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Donna, Your Dad's situation sounds somewhat similar to my Dad (79/~9 mos.). My father was first tentatively diagnosed with PD last summer when he was living in Florida, after 9 months of tests for heart and upper/lower GI, which didn't show anything. His GP at the time started him on Carbidopa/Levodopa 3x a day. The first day he experienced diarhhea and much tiredness, then he seemed to get used to it. But it wasn't making a difference in his condition--loss of strength in his right arm, stooped posture, shuffling walk. That doctor up and died on us, so he found another GP, who told him to stop taking the meds and immediately sent him to a neuro. MRI was done. The neuro just said "It will get worse--get used to it" and sent him home. Naturally, we were kind of unhappy about that! In January, Dad moved to Georgia to be near me. Having been widowed about a year ago, he was lonely. Through this list I had learned about the Movement Disorder Clinic at Emory and, with some sort of amazing luck, got him an appointment with a neuro there mid-January. This Dr. says Dad does NOT have PD. He thought it might be a brain lesion and sent him for another, very extensive MRI. That didn't show anything. So, the neuro's diagnosis was Multiple System Atrophy. I think this is sometimes called ParkinsonISM or Atypical Parkinson's. The doctor again prescribed carbidopa/levodopa, building him up over a 12 week period to 8x a day in hopes that a larger dosage would have some impact. Unfortunately, the same side effects occured and worsened with each dosage increase. Poor Dad was losing it from both ends and when you can't move to the bathroom quickly, that's quite a problem! He called the neuro who suggested he take the pills with meals rather than 1/2 hour before. It didn't help. Midway through the 2nd week of 4 pills a day he stopped taking them and the stomach upset went away. Through all of this, his PD symptoms did not improve, in fact we think they are gradually getting worse. He has had two rather bad falls. He has yet to call the neuro and report on his voluntary cessation of the medication, but we may find ourselves going through the same routine your Dad has had with the alternatives. I don't have a whole lot of suggestions here, except to try and determine if your Dad has "regular" PD or this other, similar disease which is not so responsive to medications. The neuro should be able to determine this through examination and the MRI. It seems the reflex responses are different with PD and ParkinsonISM. Also, my Dad is going to physical therapy 3x a week and, while it's no cure, it does help with loosening up the muscles, strength and balance. Otherwise, I look forward to hearing from the list family with any experiences and suggestions that might help both our Dads. Best of luck, Jane Koenig Marietta, GA [log in to unmask]