who has problems with driving?

[greendave]

lagoya mentioned that driving is a problem for him and I can't remember reading anythng about this so, as I have the same problem, how many other have too?
It's odd but i have most things under reasonable control (or do I think I have) but driving can be a nightmare with the horrible feeling that I am going to pass out and crash. I know about breathing correctly, anxiety and positive thinking etc, but now and then I get this feeling and I have to come off at the next junction and get out of the car. The miles to the next juction are an absolute nightmare and this is a problem which takes me by surprise and for which I have no answer or understanding.
it really gets me as i do not have a routine or a solution  - it is the one thing that I cannot  yet predict or control. I do not start off feeling bad or tense and often nothing happens - but when it does it's out of the blue, totally unexpected and frightens me very very much.
dave

[greendave]

Wow it's so odd but I take comfort from reading this in that I'm not alone. I often drive in the slow lane in case I have to pull off the road and sometimes i drive along the slow roads which takes much longer so as to be able to stop if I need to.
I just do not understand how i can go from perfectly OK enjoying the drive to the nightmare of - am I going to pass out?
I prefer to be driven and when I am, no matter how long the drive, i never have any problems so it has to be a mental problem associated with being in control of the car.
this is my one real unresolved problem - at least today.
dave

[Jerry_NJ]

Ouch, now I've got that to worry about.

I have had a history of "minor" (if there is such a thinkg... means having control but still in a panic mode) panic usually associated with height as my 32" extension ladder.. but also 18 wheelers, high road bridges and sheer drop offs along a mountain road. I also had a period of fear of flying, in the 1960s, I later took an international assignment that lasted almost 20 years and I suppose I flew about a million miles, enough to have a life-time Platinum card with Continental.  I have beaten most of it, decided to just relax when traveling or quite my job, I stayed.  I mostly don't have problems on the highways but at times, especially early in the morning, when still dark.  I avoid the middle lane, either drive on the right lane or get in the passing lane, I still have problems when I'm "boxed" in, especially, again, with big trucks.  That I still avoid, flying and high bridges (don't drive in the right lane here) I live with rather well.

How?  I think I just continued to face my problem and got better. For reference I did not have any of these problems as an young man under 30, it all started when I was about 30, I still remember the surprise episode that I associate as my first panic when driving.  I think my fear of flying happened around the time I earned my first electrical engineering degree (with high grades) and I realized engineers (and pilots) didn't in fact know everything.

Guess I didn't help much, unless I give some optimism, I think I'm doing fine now, and the heart problems have not been a core panic issue, mine was, I hope, irrational panic.  

[Brooke_38]

Driving for me has been one of the biggest challenges I have faced. I almost can't remember the carefree days of not worrying about whether I might have an attack while driving.

When it did happen, I was very lucky to have been able to pull to the side of the road and slip the car into park, before I passed out. SInce this episode, I now only drive in the lane closest to the side of the road which allows me to quickly pull over if it should happen again.

When it happened again, I was all set, I pulled over, turned up the radio and draped my head over the steering wheel and tried to breathe through it. I just hadn't prepared myself for the knock on my window by an officer asking if I needed assistance...what do you say then?

[greendave]

Thanks for sharing that - I wonder if it is anxiety and that it is at a subconcsious level?
I find it partucularly difficult on motorways where there are long straights and if the traffic stops and i am surrounded by cars and lorries that is bad. I can understand that perhaps but what I can't get is when i am on a normal road feeling fine and then this horrible feeling starts.
Hope we get some more experiences
dave

[kevk]

Hi
I can relate to what you are saying. I was not permitted to drive for a while after my ICD was implanted. When I started driving again my anxiety levels would go sky high every time I had a PVC or flutter. I have tried everything to overcome this feeling when it comes but sometimes I just can`t stop it. I think it is the responsible thing for me, is to pull over or just have someone drive for me when I can. I know when I am having a bad heart day and do not drive period.
I wish I had some advice to help, But what I do is turn up the radio and look for a place to pull over.