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On Mon 14 Jul, ((JackLyn)) wrote: > This is such a great group, even with all the nitpicking. :) Just wanted > to know, what do you mean when you talk about on and off times? Thanks, Jackie > > > Hello Jackie, I cannot see a reply to your question, so I thought I would write one. In the early stages of PD, things tend to happen slowly and progressively, and it is sometimes difficult to see that there are in fact two areas of operation: 1: Where you have taken insufficient medication (Sinemet or Madopar), and are showing the classic Parkinson's tremor (or stiffness etc - whatever is your particular response to PD) This is defined as the OFF state. With the passing years, as it becomes more and more difficult to find a suitable dosage of Sinemet/Madopar which will relieve the tremor (etc) symptoms without at the same time triggering symptoms which are characteristic of the overdosed condition . That is, random uncoordinated movements of anything up to and included1ng the whole body, or sometimes just very stiff muscles. Doctoes and patients alike tend to think of the whole setup as one where it is like a switch, and you are either under dosed, or ovwrdosed a lot of the time, and you can slip from one condition to the other, just like flicking a switch switch. The good news is that I have found it possible to effectively hover in the area between under and overdosed conditions, with the result that (almost) normal functioning can be achieved. Some of you may know that I wrote a computer program to enable me to find that balance. I can supply more information to interested people - just let me know. -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>