"My husband is 67 years of age, and was diagnosed with PD last December. Since then he has been on Requip XL, gradually increasing to his current dose of 16mg. He has felt better in himself, but his arm tremors have worsened considerably over the past year.

He saw the neurologist yesterday for his six-monthly check-up, and asked if there was anything that could be done for his arm tremors, i.e. would an increase in the Requip dose help. The neurologist said that the current thinking is not to increase Requip, but rather to add something to it, and suggested he might add Madopar to the mix.

The neurologist understood our concerns about levodopa causing dyskenesia in the longish-term, and we were hoping to stave off going on it for a while yet. Also, the neurologist said there was no guarantee that it would help the arm tremors.

We both feel that once on levodopa, there is no way back, if you see what I mean, and are understandably reluctant to start on it, although my husband is pretty desperate to get his arm tremors under control.

I'd appreciate any thoughts/experiences anyone can give please."