Can someone please give me some advice on the meds, and should I try to hold off as much as possible.

It is hard to know what to take since there are several choices. I was diagnosed 3 years ago at ago of 42. I have taken requip, mirapex and stalevo over the course of three years. Initially i started with requip which helped quite a bit with stiffness but not so much with tremors, although I did not feel well for about an hour after I took requip, then started to develop obsessive-compulsive behavior (gambling and other stuff). I switched to mirapex, which was not as effective on the stiffness as requip but I felt much better, however, my obsessive-compulsive behavior continued. Both requip and mirapex are dopamine agonist, which in some peope causes obesessive-compulsive behavior. It is well documented, you will find many articles on the web. Just be aware of the side affects of these drugs.

Finally i swithced to stalevo on a medium dosage. It helps with the stiffness, but still not as effective as mirapex or requip, but the obsessive-conmpulsive behavior as disappeared.

I think each of these drugs has there pros and cons, my recommendation is to try requip or mirapex first, just be aware of the sides affects because they can be harmful.

Good luck,

You've received a lot of excellent advice. Have had Parkinson's for 3.5 years. Would only reinforce that:
- you need to make sure that you have a doctor that will truly partner with you. It is impossible for them to know exactly how you feel or what is happening unless you tell them.
- also encourage you to get the medications you need. I wasted energy scared of using adequate medicines.
- never used 1Mirapex, but had a really nasty compulsive problem with Requip. Not at first on low dosage, but when I hit 8+ mg I became a different person, nearly destroyed me. My doctor said that only about 3% of people were Requip of had problems and 6% on Mirapex. Make sure you have someone that you can really trust that observed you closely.
- I have had excellent results with the new drug, Azilect. just started 2.5 months ago, results amazing. Feeling better than I did three years ago.

Hang in there. A part of the journey is adjusting our expectations for ourselves. I have learned, and been very thankful that the people around me have been very compassionate and understanding. A lot of times people have been more willing to help me and I was too independent to accept their help. There can be special learnings and new opportunities that this experience along with the bad.