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TO Julian -- We all welcome you to the List. There is no such thing as a 'dumb question' here! We all at one time had lots of questions about pd that may have shown our bewilderment from an innocent lack of knowledge or understanding of what was happening to us. And that is why this list service is so valuable to us...and so apprec- iated for the help and friendship and understanding that we receive from it. I feel certain you will feel the same way. I'm sure you will receive other's explanation of what 'on' and 'off' means to those of us with pd. This is mine. 'On' is the physical state you are in when the medication you are taking is being effacious; that is, when it is working as intended to allieve your parkinsons symptoms, whatever they may be at the time. 'Off' is the physical state you are in when you, either have not taken your meds sufficiently to control your symptoms or, for reasons known or unknown, the meds are not effacious and your symptoms present themselves as they really are at the stage the disease is at. The change from 'on' to 'off' can fluctuate rapidly. The fluctuation can be smoothed out to some extent by adjusting the dosage schedule of one's meds to the duration of his individual response. The precise timing is very important but also very difficult to accomplish. It needs to be carefully worked at. Don't hesitate to ask any other questions to the knowledgeable folks on the List. Personally, I have learned more about pd as it concerns me than I have from my six different neurologists in 18 years. ~~ Hope this is helpful in some way. Janice Long (54/18)