Brain fog and driving

[DragonSlayer45]

Just thought I would pop in and ask about others experiences with Brain fog from Treating and driving. I have not been on in a while so those who do not know me. I am geno 1a in week 43 of 48. I have been UND since week 4. I have suffered as many do the fatigue, mental brain fog , and all the other wonderful things that go with treatment.

I always had concerns before I started treatment about the length of my commute (60 miles each way) and how or if my treatment would impact it. I have taken days off during my treatment due to being fatigued and lack of mental clarity. I have also gone many more days when I should have stayed home.

Last Friday I had a fender bender going to work. It was raining, bumper to bumper traffic on interstate and to make a long story short I rear ended the guy in front of me. He stopped short I was not paying attention and boom. No one hurt low speed impact but my car is in shop. It was the type of thing that can and does happen to anyone.

It was also a day when the fog was thick (in my head). I have been a little worse as I close in on finish line. My blood counts are low but not low enough to warrant dose reductions or procrit etc. but enough that it explains why I feel worse lately.

I have had times earlier in treatment when I would be driving and momentarily not recognize where I am (when I have been there before). I know most of us have experienced the can't finish a sentence or complete a thought. Forget what you were doing, and general cognitive impairment. It comes with the territory from interferon treatment.

I spoke with my doctor and he has me staying out for last 5 weeks since my job provides that benefit. I know in my heart it is the right thing to do. Heaven forbid I was to hurt someone and even myself because of this.

I was curious of others driving experiences and have they ever felt like they maybe they should not drive due to brain fog.

[Grateful29]

Talk about brain fog.  I came out of the grocery store, looked down in my cart and could not figure out why my groceries were not in bags LOL LOL I did a u turn and went into the enter door and pulled my cart up to a check out and did what I should have done. ... checked out!!! My goodness... talk about embarrassing moments.  I have a lot of brain fog stories... about driving the car...... I did not drive that much... unless I felt really up to it. I was far too tired to drive and sometimes I would throw up without any warning all over the place.....My pride got the best of me and I would clean it up... talk about humiliation. I came home from the dump one day beeping the horn to my husband to come out and help me. Another mess... When it came to side effects I had them all even hives... what a sight. Eventually I laughed it all off... I kept on trucking.Declared cured June 07 and still I have not gotten rid of some side effects... see my posts LONG  TERM SIDE EFFECTS ANYONE INTERESTED???????????? I am still struggling, but I rretain a great sense of humor and a determination to feel well whatever it takes. Thanks, Grateful29

[coocoo626]

Thanks for the post, I've only been on tx 2 weeks but I can't seem to be able to keep the car on my side of the road. I should not be driving.

[GreatBird]

This ought to be something that doctors talk to patients about.

[merryBe]

I think you are right on the money to be more concerned...maybe because we know about this disease we are not attributing so much to normal aging...but I've become more hyper aware of my "momentary lapses"...driven home, as if my trying to observe myself did not heighten things enough, by the fact that I got 2 speeding tickets in 2 weeks..and I wasn't even in a hurry.
I've curtailed all my excursions since then in recognition that cognition cannot help but take a down turn even if not ammonia driven but anemia driven...either way the result is less awareness and that means yes it's very serious and kudos to you for recognizing it.

Besides which, if you can get the time off...why the heck would you Not take it...maybe it's just me, but if I'd had a 9-5 during all this I'm not sure I'd still be foggin' a mirror.

mb

[IMstacie]

since I'm the one that said it - it must have been directed at me.  Ahh, nonetheless, it was just my poor attempt to make a bad situation light.  Foolish me.

[jmjm530]

Last comment was fnot directed toward any one person, nor particularly referring to this particular thread, but more a reply to the "Jim you are too serious" comment on a topic that I think should be taken seriously. In the past, we have had chuckles in similar threads and I'm sure I'm guilty of a few as well, but we've also had a number of accidents and as I see it the subject should be taken a lot more seriously.

