Driving In The Car?

[pipistrelle]

I saw something which explained why air travel is bad for people with dysautonomia and exacerbates symptoms (very very dry/dehydrating, pressure changes, blood pooling etc) but I was wondering if anyone else experiences the same thing with car travel?

My family has always gone on long road trips to see my grandparents (12-14 hours) and as I have gotten sicker I've noticed that I absolutely cannot tolerate these trips any more. They make me like 5 times as symptomatic or something (and make my fibro pain about twice as bad as well...)

Anyone else have trouble tolerating road trips? I was in a fair amount of discomfort until about hour 6 at which point it became ACUTE discomfort and an hour later I felt so awful I could no longer stay in the car so we had to stop for the night. This even with stops to walk around and stretch my legs and get fresh air etc. :/ Are there any methods of travel that DON'T have a really bad effect on dysautonomia symptoms???

[bellgirl]

I use Zofran for longer than a few hour road trip, and that's with someone else driving. It helps with motion sickness, and was first used for cancer patients for nausea. Talk with your doctor. I also hydrate very well, too; but 6 hours is about my limit, and that's with medication to help. I've been diagnosed for 2 years, and that is still the same. At least I don't have horrific dizziness and vertigo anymore. I actually do better in a plane, believe it or not, because the trip isn't as long, and you can always ask for water, and they let you take a drink that you purchase in the airport on board, and you can walk around on the plane; it's just a little hard on the ears, if it's a larger plane, since they travel higher. I visited my sister and niece when she had her twins, non-stop flight to Washington, DC on a business flight, (small plane), I was even able to go on a sunset sail on the gulf, and go para sailing with my husband for our 30th anniversary!!

[Dustbunni]

Teleportation. That's what we need. That's on my wish list right next to the time machine.

I don't think I've ever taken a plane without being worse for it. Last time I disembarked and had to drag my nonfunctioning right leg behind me all the way through a major airport. The leg works better now but is nowhere near normal. Doctors at the time said there was no evidence for stroke and have no clue what caused it. I know something happened on the flight and that's been enough to keep me from flying since then.

Car rides. Ugh. I haven't tried a car ride longer than about an hour since I've started my daily IV saline, so I'm not sure how I'd do now. However, pre-saline I couldn't handle an hour trip without being extra ill for days after. The <6 hour trip to my geneticist a few months ago was miserable. Pain, discomfort, nausea. I felt like I was hanging on by a thread when we finally got home. At the beginning of the year I took an even longer trip (about 11 hours). That trip sent me to the hospital. Not good.

Have you ever noticed on the car trips that the higher elevation, such as going up a mountain, can cause symptoms to flare suddenly and then ease slightly as the elevation drops again? Most of my out-of-town trips require modest-to-severe elevation changes and I notice this almost all the time. Combine it with my sensitivity to sudden weather changes and I really think I'm just very, very sensitive to pressure changes. I guess it's like anything else and our bodies don't know how to properly respond automatically and "autonomically".