falling asleep at the wheel
 

Recently, I have noticed that I want to sleep in the car. When I drive, I now have to have the windows down and the air flowing or I tend to want to drift off. (almost like being in a tunnel)

I have had no changes in my medications (Butran's, clonidine patch's, neurontin, abilify, nexium, estrogen) for over a year now so I am not sure what is going on.

Has any one else experienced anything like this? :Hum:

Yes, over the last few days, but I haven't had much sleep to be honest. It's different to usual tiredness though as I can start dreaming within a second of being awake. There's absolutely no hope in me staying awake through it either, although I don't stay asleep either, so part of me must be aware it's happening and waking myself back up. I was playing a game on my mobile phone and it kept happening, and so I would restart and restart the level (how nerdy is that lol, but when you're sore you'll use anything to distract yourself), and each time I would try my best to stay awake and each time I failed, lol.

Not sure what the answer is, and I appreciate falling asleep through a level of Dragon Egg is a lot different to falling asleep driving!

I had a similar problem. Never got to the point of drifting off while driving. My doctor ordered up a sleep study. The first study I had, I did not get into REM sleep at all. So they repeated it and got me to sleep first (meaning they put the equipment on me first before other patients so I got to sleep first). So during that second sleep study I had one REM episode and it showed many episodes of sleep apnea. I went onto nasal cpap at night and had been good up until recent. Now I'm back to being terribly tired through the day. My NP prescribed some stimulant but I didn't try it b/c I didn't want to interfere with my crps meds.

To simplify, see if your doctor thinks a sleep study would be needed.

I will suddenly feel tired and fall asleep within a minute. I don't know the law in the US but vover here you are required to tell the Driving and Vehicle Licencing Agency of any condition which may affect your ability to drive safely. Although as an ex-police officer I knew I would never drive again it was still hurtful when they took my licence away but better that than killing someone

This happened to me...but it was always related to meds. If you're not sleeping well then it could just be being over tired too (I've had THAT happen after working overnight shifts).

Be very careful Alt. I didn't drive for over a year because my RSD symptoms made it very dangerous for me to do so (dizziness, blurry vision, etc) and I didn't start driving again until I got those symptoms under control. I was VERY clear with my doctor how often these things were happening and it was something she put in every doctor's note for work...that it was unsafe for me to drive (even though all my other symptoms also prevented me from being able to work at the time).

Definitely get with your doctor to determine the cause of this and if it's happening often I would not get behind the wheel.

I know I don't sleep well. I have an appointment tommorrow with my pcp. hopefully I will get some answers because nothing has changed medication wise. I do well if I drive with the windows down.

Thank you all.

ok. Saw pcp, will get sleep study done, see eye dr. and get a host of labs done. Will keep you posted to what they find. Thank you all for responding to my thread.:hug:

I don't drive much because of this. I've had every test In the book, but neurological ones. An MRI confirmed rsd so no EEG, no brain MRI, no sleep study nothing. Yesterday, I was reading waiting for my sons game to start but it wasn't like sleep. It was like passing out. Weird. I see a neurologist soon I hope, but I have developed new symptoms and my rsd was controlled (relatively speaking) by meds and scs (2) I have a headache each morning that goes away later, balance and coordination probs, retyping and saying things, or thinking I've said/done things I haven't (all rsd symptoms I know which make me hope it's a flare!), and then that weird falling asleep thing. It's only 10-20 seconds, but still freaky. I also have rsd of te eye which explains visual disturbances. Anyway, I hope you figure yours out. I would love another's input!

You brought up several symptoms that I also have. Headaches in am (sometimes migraine) occassional nausea and vomiting in am. (nausea also when driving) I also get this electrical feeling in my head when moving it around as well as heat intolerance. On Tues. after an lsb, my bp dropped to 84/50. So it could also be a bp issue causing all this.:eek:

I know my vision is not as good. (esp. my right) I have an eye apt. the 23rd, sleep study the 2nd and already had my labs done.

You should also pay attention to what and when you've eaten. It's the combo of meds and carbs that are a major issue for me.

If you have sinus issues, you might want to try a Rx nasal spray. It will help you breath easier while sleeping, as well.

I only drive when I feel at my best, (not too tired, and with low pain levels) and since vibrations exacerbate my pain, I really limit my driving...