[jmjm530]

Yuk: Jim you are too serious
___________________________
For some reason the driving on riba/peg threads always seem to get a big laugh except we have had some real accidents reported here and it could only be a matter of time until one of these threads will be anything but funny. Some people simply should not drive if the drugs impair them to an unsafe degree. Maybe you can explain the humor of a car accident.

[santana13666]

About a month and a half after starting treatment I started getting extreme vertigo - was pretty wild I would turn my head and it would take about 5 minutes for everything to catch up to my vision - this caused me to put myself on medical leave with my job - city bus driver - felt it was not safe for me to drive.  Now the vertigo has gone away but there are times when the brain fog hits - I'll be turning a corner and can't figure out why the car isn't moving - then I realize my foot is on the brake - forget where I'm going quite a bit - start looking around at houses, people walking down the sidewalk, anything but the road like i am the passenger instead of the driver.  Brain fog isn't half as bad as the road rage though - the other day someone cut me off and I got so mad I started shaking uncontrollably - could feel the blood pressure rising - takes everything I have not to smash into these people - think I could plea temporary insanity?

[IMstacie]

Jim you are too serious and Marcia you are too funny!

But, seriously, it's not easy but I work hard to keep alert and my head clear while I am driving because of the -brain fog while driving. I drive over 60 miles a day.  I probably stay more cautious because I'm so unsure of myself.   It's probably good exercise for my cognitive abilities to do this, anyway.

Plus, I live in an area where NO ONE can drive!  

[jmjm530]

If you don't feel you can be a safe driver on these meds then you should make other arrangements. It's common sense.

[winner727]

i fell off my bike yesterday. no joke cuz it hurt

[GreatBird]

I sold my car a couple of years ago after people wouldn't stop driving into me. My DH has a car, but I haven't driven it since I've been on tx. Not sorry to be not driving. Actually, rather relieved. I don't need the added tension.

[Marcia2202]

I was so no good already before starting treatment (physically and brainfoggily), that I sold my car... Lol.. could only think it would get worse, which it did. Now I'm up and about again and will buy a new car in the autumn.

[CanaryParker]

I'm glad that this was brought up!
Another warning should be with the meds and all monitored for cognitive abilities or defects :)

Since the tx made for me to not recall much at all it's puzzling that anything is remembered but foggedly recall not knowing how to start or get my stick shift car going. Didn't even think that was strange.
Took a while...and how i got around anywhere without causing accidents is a miracle lol.
My grown son told me that I had insisted on driving on those manic days when he thought he should drive when we got together.
said I would stop in the middle of intersections..at green lights or red..stop signs..go into the opposite lanes like being drunk.
he said he would force me to pull over so that he could drive and made me promise to not drive and call to get groceries...and if not available to take the bus or find someone during the day for doc and lab appointments.
With working he couldn't be around on weekdays.
and I do recall getting completely lost in very well used routes..like to the docs for blood draws, etc.
I'd either be layed out or in manic...but i had to get to places and drove a car in that state...out of my mind.
i still have memory problems and am extra careful doing anything, including driving!
i have yet in all my life to get a ticket or get into an accident though.
Just dumb luck, I think, while on tx and a long while after.
And as charm said, it is scary.
I had to go about myself 99% of the time with total brainfog, uncoordinated, dyslexic, sick.
Grocery shopping meant hours of getting lost and looking at everything, reading labels. Do remember using the cart like a walker when so weak and sick.
It's still a wonder no one asked if i needed help.
That's what I recall..the rest is hearsay from others.
Take special precautions and if need be use special transit for errands if available in your area. Not worth endangering self or others.

[charm27]

Unfortunatey I can so relate to this thread. I never got pulled over and got 1 parking ticket my entire life. When I was txing I goti nto minor fender bender and got pulled over twice for which the cops thought it was drunken driving. I was so mortified.
However when the saw my loss of hair and the way I looked ( I looked HORRIBLE)
I told them I was on chemo. I was lucky both times they let me go and didnt ticket me.
I shouldnt have been driving but I had to go shopping and had no one to do it for me.
It was very scary I could have got myself killed. This was around month 4 and month 8.
My total equilibrium was off. After that incident I only drove when absolutely necessary
which was only when I had to buy food,
Scary..and I will never forget it.

