3 ms·

Oooh. Do you have any particular references you'd link to for more info about this? https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a601121.html https://medlineplus.gov/

Oooh. Do you have any particular references you'd link to for more info about this? https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a601121.html https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a601121.html says that > Tizanidine is used to relieve the spasms and increased muscle tone caused by multiple sclerosis (MS, a disease in which the nerves do not function properly and patients may experience weakness, numbness, loss of muscle coordination and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control), stroke, or brain or spinal injury. Tizanidine is in a class of medications called skeletal muscle relaxants. It works by slowing action in the brain and nervous system to allow the muscles to relax. > ... > This medication is sometimes prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information. I'm very curious about the diagnostic path that got you to the point of giving this a try - it sounds very interesting to follow/copy bits of it :) I ask because of bog-standard autism, which in later years I've been able to partially outgrow to a helpful level, but which naturally proves to be difficult to out-think in terms of subconscious knee-jerk reactions and low-level assocations between things (easiest correlation would be "first programming language" type stuff (oversimplifying the world then needing to unlearn that later, etc), except at a very subtle subconscious level). I wonder if this might influence vaguely similar pathways in my favor. I'm always curious if there are things I can try (that are physically sustainable and with reasonable intrinsic safety margins, unlike eg recreational options) to shake up the status quo and maybe help give me a bit of a boost to helping me reset stuff.

Mezzie 5y ago
I don't, sadly. It was a complete accident. I have MS and take Tizanidine for my muscle spasticity; being able to imagine things is just an odd side effect. I also can't imagine there's enough formerly-blind people with MS to test this on with science. (I'm a statistical oddity!) One side effect of tizanidine at higher doses is hallucinations, so it would seem to do SOMETHING with your visualization center, but idk what. For your autistic difficulties, I'm curious if finding resources for people that have gone blind/deaf might help. I know it sounds weird, but as a visually impaired person, we thought I had Asperger's for a while because I literally couldn't see body language well enough to read social cues, and I found it really helpful to look up information on how to 'read' that information elsewhere. Likewise, if somebody goes deaf, I'm sure there are lessons on how to do things like read more into body language. It just might help explain a lot of things that neurotypical people take for granted. Also biology: I find it really helps me to remember that humans are sacks of hormones and that sometimes when they're silly it's not me being wrong. They might just have gotten a surge of adrenaline and had a knee jerk reaction, or they might be overstimulated. I know I tend to forget humans are embodied and expect more logic out of them than their bodies will allow.
- zafka 5y ago
  I really love your understanding of the biological effects on human interaction: "I tend to forget humans are embodied and expect more logic out of them than their bodies will allow." Thanks for today's smile.
- exikyut 5y ago
  Thanks for your thoughtful reply! (Apologies for my slightly late response.) The consideration to consider blindness/deafness as a source of insight to reading social cues is definitely not something I would've thought of anytime soon. I think I might just follow up on that. Regarding the "actually-relevant implementation detail" perspective of (neuro?)biology, I echo the sentiment of the other comment :) - I also find it all too easy to lose sight of the bounds of the bounding box and forget how important it can be to correct for them.

Mezzie 5y ago

I don't, sadly. It was a complete accident. I have MS and take Tizanidine for my muscle spasticity; being able to imagine things is just an odd side effect. I also can't imagine there's enough formerly-blind people with MS to test this on with science. (I'm a statistical oddity!) One side effect of tizanidine at higher doses is hallucinations, so it would seem to do SOMETHING with your visualization center, but idk what. For your autistic difficulties, I'm curious if finding resources for people that have gone blind/deaf might help. I know it sounds weird, but as a visually impaired person, we thought I had Asperger's for a while because I literally couldn't see body language well enough to read social cues, and I found it really helpful to look up information on how to 'read' that information elsewhere. Likewise, if somebody goes deaf, I'm sure there are lessons on how to do things like read more into body language. It just might help explain a lot of things that neurotypical people take for granted. Also biology: I find it really helps me to remember that humans are sacks of hormones and that sometimes when they're silly it's not me being wrong. They might just have gotten a surge of adrenaline and had a knee jerk reaction, or they might be overstimulated. I know I tend to forget humans are embodied and expect more logic out of them than their bodies will allow.

zafka 5y ago
I really love your understanding of the biological effects on human interaction: "I tend to forget humans are embodied and expect more logic out of them than their bodies will allow." Thanks for today's smile.
exikyut 5y ago
Thanks for your thoughtful reply! (Apologies for my slightly late response.) The consideration to consider blindness/deafness as a source of insight to reading social cues is definitely not something I would've thought of anytime soon. I think I might just follow up on that. Regarding the "actually-relevant implementation detail" perspective of (neuro?)biology, I echo the sentiment of the other comment :) - I also find it all too easy to lose sight of the bounds of the bounding box and forget how important it can be to correct for them.