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Margie, Thanks for the tips. I always appreciate them. I have known about the radio trick but for some reason it has never worked for me. My radios must be to expensive! LOL I also never have had any trouble telling if it is ON. But sometimes I can't tell if it is off. When I turn it on, it shocks me. I'm talking about a pretty good jolt. It lifts my right leg off the floor, it causes my right eye to wince and I can't talk while it is turning on. It is strong enough that they had to use SOFT START which spreads out the jolt over about 5 to 10 seconds. After this ordeal I feel great. and my tremor is gone. My left side is constant and I just leave it on all the time. You are probably asking, "why turn it off if it bothers you"? Well the strength wanes and if I leave it on over night the benefits are gone. Enough for now. >Jane - > >Another question for you. Can you always tell for sure whether the >stimulator is off or on? Dick had bilateral pallidal stimulations, and like >many other pallidal stim patients, couldn't always tell whether he'd gotten >his stimulator turned off or on. I didn't know whether it would be more >noticeable with the STN or not. > >One hint we picked up from the first patient in the US to have the pallidal >stim (Dick was the third) was to buy a cheap transistor radio. By turning >the sound down as far as it will go and holding it up to his stimulators, he >can tell by the static whether he's turned off or on. The static is much >louder when the stimulator is on. If STN recipients also have trouble with >this, the radio is an el-cheapo aid. > >For those who wonder what good DBS does if one can't tell if the stimulator >is on - it just takes some time for the symptoms to show up when the >stimulator is off. Also, some-thing about having the electrodes in the brain >keeps his symptoms from ever getting as bad as they were pre-surgery, even >without meds and with the stimulator off. > >Margie Swindler jjjane http://www.geocities.com/soho/village/6263/pienet/hithgang/hitjaner.html