Early on we had success with nicotine patches....you have to work up from the 7mg patch and you have to take if off several hours before bedtime (we never got as high as the 21mg patch, made us too dizzy) but for a couple of years it really helped keep things "normal".

Then nicotine started leaving us with very hard offs, and we had to quit the patch. We found mucuna, an aryuvedic herb. Search this forum for more information, but for us it helps in many ways:

1. comes on within 30 minutes at the most
2. it still works even if you eat (can't say that about sinemet)
3. helps with all symptoms (sinemet does nothing for tremor and little for pain, in fact, if mucuna did not wear off so quickly, we might ditch the sinemet entirely)

We take 1.5 TEAspoons in a small amount of water, mix it up, and drink it...ghastly flavor, so wash it down with more water. We may take this several times a day, once, or not at all, depending on what kind of day we are having

It's cheap, too: a one-pound bag is around $20.00 and lasts a long time. Put some in a glass jar for use, and freeze the rest in an airtight bag

Also make sure you aren't deficient in B vitamins or magnesium as most people are (Epsom salt baths can help with the magnesium). Both can cause cramps.