Driving

Punchy · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject: Driving

Next weekend I am going to my first ever driver's ed class. Finally, at 28, I decided it's time to get 'er done.

But now I am terrified, because a month ago I had my second attack of vertigo in a year. I am so scared that it will happen again while I am driving. Shocked

How do you guys handle it? Is having MS considered an impairment when driving? When I got my learner's license, I checked "no" on that part of the form. Now I wonder if that was a false statement.

I don't want to be robbed of this independence before I even get the chance Sad

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 2007

hey good for you punchy! i think you should go for it.

when i had my dx attack and i couldn't feel anything i had to look down at the pedals to drive, and i was curious about whether i should be too, but in the end i just did it. *with* the post LP headache at full power, before i read up on all the pressure and healing details

i had some passing issues with information processing while driving last year, and in my appt the neuro said "i won't take your driver's license away today, but let me know if it gets worse"

so, that's how it works in my part of the world i guess. i don't think ms is an impairment until it really does impair you, if that makes any sense. is vertigo basically like suddenly feeling really dizzy?

NHE · Volunteer Moderator Joined: Nov 21, 2004 Posts: 770

Loobie · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:55 am Post subject:

Totally a call you will have to make yourself. If you feel you are, for real, a danger to yourself and others on the road, then you need to give it up. If you feel like you can get the job done safely by taking your time and helping yourself where you can (the mirror adjustments and things like that that NHE refers to) then you should be OK. If you have lost so much confidence that you feel tense behind the wheel and mentally not focused you should also consider not doing it.

I have strong feelings about driving and MS. It would just be tragic for one of us to cling so strongly to it that we don't see we've become a danger until we slam into something. At the same time, if you're are agonizing over it then you are going to be introducing your anxieties about being able to do it which will also be a distraction. If you feel safe, do it, if you don't, don't.

I am dizzy a great deal of the time, but I really don't know if it's vertigo or not. From what I hear vertigo and just dizziness are two different things. I'm not sure about the distintion, but my dizziness tends to reduce once I sit down. If vertigo does not reduce significantly by taking a seat, then I wouldn't drive with it. If it comes on rapidly enough that it would scare you if it happened behind the wheel, then think about pulling over when it happens. I know myself enough now that I won't take a cell phone call while driving anymore since I have had some of the information processing issues that Jimmylegs describes. So basically it's a totally "up to you" decision, but one that should not be made without serious thought if you are worried that your MS could make it unsafe.
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AllyB · Family Elder Joined: Apr 23, 2007 Posts: 340

Hi Guys

From what I have read, dizziness and vertigo are different. Dizziness is feeling sort of light headed, whereas vertigo is where you actually see the world spinning, and apparently it always spins in a clockwise direction...

I would echo the others- only you know how you really feel and if you think your vertigo would occur frequently or unpredictably enough to interfere with driving - I know epileptics (in my country) are not allowed to drive for a certain amount of time following diagnosis and commencement of treatment, so that they can be attuned to their seizure pattern to make sure that they won't have a siezure behind the wheel (that the treatment has totally controlled the seizures). I am not of course saying that you have siezures, but I hope the comparison makes sense?

I also make some adjustments - I don't drive on a freeway as I have information processing problems too and more than 2 lanes of traffic going at high speeds...whew! Also can't drive at night because of the bright headlights from other cars - so much brighter when it is dark at night....Lastly, most cars here have a manual gear box (transmission) and I had to switch to an automatic because my right arm is weak and has muscle spasms, and my right hand is numb and can occasionally slip on the wheel if I don't concentrate on my grip (our cars are right hand drive, so this means that with an automatic transmission, my left hand is always on the steering wheel and my right hand is never in sole charge of steering my car!).
There is treatment for vertigo which you can try if your attackes are frequent - if they occur rarely and you get some kind of warning, even a couple of minutes, you can pull over to the side of the road and be safe.

But I would say you need to be in tune with how your vertigo occurs, and in the meantime, go for the licensing thing - hopefully you will be using it soon! I get what Lew is saying - we can't cling so hard to our independence that we endanger others or ourselves - so you know your abilities better than anyone else.
All the best.

Take care
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Ali

Punchy · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks so much guys.

I think that I will have to speak to the nurse at my clinic about the nature of vertigo. The two times I have experienced it, it came on very suddenly. The second time however, I did get little warning signs a day or two before.

This is such a difficult judgment call. I am very concerned about safety yet how can I learn to drive without spending as much time as possible on the road?

Ally you are correct, vertigo is much more than just feeling lightheaded. It can be quite violent and there is no way I could drive. If it came on very suddenly I may not even be able to pull over to the side of the road.

If anyone else who experiences vertigo comes across this I would love to hear about your own experiences.

AllyB · Family Elder Joined: Apr 23, 2007 Posts: 340

Hi there

I have experienced dizziness and balance issues a few times (!), but true vertigo, only once. It came on very suddenly at work one afternoon - I didn't actually associate it with ms immediately, as ms hadn't been a big issue for me prior to that. I was really scared as the world was literally spinning, accompanied by bad nausea - very, very frightening.

My colleagues carted me off to the emergency room at a hospital near where I worked, and it was only after going through a work-up and almost being given a diagnosis of 'panic attack' (my BP was very high and I normally have low BP, it was natural for it to be high because of my fear though, but paradoxically, the medical staff thought that anxiety was the issue, instead of it being caused by the world literally spinning) - when it eventually came out that I had MS (this was when it was still quite mild, before I started Avonex, and they never asked and I never thought to mention it during my exam), I was referred to my neuro, who diagnosed the vertigo.
He admitted me and gave me some drug IV (can't remember what it was) and it improved rapidly in about 36 hours and I went home.
Thank God I have never had it since (this was about 3 years ago, and I can still remember it very clearly) - it is a truly awful thing that totally prostrates you, you cannot even get to the toilet.

I really feel for you - I still have balance issues and occasional dizziness, but vertigo is a completely different animal.
I believe that the folks who suffer from Menieres disease (spelling - an affliction of the middle or inner ear) can suffer from vertigo too - maybe the drugs used for this would help you? I remember they use anti-emetics like Stemetil, and motion sickness drugs too...? But these also have side effects...
I can understand your concern regarding safety - maybe you should drive with someone in the car with you (just in case) for a few months until you have tracked the occurrance of the vertigo and can judge its' impact on your driving capabilities?
The distinction between dizziness and vertigo was made clear to me after I researched it - which I did after experiencing it.
I wish you all the best.

Take care
_________________
Ali

krsm_131 · Newbie Joined: Aug 16, 2008 Posts: 8

Was the drug they gave you meclizine?

Punchy · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:44 am Post subject:

Krsm, I believe it would have been a corticosteroid like SoluMedrol. That's what I aws given by IV infusion.

MrsGeorge · Family Elder Joined: Dec 11, 2007 Posts: 242

Good for you punchy. I'm sorry I can't tell you about US law but in the UK I have had to inform the DVLA and apply for my license again (no test but I have to pass the medical requirements).

As for when I do drive - I only drive when I feel that it's safe and tend to let my husband do it most of the time!