i didn't do that much research, comes down to low risk, high potential reward and if i waited any longer DBS might disappear as an option plus taking meds every 2-3hrs with unavoidable major protein interference and resulting "OFF" times became very frustrating and was affecting my health and significantly reducing my already limited social life. responding so well to l-dopa made me a very good candidate. if i wasn't living alone and basically hiding my off times, friends and family would have pressured me to consider DBS sooner. i was giving up more and more of a normal life, hopefully that will reverse itself. if not, i'll deal with it.