Great, Jak. Welcome to our nerdy group of PD misfits. If you seek a real discussion on our limited choice in pharmaceutical treatments, then you may want to search the archives. We have pretty much exhausted them all. Our latest row was on Mirapex vs. Sinemet in a thread titled "The Agonist of Defeat"

Beyond that I am not sure what your purpose or intent is here. I find it odd that one would keep referring to the same "free" report on the insidious, pernicious levodopa in a forum where most people have had PD for a few years, if not decades. Clearly, most then here are on levodopa therapy. How does continually throwing an alternative treatment that requires one to be l-dopa free have any benefit for most here? There is a Young Onset forum at the National Parkinson Foundation site that might really benefit from your viewpoints. Quite honestly, this all seems mocking in nature to the many good folk here who no longer have the luxury of choosing to avoid levodopa for as long as possible. Most of the neuros in the US do not see their role in advising us on meds like this. Has your neuro had a frank discussion with you regarding when to start levodopa therapy?

Again, if you search the archives, you will see that there are people here who have participated in the recovery plan and they take <gasp> levodopa and mucuna pruriens (plant based levodopa). I really am not sure how anyone would be able to avoid dopamine replacement therapy if one does truly have PD. We may have dormant cells and we definitely have plastic brains, so some level of endogenous dopa production occurs in us, but not enough to keep up or overtake the disease, so if this were possible people would not be traveling to Germany for stem cell treatments or be here defending their need for levodopa to function.

You have stated several times over that levodopa is toxic. Check. We get that. In the spirit of moving along the discussion, what else do you want to say or know about this drug? All drugs are toxic at specific levels.

May I ask in the absence of any medication, what sort of plan you and your neuro have worked out? Silk pajamas to help you turn in bed at night, weighted utensils to help with tremor...is there are a plan or do you plan to wait and see what adaptations are needed?

We have a wealth of info available here.

Laura