitative information is helpful.