YogaLife-
As you have probably already figured out, each of us has our own version of the same story and that is reflected in our individual view of what PD is and what we can do about it. We may all be right.

Here's mine- Noticed a tremor in my right hand in 1992 at age 39. DX as essential tremor. Difficulty walking in 1999 led to PD DX in 2000. Started on requip immediately. Sinemet added shortly thereafter. At the apex of my drug involvement I was taking 32 mg requip plus 800 mg sinemet. I am at present taking zero requip and 1500 mg sinemet. My intent is to whittle that down as well in coming months.

My experience has led me to believe that the concept of PD as a neurological disease is wrong. It is a combined disorder of the immune and endocrine systems that results in damage to the nervous system. There is also a tangential role for the GI system but the immune and endocrine systems drive it. PD is a slowly progressing problem but two things are known to accelerate it. One is chronic stress and the other is infection. If you read through the archives here you will find much discussion of both.

A nutshell summary- 1) Stress and the chemicals that come with it aggravate our symptoms and speed our degeneration. Note that overdoing exercise is a stressor. 2) Infection anywhere in the body can trigger an inflammatory reaction in the brain. Urinary tract infections and dental ones are common.

If you wish, you can read my two blogs for more detail than I want to burden this forum with.

Along with moderate exercise and stress and infection awareness, you might want to investigate intermittent fasting. And keep hope alive. A new view of PD is spreading, thanks in part to this little group of malcontents, and we may actually be on the verge of great things.