I've been on Sinemet since diagnosis this past April. I was offered Mirapex to start, and recently Requip as an add-on. (I was also offered Azilect by a MDS last week and will probably go that route.) The dopamine agonists scare me because of the OCD behaviors they increase dramatically in some people. Since I was officially given an OCD diagnosis years ago, the agonists will have to wait. I'm not personally comfortable with going that route right now.

As for my personal version of PD, my main symptoms are rigidity, bradykinesia (in terms of walking), loss of fine motor skills in my dominant right hand, and dystonia between my shoulder blades into the base of my neck. I have a slight tremor in my right hand but it's very minor.

The Sinemet works wonders for the rigidity, bradykinesia, and alleviates aproximately 75% of my dystonia which makes a huge difference. I don't think it does much for my tremor, but again, it's pretty minor. It also makes me more fluid in terms of my fine motor skills but I still struggle with that even when "on".

I've heard all the negatives about Sinemet. I've heard the 5-year stories. The speculation about toxicity and the horror stories of diskenesia. I've also heard that Sinemet creates dystonia in some people, while it relieves it for others like me. But for every bad story I've heard, I've heard dozens of positive ones.

Since my diagnosis, I've seen 4 neurologists and 3 MDS's. They've all offered different opinions and options for treatment. I've read everything I can online. I've talked to literally 100's of fellow PD patients. And the thing I've found that is extremely clear is, there is no universal answer as to how to treat PD, especially those of us who are young-onset.

So you have to find a doctor you trust, educate yourself, and then basically roll the dice and make a decision. I've chosen Sinemet and I feel the best I've felt in years. Did I make the right choice? Only time will tell, but I've decided that I'll just keep moving forward and see what happens. No regrets!

Todd
PDTalks.com