Dizzy and Blur Vision while driving

[Jai38]

I am a 43 yo female who recently started having major problems with dizziness while driving.  I recently started driving 2 hours to and from work.  I am having a difficult time explaining the symptoms.  I was driving home from work and began to feel like everything was moving too fast but I was sitting still.  My vision became blurred and I began  to be unable to focus.  I feel like my car is not touching the road and I have no control.  Medical History: Diagnosed w/fibromuscular dysplasia w/renal artery stenosis 7 years ago; gastric surgery 5 years ago;plastic surgery in July (breast reduction and tummy tuck; high blood pressure and I am hypoglecemic. My PCP states he heard something in my neck and has ordered a Caritoid Ultrasound but I am concern that this is not my problem and it is something we are missing. I am having a low grade headache;some low grade burred vision; dizziness when turning over in the bed and some facial pain behind my eyes.  Please tell me if we should be looking at other things.  I have to drive back and forth to work so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kimberlyj78]

Hi I am new here, but have been dealing with this for almost 2 years. I also have occasional situational panic attacks outside of the ones I get from driving vertigo. Has anyone else had luck with the SCM massage? I have also looked into EMDR therapy. Would love to know if anyone here has made any progress. So glad to find you all!

[JennyJ776]

Try SCM massage. Search YouTube.

[JennyJ776]

Please try SCM massage for your neck.
Search YouTube.
I got cured.

[zoe2886880]

I have had all these same symptoms and tried a variety of things to resolve them.   Just curious has anyone also experienced this same issue in the grocery store?

[Cozgirl]

I have a similar problem, but apparently not as bad as most I have read on this thread.  I experience dizziness while driving, although it doesn't happen every time, doesn't matter if I'm on a highway or side road, and doesn't matter if it's day or night.  I'm pretty sure mine is due to fluid in my inner ear as I have allergies and sinus problems.  I have no idea why it only hits me when driving.  I can be a passenger in a car all day long with no problem.  The only time my dizziness has occurred when I wasn't behind the wheel was after coming home from a cruise vacation (I continued to experience the rocking motion for a month) and during a recent vacation where I was at high altitudes.  I was wondering if anyone has tried Dramamine and if so, was it effective at preventing the dizziness?

[thomastonct]

Update on previous April 2015 post above concerning SCM trigger point massage. At first I got a lot better just by massaging the trigger points in the SCM muscles. A couple of months later it got harder to make go away. Now it is also triggered by upper back muscles, trapezius. A dull ache will go up the back of my neck to the base of my skull and feel very tight. It is caused by trigger points in the trapezius muscles. Above the top of the shoulder blades and along the inner edge of the shoulder blades down to the bottoms of the blades. And along the spine in between the shoulder blades. The low spot down near the bottom of the shoulder blades can cause a hot flash across the middle of the back. These trigger points are connected to the ones in the SCM muscles and they can set each other off. They are very stubborn to release using the "ball on the wall" massage. I have a lot of years of poor posture to correct.

I find I need to not slouch, try to keep my head back over my shoulders (back and looking straight ahead or slightly down, not looking up and not chin jutting forward). Look up "upper cross" syndrome or "head forward posture". And try to relax the shoulders while driving and not hunch them up. One other thing that seems to help a lot is to tilt the pelvis slightly toward the back (belt buckle lifted up a little).

Even if none of this works for you, for many years I was able to keep driving on the highway by keeping my head held back against the seat headrest. Then there was no dizziness until I wanted to look around for lane changes, etc.