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Hi Joseph, Welcome back to the list. Your note struck a cord with me, probably because of your age and situation. I am 36 yrs old, was diagnosed in 95. I am on disability right now, worked in an administrative capacity for a large corporation. Yes, the stress made my pd worse, especially deadlines. The faster I needed to perform, the slower I got. My typing speed went from 90 wpm to about 25 wpm and standing up to speak at a meeting sent me into a flutter of tremors (amusing for the audience, devistating for me ). When I got to where I couldn't comfortably sit behind a desk all day or write legibly on a flipchart at a meeting, I knew I had to leave. Driving in rush hour traffic was also a problem as my arm would jerk while my hand was on the wheel suddenly putting me into the next lane ( a real problem if another car already occupied that lane). I too experience no rhyme or reason to the timing of my "off" periods. The beauty of not having to work is that I can just go with the flow. If you have the option of going on disability, I highly recommend it. I didn't realize how much energy I spent trying to "act normal" while I was working. At the end of the day, I was usually wiped out. Now, I have more energy and overall feel better. I am on Permax after suffering with side effects from sinemet (dyskinesia, severe leg cramps, etc.) I've found that it doesn't work as well as the sinemet in reducing the pd symptoms, however, I don't get the side effects I experienced when taking just the sinemet. I still take 1/2 a sinemet each time I take permax ( .50 mg) because, as I mentioned, Permax alone isn't as effective as I need it to be, and the low dose of sinemet is tolerable. I found that it takes time for my body to adjust to taking permax. I still get sick to my stomach once in a while from it. Anyway, good luck to you. I know it feels like a cruel joke for anyone to get this disease, but especially for those our age. Humor helps a lot in dealing with it. My husband lovingly calls me a "weeble" because "weebles wobble but they don't fall down" :) (only now I've begun to tip over once in a while so he'll have to find a new pet name ). Feel free to e-mail me if you just want to chat. Take care Cynthia Stegall ( [log in to unmask] )