Autism and Parkinson's Disease

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I'm glad it helped you!

Did Benztropine help you sleep?
I read about it and it says it can be pretty sedating.
I'm wondering if something like that would be good for my mother.

Neither of us really get tremors, though.
I only get twitchy thumbs a few times a year, but it can last a week or more.
I also have a twitchy eye called Third Nerve Palsy.

My mum is just stiff and rigid all over.
She can barely move at all.

The way people talk it's a wonder I've survived to age 50. But it'll be an even bigger wonder if I survive to 60.

Isa, At my son’s IEP meetings I used to say “I’m a nut and I read alot” to explain my weird in-depth knowledge about his dx (and potential dx). Sometimes I hyperfocus on reading up on this stuff and I have just enough science training from college that I can make some sense of the journal articles I read. As Yogi Berra said, “you can see a lot by looking.”
I read up a bunch because of my dad and because I have been trying to figure out my brain for years.
You seem to have taken a lot of meds personally and to have a good head on your shoulders. Info-dumping is something I try to remember to mask (around normals) but as it seemed relevant to the topic….
I still feel weird and self conscious when I catch my self.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3288321/

Folding and misfolding of alpha-synuclein on membranes

You know, it's truly uncanny, but I still remember in the first week of Grade 9 that some meathead bully kid told me while laughing that I must have Parkinsons. This was in the late '80s, so nobody knew what Asperger's was, or the spectrum (heck, Rain Man hadn't even come out!) so I couldn't make any sense of it. Then he told me that I seemed really tense and kept rocking (or what they'd call "stimming" in this century), and only people with Parkinson's disease are like that.

Then, not too long after that, my grandfather who was already in his eighties developed Parkinson's disease. So, even on a visceral level, I wondered if there was some genetic component between his condition and mine

Eerie, for a teenage boy on the spectrum, yes.
To this day, while my social communication skills and repertoire have vastly improved - both thru years of conscious masking, memorization, and gradual habit integration, I still have some of the gait issues when walking and I still have chronic neck and shoulder pain, from muscle contraction.

Isabella - sorry I can't quote you, the quote buttons aren't showing up (along with avatars).

Benztropine is slightly seating for me. The doctor had me taking it in the morning at first but then I did some reading and found out that it would be better to take it just before bed.

I can empathize about your eye twitch, I had one in my left eye that lasted about a year! Thankfully it hasn't returned.

I'm sorry about your mum. Not being able to move must be frustrating.

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Fenn, I did get my bipolar diagnosis because I had a three week manic episode caused by Zeldox (ziprasidone), an antipsychotic. This was in 2011. I spent my entire savings on Christmas presents. It was thousands of dollars and I enjoyed spending it so much. But when I woke up as my regular depressive self, I was like oh no, what have I done? I've heard of people breaking into mania from taking SSRIs but no other type of antidepressant. I've taken Lovan (fluoxetine) but it had no effect on me.

I'm afraid I have nothing useful to contribute, but I'll throw in some trivia.

In late 2021 I had a head MRI. In addition to things they were looking for, it also showed a "hummingbird"...which got my medical care providers somewhat agitated. It is best known as a marker for PSP, a Parkinsonian disease that has a generally bad outlook for patients. After an unsatisfying and uninformative appointment with a neurologist where I get my Primary care I expressed my dissatisfaction and then got a referral to a neurologist in a nearby city who specialized in Parkinsons.

She found me quite (medically!) odd and interesting. She'd seen folk with MRIs like mine...but they'd been in wheelchairs. She noted she was aware of some papers also associating the hummingbird sign with Autism! So, I conclude there is at least one spot on the Autism Spectrum which has some esoteric relationship with PSP.

And, frankly, given a choice between having Autism and having PSP, I am very, very glad I got Autism!!