Hi all

I have to ask...do any of you drive a stick shift? If so, how..without the pain involved! I always drive my mini van but yesterday my hubby needed the van so I took his car which is a stick (manual transmission) and I though as I was going to get in the car...how the heck was I gonna manage this

OH MY WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! That was not easy and very painful I might add. Trying to get it in reverse was not cool. My daughter had to ppull up on the parking brake and put it down for me. There was no way I could manage it.

Then I paid for the drive (which wasn't a long one either). I had such a flare up last night that I thought I was dying. I couldn't swallow and my neck burned so bad I cried. There goes another flare up.

I went to bed early and woke up still in pain so didn't do much today. I made cupcakes...which was a HUGE accomplishment but wasn't easy. I can't believe how hard it is to do just about everything. I can't hold my arm up at all anymore. I can see that this is gonna take a LONG time to heal and get better.

Well I'm still in pain so I have to go....man do I hate driving now!

I can't even imagine driving a stick shift... It kills me just to drive my car for a long distance and it's an automatic. I have to prop my little pillow under my right elbow after sitting in traffic which isn't too often anymore since hubby drives me any distance's.
All I can say is "Your One Brave Woman"

Hi, I cant drive any longer than 30 minutes and my car is a automatic. Get really bizzare symptoms: deafness, pressure in head, can hear my own heartbeat but nothing else! Does anyone else get this?

I drive a stick shift (most of the time.) I am lucky in that my right side is unaffected, so I can shift, operate the parking brake, etc. Other than that, I try my best (read: I forget until it hurts sometimes) to keep my left hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. The only times that this is a MAJOR problem is when I'm shifting going into or out of a turn, so I'm turning the wheel w/ my left hand . I tried driving an automatic from ~ oct thru feb and I didn't notice a major difference in my pain levels on a regular basis. That being said, if I had another car, and it was an automatic, I would drive that every day. If I had to shift with my right hand- forget it, i don't think i would be able to.

eeesh - I still don't like to drive a stick unless it's shifts really smooth and easy.

Rough roads , parking/turning, sharp corners, any fast or rough moves of the car used to really bother me. at times I would feel like I was disoriented or still moving. even the lights at nite would affect me- flashes and visual input was too much.

ozzy-
the heartbeat sounds you hear is called bruit- I had that often at the beginning. it was hard for me to sleep with that thump thumping going on all nite.
I think mine were due to the artery getting pinched or squeezed from scalene /SCM spasms.
The bruit stopped as we got the spasms and tight muscles to relax.
It will start to come back if my neck muscles tighten up.

It's weird to think back to how many really odd symptoms I had- like the watery right eye, lost the ability to spell or say simple/ordinary words, total brain fog {scary}, loss of mental focus, vision fluctuated with my symptoms, voice got all weak and scratchy, dizziness, swallow reflexes were out of sync-choked on water often.
no wonder the docs didn't have a clue.

I never really had high pain though - maybe a 7 sometimes but mostly avg a 4 at the bad times -but with all those oddball sx it was scary to not know what was causing them at the time.

Oh Momz, hope the flare subsides for you today!

I used to drive a manual trans... my ex promised me an automatic b4 we got married, but after my 1st surgery he decided that I didn't go anywhere anyway, so why would I need a new car? (I told him a used would be fine) Besides, that would mean HE would have to wait before he could trade his 2002 for a 2004. Jerk. After the 2nd surgery (right rib resection) it was AWFUL. SO painful! Oh, throw in 2 hurricane evacuations - in stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic from Ft. Laud to ATL. Then after the 3rd surgery (left rib resection) I could no longer reach over with the left arm to shift into 1st, 3rd and R. I'm certain that this hampered my recovery.

1 year after the 4th surgery (pec minor release) I gave my car to my daughter and started driving my Mom's automatic VW Jetta. The doors are so heavy and they don't stay open so they are constantly slamming into my shoulders as I enter/exit the vehicle. It's beating me to death!! I'm beginning to see that my driving days are numbered.

Be kind to yourself Momz and refuse the manual transmission - even if it means not going somewhere.

Anne

my son got a Passat automatic & I drove a time or 2 - I could feel the front wheel drive pulling and vibrating compared to my old rear wheel drive volvo.

Parents PT Cruiser does it a little bit too.

Those are the only front wheel drive cars that I have driven.

and our 4x4 all wheel drive pickup isn't as smooth/steerable either.

Just wondered if anyone else noticed anything like that?

But other than 2 wheel drive pickups I don't know if many newer cars are rear wheel drive anymore??

BMWs are rear-wheel drive.

Funny that I seem to have less problems with our stick shift VW New Beetle than our automatic Tahoe. But I perfected shifting with my palm/wrist many years ago in a 2wd Toyota P/U. No gripping at all of course.

The automatic Tahoe gives me fits having to reach UP to put it in reverse, drive, park, etc...Might be a little better now that we got the shifter housing/cable replaced...it was pretty stiff and clunky!

marabunta

we have a mini van (mine) and a honda civic (5 speed-hubby's). In the beginning I couldn't drive the honda at all...now I can only drive it on good days. It is a really easy car to shift, though.



sorry you are feeling extra bad again momz....

Hi guys

Thanks for all the replies. I am still in pain today...the flare hasn't gone down yet from that wondreful drive I had. Never again will I drive a stick...well at least for a LONG while that is. What was even more stressful was that I got detoured along the way ...had to go 15 minutes out of the way on a some windy back roady in the forest somewhere. It required lots of friggin shifting! I was so ticked cause by the time I got back to the road I was originally on...THEY OPENED THE ROAD BACK UP! I probably was the last one that got detoured...just my luck!

Anyways, I have so much burning going on..in my neck and shoulder. My right eye is bothering me. It's all watery and I my vision is blurred. My hand has been ice cold all day...I feel like Michael Jackson with the one glove thing going on..lol

Jo...I want to say...boy do we have similarities...all the symptoms you described...I got. I just wonder ...when will they go away

I love reading all your posts when I can that is...I can't sit for very long but Im trying...guess I better stop trying

Well all I can say is...I love my mini van even though I haven't gone anywhere in 2 days and I still ahte driving.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday and looking forward to the weekend. Hope it's pain free....I only wish mine was...I see the Doc Monday. I think I'll instruct the kids on what to do this weekend....I'll observe and take my advil! Woohoo

I sent the hubby to the meat market...he's cooking this weekend...

Take care and tlak to ya soon..