according to what i have read, ordinary use of levodopa does not constitute addiction.

while there are aspects of its use and its cessation that are akin to aspects of addiction, for example, the need for ever increasing dosages and (usually) the suffering of differing degrees of severe effects when the drug is withdrawn suddenly, i think two crucial aspects of addiction are the compulsion to abuse the drug (i.e., self medicate in excess of the prescribed amount), and to continue to do so even in the face of negative consequences - and while such abuse of ldopa certainly occurs, i would think it is relatively rare.

having said that, i do consider levodopa to be toxic - dyskinesias are clear evidence of that. I have a friend who is a breast cancer researcher, and he said that such a side effect would absolutely be considered evidence of toxicity in the breast cancer world.

Also, consider this - while most PWP do derive effective symptom relief from ldopa, they do so for varying periods of time.

and while there are no doubt a variety of variables that determine how long ldopa remains effective and side effect-free for each person, one's age has been identified as key - the younger you are, the better response you are likely to have from ldopa, and the sooner you can expect to start experiencing the big three downsides: wearing off, on/off fluctuations and dyskinesias.

as a young onset 11 years into symptoms and over 6 years past diagnosis, by all accounts i have read, which are confirmed by my admittedly limited exposure to other young onset folks, if i had started taking ldopa 6 or so years ago, today, at the ripe old age of 42, I would be well on my way to experiencing the worst of it.

and regarding cessation of the drug as an option, there is no reason to think that my experience would be different than anyone else's, i.e., whatever i would experience if i went off the drug would be worse than whatever the drug itself was causing - and so i would be stuck - if not now, surely within the next few years.

and i would never have known that had i NOT taken levodopa and had taken a dopamine agonist instead, i would have been -relatively speaking - fine.

i am extremely fortunate that my constellation of symptoms has allowed me to forego levodopa, and the near certainty that i would be in far worse shape now if i had had to take it, or, worse, hadn't really needed it but been given it nonetheless, is clear evidence to me that levodopa is a double edged sword, and a decidedly short-term solution that, unfortunately for all of us, has somehow come to be regarded as adequate in the long-term.

the newer dopamine agonists are a huge step in the right direction, but even those are only sold to us as monotherapy for a few years - after which time they become, like all other pd drugs and even dbs, levodopa adjuncts.

in my opinion, while pursuing neuroprotective and neurorestorative therapies is all well and good, i would much prefer to have a drug i could count on to alleviate my burden, not to add to it, while i wait for the those therapies to be discovered and brought to market.