BE CAREFUL.

Good Luck
Cham
My brain fog was so horrible...

[GrandmaBRZ]

My Brain fog experience:
When I was in about the middle of tx (i was on 72 wks plan), I was coming home from DMV, stressed, and had no sleep the night before.  I made a left turn in the intersection.  I had not seen the truck coming at me, he plowed into me on passenger side and I plowed into the car in the intersection.  No one was hurt but my car was totalled. His truck also suffered damage. Even though there was no signal or stop sign, It was my fault. I had not looked and was too slow in the turn.

I had taken the riba about 3 hours before and was anxious as well as tired and stressed.  I then decided I would only drive short distances, never drive if I had not had sleep and avoid all left hand turns when there was no stoplight or stop sign.  I had to rely on friends to drive me if I had had no sleep.  I also went from a stick shift to an automatic.  although I am done with tx I still apply the no sleep rule.  It took a while to "get back on the horse" but am o.k. with driving now but am much more cautious.

Insurance took care of the car but of course my premium went way up.

[DragonSlayer45]

Thank you for sharing that story. I am glad that you were more alert and conscious of your surroundings that it helped you avoid a serious incident because of this discussion. You are correct that could have happened to anyone just as my accident could have also. You are also correct in this day and age people are in genneral distracted by cell phones, texting, reading, makeup etc. Those alone are all potential "accidents looking for a place to happen".

That is my whole point being distracted or not thinking clearly (brain fog) can all have the same effect. How many of us TXing (most) have experienced not being able to find words when talking, forgetting what you are talking about in mid sentence, walking into a room and not knowing why you are there, can't remember important things, etc. Those of us who have experienced this know it is not the same thing as your "normal" forgetting things. We all have done that but it is not the same as what you experience on treatment.

I had another "incident" of sorts yesterday. My kids are off school for Easter break. They made plans to play at a friends house. I drove them over a little before lunch. I drove right past their street then after taking the block drove right past their house with them outside. My kids said "Dad what is wrong with you" (I did not tell them why I am off work other than my doctor thought I should stay home and rest). Keep in mind the house I drove past is a friend of ours for years and we go there all the time. It is 2 miles from my house and I have been there literally thousands of times.

That pretty much cemented it for me. I am going to seriously limit my driving until I finish treatment. To me these are all wake up calls. I have, as many do, pushed through the fog and fatigue for a long time. It is a little worse as I close in on the finish line. I have always pushed through because I do not want to miss work, let others down, and try to live as normal a life as possible when treating. I also now realize that with driving the potential for having an accident is too great for my to risk mine, my kids, or others lives.

For that matter it applies to anything you do. Your job for example, maybe you work around machinery, or electrical equipment. If you are not thinking clearly you or someone  else could get hurt. Maybe you are a car mechanic and you forget to tighten the lug nuts on a tire and the customer drives away and their tire falls off. I am just thinking out loud. Many of us push through due to sheer need (have to work) or some because we do not want anyone to know we are sick and treating, or we just want to live as normal a life as we can while treating.

I have done all the "tricks" they recommend to combat this (keep a pad and write things down, keep a set routine, etc). They all help but my point was it was a wake up call for me and I am fortunate enough to have the time at my job to take off.

Like I said I was just curious how many other experienced this and if not to raise awareness to others of potential brain fog related problems.

[meakea]

DragonSlayer:  

Thank you for posting about the driving issue.  After I read your post yesterday (and posted my response), the idea of problems occurring while driving kind of stuck with me in the back of my head all day.  When I got out to my car after work yesterday, I told myself to "drive in the moment" and pay attention to everything.

After driving only about 2 blocks, a man came out of a restaurant and was walking between 2 cars that were parked in front of the restaurant and he stopped and was waiting for my car to drive by so he could jay-walk across the street to his vehicle.  I happened to notice, in the course of a split second, that his mouth was moving as if he was talking but there was no one else around.  My instinct told me to take my foot off the gas and put it on the brake and, just as I did so, a little boy about 4 years old ran out from between those two parked cars and in front of my car!  Had I not already had my foot on the brake, I would have hit him -- NO DOUBT!  The boy was with the man but the boy was too small to be seen over the cars and, of course, the boy couldn't see anything from his view either.  Had I not been paying attention "to everything"...

