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.

[sooncome50]

Thank you! You have describe my issues 98% correctly.  Mine started about three months ago. I am now searching for help. Scary!

[Hatingco]

I have found relief (so far) from these exact same symptoms. I realize this might not work for everybody, but even if it works for one person, it's worth it. I will tell you my symptoms first, although they are similar to those above. This started when I took a 13 hour drive home for the holidays. The last couple hours I was fairly confident I was driving a plane and not a car. I chalked it up to motion sickness from being in the car that often and forgot about it until it happened on my way home. I ignored it again because I wasn't planning on making that long of a trip any time soon. However, I did make a 45 minute trip to visit friends shortly thereafter. I started getting the motion sickness at the stop light on a major highway. I made it to my friend's house okay, but on my way back, I got so dizzy I was sure I would crash. I started panicking, but since I used to have panic attack frequently in my early 20's, I knew how to handle them. I want to reiterate that I felt the panic after the dizziness set in. I went to a doctor immediately and he decided I had a sinus infection. I went to that doctor 3 more times for more medication. I couldn't even stand up for longer than a couple minutes at a time. I took nearly 4 weeks off of my job. I bought a humidifier and started using a neil med spray to get rid of the sinus infection faster. I did not have any pain in my sinuses at all and was about to go back to the doctor from the pain, but after the third medication, a ridiculous amount of mucus came out of me. I was finally feeling well enough to go to work. I found, however, that while I started out doing full days, I had to go to half days eventually. I went to an ENT doctor and got the scope and CT scan done. They said there was nothing unusual. I just had a little fluid in the sinuses below my cheeks indicating that I did have a sinus infection. I started taking sudafed daily on the advice from one of my coworkers and was feeling better, although not great. My mother told me to see an allergist. I fought it because I had never had any problems with allergies before and I didn't get any of the stereotypical symptoms like itchiness or rashes or sneezing or tickling back throat. Finally I decided that I needed to do SOMETHING so I went in. It turns out that I am highly allergic to almost everything except foods. I was prescribed Q-nasl and told to do allergy shots. Within two days of using Q-Nasl, I was feeling so much better. And the best part is that I could drive.

Now I take a sudafed 12hr every day. I do the neilmed saline wash 4 times a day, and take the Q-Nasl every morning. I have been feeling almost normal. Apparently sudafed can cause high blood pressure, so I don't recommend anyone with those issues to take it daily like I do. Neilmed anyone can use. The Q-Nasl burns when going in, but it works so much better than nasonex does for me. I also take Claritin when my throat feels like it's going to close due to a high pollen count day.

I still need the sudafed which makes my allergist think that there might be something the the ENT missed. I am bringing him my CT scan so he can take a look at it and possibly get a third opinion by another ENT doctor.

I still have trouble on some days driving a long distance. I chew gum and that helps with the pressure in my ears. Otherwise, I'm almost back to normal. I hope this helps someone on this thread.

[Phionex58]

java,
Check out vestibular syndrome. What you are describing is what I was diagnosed with and it will give you more info. The connection between Brain, hearing, taste, sight and balance is in play. Also I believe that with tbi we are only able to process a limited amount of pain and then the brain shuts down. We don't even know we are in pain thus the problems of the light or too much stimuli to the brain causing your body to react in those ways as a warning of shutdown..

[BarbaraAnnIL]

omg,,,,, I have the same problem, and thought it was just me.... have you been to the Dr? i'm going in 2days, and begging for help. i'm 35yrs old, and don't understand why this is happening. It started for me almost 1yr ago.

[BarbaraAnnIL]

I feel so much better knowing there's other people out there going through this. My God i have been feeling this way for about 1 year now. I just had a baby 5 weeks ago, and of course everyone tells me it's all just pregnancy related. Now 5 weeks after giving birth it's still here. I feel like i'm not in control of my car, I feel like I panic, and I struggle leaning to my right side in the car. It's absolutely terrifying!!! I can drive on local streets not going faster than 40-45 miles per hour. The expressway is now my biggest fear ever. I'm just turned 35 yrs old, and have been driving since I was 16yrs old. Now i feel as if the enjoyment & freedom I always had driving has been taken away. I am so tense, and nervous driving... I tried to drive a 3 mile stretch on the expressway yesterday,,,,,,, hell on earth. I had to pull over 3 times in sheer panic. I wanted to quit, but I had to get home, so I pushed through with my body so tense, and my hands sweating... [not normal for me]. This issue makes me want to break down and just cry,,,, feeling crazy & disabled....
*** Thank you all for sharing your stories.
It really helped me to hear them. I have a Dr's appt in 2days, and I will be seeking help.

[Valerie1000]

Yes! I definitely know what your going through. I'll be driving like any regular day then boom! All of a sudden here comes the dizziness and double vision which is then followed by a numb headache. When this happens my eyes starts to cross, I see two roads,two cars,two trees when only there is just one of each. I have to put on my hazard lights  and pull over quickly and wait for the vertigo to pass. The scary part is that I have passengers in the car with me and when this panic take place they have no idea of what's going on. When I get dizzy, it feels like I'm falling to the right so when I'm driving my car is going right because that's the way I'm falling. I quickly put the car in park and turn on my hazard lights no matter where I am. Cars may blow their horn but hey it's better being safe then sorry. When this happens I found out that letting my driver seat all the way back and turning off the car so there is no noise, it kind of eases the vertigo a little more quickly then just waiting for it to pass. Hope this was helpful