I was reading the forum as I am about to try Stalevo. Lots of pros and cons around the forum. I know most of you are not practicing medicine (actually, most of us are to a degree), but I would appreciate input from anyone on the forum with an opinion.

My situation is this:

I am a male, 56 years old but diagnosed at the age of 45 after 10 years of doctors unable to decide what I had (symptoms started at the age of 35). Started medication in 2001, Sinemet 25\100, tried several other helper drugs but am largely only using Carb/L-Dopa 10\100.

Mornings I awake at 5:00 a.m., feeling slow but reasonably good, no tremor. Drink 1 cup of coffee. About 5:30 a.m. slight tremor in right arm. 6:00 a.m. take 1/2 of Carb/L-Dopa 10/100. Drink 1 more coffee. Repeat 1/2 of Carb/L-Dopa 10/100 hourly. Stop Carb/L-Dopa pills at 7 p.m. Go to bed without difficulty at 10:00 p.m. and sleep well until 5:00 a.m.

With this regimen I am "on" about 60% of the day. I struggle at night to turn over in bed but am still able to do so without too much problem. During "off" time I wait in my chair when possible for "on" to come.

My symptoms in "on" are sweating, muscle stiffness making it difficult to eat (not chewing or swallowing but just the act of lifting the fork due to stiffness), muscle stiffness making it difficult to walk.

My symptoms in "off" are slowness/difficulty walking (I can but look retarded), soft and slurred speech, slight balance problem but no freezing and no falling. When I have a meal it totally interferes with medication and generally within an hour, I am severely "off". If I am driving I have difficulty driving straight, pulling in the parking spaces, making 90° turns, etc. because of muscle weakness.

So after much review I am about to try Stalevo. I have tried Comtan with much success. When I take it with Carb/L-Dopa 50\250CR I get up to five hours of "on" time albeit with the above-mentioned "on" symptoms. And recently, the muscle stiffness has gotten so severe I can barely function (trying to wipe the sweat from my forehead with a handkerchief, eating, etc.). It appears that I am getting too much L-Dopa which causes the extreme stiffness problems. However, I can't cut the Carb/L-Dopa 10\100 into quarter pieces! So, since the Stalevo comes in a L-Dopa as low as 50 I thought I would give it a try.

May I please have your opinion and experiences?

Thank you.