It was only my intuition that saved that boy -- not his father who should have had his hand -- yet his father gave ME a dirty look and then proceeded to slap the little boy along side the head and then they both jay-walked in front of my car to go across the street to their vehicle.

It isn't just us on TX that have issues while driving though.  There is a whole new generation of people who are talking on cell phones, sending text messages, doing their makeup, smoking, eating, reading, etc. WHILE driving are creating a whole new set of drivers who are otherwise occupied and not "driving in the moment."  

What almost happened to me yesterday could have happened to anyone who was not "driving in the moment" but, yet, if I had hit the boy I would have blamed myself for driving while on TX.

Just telling my story that still makes me shiver...

[DragonSlayer45]

Thanks for all your input and sharing your personal experiences.

I am surprised that this is not something more people talk about, or doctors mention.

You are not supposed to operate machinery when using certain types of medications. Interferon is known to cause irritability and rage issues in addition to brain fog, cognitive impairment, etc. but yet no one talks about those issues with HCV treatment.

If you are foggy headed and your thinking process is slowed (which it can be) you would think they would stress that a little more. Another name for this is "chemo brain".

I am curious how many others have been effected but just never talk about it.

[CMcH]

I try to drive as little as possible. The glare from the sun hurts my eyes and sometimes I'm so fatigued I am sure my reaction time has diminished. I used to always be the designated driver with my friends and did all the driving with my family. Now I let others drive and have my husband pick up the kids more. When the dehydration got really bad in the summer I was dizzy and light headed and had no idea why I was driving to work.
Be careful and rest as much as you can. That is a long commute that would fry anyone let alone people on TX.

[jonney4141]

yes i can definantly relate to this, glad you brought it up, i thought i may be over exagerrating, but sometimes i get a little scared to drive, cause i really can't think straight, and feel like my life is in slow motion, yes the road rage was really bad yesterday, i swear if i would of had a gun i would of been dangerous, also being in wal-mart yesterday and people with the shopping carts coming at you in all directions i had to get the hell out of there!!!! yesterday was bad as far as the rage. i also am taking some time off as my job suggested it to me, and they did call me the other day and told me how much they miss me, and that the people doing my job are horrible, so that did make me feel better. my wbc are low too, but today i feel very much llike my self, and have not felt like this in weeks, so maybe the wbc is getting better? who knows? i definantly am seeing how precious it is to feel good, and to be able to get things done.for me it is a big roller coaster ride....

[Marc1955]

You don't want to know how crazy I am – about six months into tx I bought a scooter to commute to work – and not just any scooter, a vintage style scooter with a manual transmission. It's got something to do with a mid-life crisis exacerbated by HCV. What can I say? I don't think there's enough talk on this board about mid-life crises for middle age men exacerbated by HCV and treatment.

In any event, I found the scooter actually helped with the brain fog because it forced me to concentrate. Driving the scooter would make me feel less drowsy by providing a little adrenaline rush to the brain. So that's my advice. Buy a motorcycle.  I'm thinking a nice BMW with a sidecar could get you through the last month of treatment -;)

In all seriousness, good luck. Can't believe you're so close to being done.

[portann]

Maybe it's something with how the meds affect perception because the same crazy thing happened to me.

I came to a red light exiting a small shopping plaza (across the street from the police station) and saw the red perfectly, but it somehow signalled to my brain to keep going!!

My husband shouted but I was so deep into the intersection, I had to keep going and make my turn.

He thought I hadn't seen the light but the worst part of it was that I HAD seen it and thought red meant go.

[Tippyclubb]

Oh yes--brain fog while driving is huge for me.  A few weeks ago I went half way through a red light and thank God nothing was coming.  I was able to back up.  It scared me so bad, every since I really pay attention when approaching lights.  Now I have my husband drive when ever possible.