Driving problems

[katcanny]

Hi to all of you lovely people, 

i am struggling at the moment with dizziness even though my blood pressure is not dropping a lot when I am upright and driving is unbearable at the moment. I feel really dizzy driving but when I am a passenger I am ok to be in a car. My vision goes blurring when going from looking long distance to short distance like checking my speed. Has anyone else experienced similar to this and has anything helped? I am losing my life at the moment I can't drive I can't go to the shops unless I'm in a wheelchair because I feel that dizzy and I haven't been back to work I'm going to lose to my job, I can't even give my 10 year old a normal life at the moment

[Clb75]

HI,

I can definitely relate to what you're going through...Dizziness and fatigue are my main problems. I have been housebound for three years as a result. I have about 20 minutes upright before I get dizzy, and even less if I'm standing or sitting upright. I had to retire from work and no longer drive. Not driving is a huge problem, everyone I know is working during the day so it's hard to find a ride. I ended up hiring a caregiver who drives me to doctor appointments, helps me pick up my daughter from school and run occasional errands. If I'm feeling too dizzy to walk, she'll push me in a wheelchair or can help how ever is needed. If I'm really in a bind, I've taken Uber a few times. I have to ride in the front and recline the seat which is kind of funny, but I just tell them I have a medical issue and it seems to be ok. 

I hope things improve for you, I know it's scary when you can no longer do the "normal" things you used to do.  I really struggled with that at the beginning but found that I had to find a way around it and come up with different ways of getting things done. Not much has helped with my dizziness. I've been on so many meds, but feel that florinef has helped the most along with exercising on a recumbent bike. If I don't do these things I'm dizzy as soon as I sit up. My bp isn't always low either. Have you tried anything besides midodrine or northera...I think you said you were trying those in an earlier post? 

[statesof]

With driving I find it can be visually exhausting if I'm driving for a long time (2-4 hours). Sometimes I have the feeling that there are too many things to pay attention to visually, and my brain is seeing all the individual things rather than the big picture if that makes sense. Overall I found that after about 10-15 minutes of driving its like my vision adjusts to all the constant eye movements and things to pay attention to, but I've also had days where my symptoms were bad and I knew I couldn't drive.

[MarieR]

I have totally experienced this as well. We have family that live 4-5 hours away, and I rarely can make the trip if I am alone. When I can it takes me 2-3 days to bounce back. But recently even a drive an hour has been really tough. So sorry you are dealing with this as well! 

[haugr]

Hey Kat, so sorry you are dealing with this.  I had a ton of vision and dizziness problems when my hyper POTS kicked in.  I stopped driving too. It was hard to explain, but it kind of felt like my brain couldn't visually process information like it used to.  I have the ace2 deficiency form of hyper pots which has low blood volume.  I found that the dizziness / visual issues resolved through increased sodium intake to increase blood volume to get more blood to my brain.  I basically drink a few gatorades, propels, nuun tablets, or sodium chloride pills every day.  I dont need to take nearly as much as those with the other form of pots do, but 4-5 propels in addition to my regular diet seems to be enough to keep me stable.  It is somewhat counter intuitive because of the high blood pressure that accompanies hyper pots and I have found that I have to be careful not to take too much sodium because my blood pressure has spiked to scary levels when I was taking an extra 3 grams of sodium per day.  

Mind if I ask what you have tried to manage this so far?

[katcanny]

Thank you for all the replies, I haven't tried anything to try and remedy this I try every other week to drive just around to my local milk bar which is about 3 to 4 minutes and my vision is horrible. It gets blurry and then I start to blink a lot and my heart rate goes up and then I get short of breath and dizziness. I am fine as a passenger but as soon as I have to visually look around to drive it kicks in and I can't even drive my son to school or anywhere I am so concerned that I will have an accident. I am scared generally now of just being alone with him incase something happens 

[haugr]

I can definitely relate Kat.  That does sound like what I deal with.  There are probably other explanations, but the vision issues could be related to hypovolemia, and the anxiety driven tachycardia and blood pressure spikes could indicate an overproduction of norepinephrine and/or norepinephrine not clearing properly.  If so, one explanation could be what Julian Stewart describes as low flow pots.  I would suggest asking your doctor to check your renin to aldosterone ratios, Angiotensin II levels, and your supine vs standing catecholomines.  

[Bigskyfam]

I've stopped driving over almost 2 years ago. It's too risky I feel given the fine one minute not the next and inability to stop safely to recoup

[writerlymom]

i've had those issues, have had spells where i can't drive at all because of vision/dizzies/weakness. still can't do highway driving for more than a few minutes, it's like my eyes and brain can't connect. are you getting enough sleep? also i guess dry eyes can be a factor... and anxiety will exacerbate it. i have found that if i can get some light exercise and a rest period i feel better for doing that kind of thing, i think it gets my circulatory system functioning better.