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Dry mouth is a common reaction to Artane: you will have to decide whether this reaction is bothersome enough to warrant using another medication or if you can learn to adapt. Artane is an early anticholinergic drug which is/was usually used in the early stages of Parkinson's before l-dopa drugs are needed. It is particularly effective at reducing tremor and rigidity. You say you are on a "large dose," but the allowable range is up to 15mg per day taken in 3 doses, and the overdose danger rating is listed as medium. You can compare your daily total to this range to determine whether you are on a low, medium, or large dose. Other common effects of artane are dry eyes, difficulty in passing urine, constipation, nervousness, and blurred vision. Rare effects are nausea/vomiting, rash, and heart palpitations. Needless to say, you may not experience any of these effects, but it pays to know about them, and you must mention any occurrence of the rare effects with your neurologist. Special precautions are needed if you have high blood pressure, glaucoma, or problems with your heart, liver, kidneys, or prostate: hopefully your neurologist had already discussed this list with you before prescribing it to you. Artane increases the effect of alcohol and antihistamines, and reduces the effect of antacids. You are advised not to take antacids within one hour of taking artane. One other side effect which isn't always mentioned in the literature is (are) hallucinations. My wife experienced these years ago (I forget now for how long she had been taking artane before they occurred, but it was probably several years), and they were very real to her. 'Little green men' running around in the back yard! Not actually green, nor necessarily little, but she was convinced that there were people outside the house, usually late at night or early in the morning. Called the police twice: amusingly enough, on one of those occasions a man was going door-to-door in the middle of the night delivering advertising flyers, so he was quite surprised to get picked up by the police! We laugh now, but it was distressing at the time. Of course, once we correlated these sensations with artane, it was clear that it was time for her to take another drug. So, be aware of the possibility that this could happen to you. As for the loss of coordination you experience, artane does not normally relieve any impairment in gait or slowness of movement, so you may be describing PD symptoms. Artane has been around for a long time, but it is generally pretty effective. If you find that you do have adverse reactions to the drug, your neurologist should be able to suggest an alternative. The good news is that alternatives exist these days, but they all have some side effects which you will have to balance against the benefits. Hope this pharmacology lesson 101 helps. Good luck. Roger Buxton CG