hello, i don't know if i can be of some help to you but here goes: i was dxed in 1991 but started taking sinemet in 1990. i had been nursing my second child & had to cut that short when i started to take this drug. back then, it was the drug they started you out on. i have been on sinemet for over 16 years now and while i can tell that i have built up a tolererance to it (i now take between 14 & 15 carbo/levodopa 25/100's)a day and a ton of other drugs. but i'm still relatively active tho in a wheelchair. i had 2 pallidotomies in 1996 (the 1st was successful beyond my wildest dreams-the 2nd nearly killed me) so i'm not your typical (is there such a thing???) parkie. i am grateful for all the time that sinemet has bought for me.