drowsy driving

[rylariaizmik]

I'm a newbie. Just got my cpap on Friday and have only used it 2 full nights. My question is when will I be able to drive without having to force my eyes open. I was diagnosed in Dec after a sudden onset of chronic fatigue. I know it's a process but I just want to feel normal. I swear the second my car gets rolling good my eyes are closing. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Stormynights]

I remember those days. I can't remember how long it took for that to stop but it wasn't long. It is hard when you are facing something so dangerous so please just pull over and get it together before continuing to drive. I carried baby wipes to wash my face with and a cold drink.

[kteague]

Yes, I had to give up driving until my sleep got better. Falling asleep at the wheel a block from home and missing the tail end of a large truck by inches snapped me to my senses. Also, a forum member had lost his wife who fell asleep at the wheel after almost making it home from work. He implored me to stop. For a while I could drive within a 15 minute range without a nap mid trip, but knew I never wanted to take an innocent life so I really cracked down on myself. If the only thing impairing your sleep is sleep apnea, it is reasonable to expect consistent therapeutic treatment to lessen your sleepiness pretty quickly. That's different for everyone, depending on how well your treatment is dialed in and how long term your sleep deprivation has been. In the beginning I got sleepier before I got better. Seemed once my body knew it could get some good sleep I craved it. That leveled off in a few weeks and I began to began to wake up after about 8 hours feeling more alert. My deprivation was long standing - well over 25 years of various sleep issues. Hopefully your recovery will be in record time.

[SewTired]

I actually had to quit driving because my situation worsened so rapidly. The extreme drowsiness went away after about 4 days. The headaches stopped within 2 weeks. From then on, it was a slow progression of between 1 and 2 months before I no longer needed naps on a regular basis. I actually did very well when I first started using the machine - I was so tired, I just conked out.

[LSAT]

I'm a newbie. Just got my cpap on Friday and have only used it 2 full nights. My question is when will I be able to drive without having to force my eyes open. I was diagnosed in Dec after a sudden onset of chronic fatigue. I know it's a process but I just want to feel normal. I swear the second my car gets rolling good my eyes are closing. Has anyone else experienced this?

Don't be an idiot....stay off the road until the treatment starts working.

[Goofproof]

I had to drive 70 miles a day 6 days a week, My job when i got to work Driving a 130 ton truck, setting over a 1,200 H. P., 16 Cyl engine, still fell asleep driving it. Luck had it, never ran it off the haul road, usually i'd just fall asleep 200 yards at a time, it was a private road with only a few of us driving on it.

Going home was the worst, i'd always drift to the right, i'd lower the windows and get the wind, after falling asleep a couple of times of it I'd stay awake. I've always been a safer driver when going past the speed limit keeps me focused. XPAP cured my driving. but now I seldom drive at night anyway. Jim

[49er]

I'm a newbie. Just got my cpap on Friday and have only used it 2 full nights. My question is when will I be able to drive without having to force my eyes open. I was diagnosed in Dec after a sudden onset of chronic fatigue. I know it's a process but I just want to feel normal. I swear the second my car gets rolling good my eyes are closing. Has anyone else experienced this?

As one who has severely restricted my driving for various reasons, I highly endorse LSAT's advice to stay off the road until you are fully alert. Many times, when I am tempted to drive when I know I shouldn't, I will ask myself how I would feel if I killed someone because I was out on the road when I shouldn't be. That brings me back to reality.

Stay off the road!

49er

[rylariaizmik]

Unfortunately I don't have the option to just stop driving. There are no other transportation optons for my family. I have to work and there is no bus route for my job. I have children and my oldest needs to get to work, again no bus route. Also have no family in the area to help, it's just me. I'm not falling asleep at the wheel but it is hell keeping my eyes fully open. I get creative though and I've always told myself that if it gets too bad I'll pull over.

[49er]

Unfortunately I don't have the option to just stop driving. There are no other transportation optons for my family. I have to work and there is no bus route for my job. I have children and my oldest needs to get to work, again no bus route. Also have no family in the area to help, it's just me. I'm not falling asleep at the wheel but it is hell keeping my eyes fully open. I get creative though and I've always told myself that if it gets too bad I'll pull over.

I understand but the issue is if you kill someone because of your sleep issues, you won't have a job. Plus you'll never get over killing someone.

By the way, you may have an accident before you realized you need to pull over. You are playing with fire big time.

[Pugsy]

Just got my cpap on Friday and have only used it 2 full nights.

How about making sure that your machine is doing the best it can in terms of fixing the OSA part of the problem?
2 nights isn't very long to expect much in results but you gotta start somewhere.

Exactly which brand AND model are you using?
How many hours of sleep are you getting?
Are those hours of sleep fragmented with many wake ups?
Do you take any medications of any kind? If so, what?

Depending on which model machine you are using...let's use the software to see if the therapy is at least optimal (no big leaks and minimal apnea events) because if it isn't optimal you won't ever get good sleep.
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment
If your machine isn't a full data machine...then you take it back and get one that is full data.

[Soothest Sleep]

I feel very concerned that you are still driving, and with your kids too! I understand you have transportation needs, but there are safer options than risking all your lives.

I understand you have no family nearby to help out, but what about neighbours, co-workers (yours and your working child's), friends, parents of your kids' friends? Explain to them your health situation and its effect on your driving safety, and that you are looking for temporary alternatives. Offer to contribute for the gas. Do you have taxi service in your area? Expensive, I know, but you could get out in a bus service area and carry on from there. Until you get your sleep therapy established, I think it is essential to explore other choices for transportation.

A young man I know fell asleep for mere seconds less than a mile from home, causing him to miss navigating a curve in the road that he travels every day. He ended up in a ditch, with a badly damaged truck. Fortunately (!), he was driving alone, no other vehicles were involved, and he came out of it with only a few bad bruises; but he has learned a hard lesson. Now he recognizes when he is too sleepy to drive and makes other arrangements for travel.

Please, do the same.


Jean

[Julie]

This is not meant to be flippant - you are probably too sleepy to register the possible consequences of an accident... and hoping you'll get off the road when it gets bad is just... hope, not likely reality. You could end up losing your children, someone else's children, in jail for life, divorced, penniless, etc. What about carpooling where you trade your day for more gas money... what if your car broke down for a couple of weeks - what would you do then?

[ChicagoGranny]

Unfortunately I don't have the option to just stop driving.

"She died peacefully in her sleep, while her passengers died screaming."

[palerider]

Unfortunately I don't have the option to just stop driving. There are no other transportation optons for my family. I have to work and there is no bus route for my job. I have children and my oldest needs to get to work, again no bus route. Also have no family in the area to help, it's just me. I'm not falling asleep at the wheel but it is hell keeping my eyes fully open. I get creative though and I've always told myself that if it gets too bad I'll pull over.

you'll have the option after you fall asleep and kill someone... trust me.

[zoocrewphoto]

I actually did not get a driving license until after I was diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea.

I had a phobia of driving for two reasons. I felt like my distance judging was off even though I knew it wasn't. And I always felt sleepy in the car. In 2011, I experienced two vertigo attacks and learned from that experience that my ears have always been a tad off, and that I normally compensate. But in certain lighting situations, it bothers me, and that is what was causing my feeling that distance judging was off. understanding that helped a ton, and I can take medication when I feel it affecting me. The medication does not make me sleepy, so no problem.

The second problem, being sleepy, was due to two sleep issues. I knew about the one, DSPS (delayed sleep phase syndrome, ie, severe night owl). I don't get enough sleep, so I tend to be sleepy. In 2012. I started treatment for sleep apnea, and that make a huge difference.

So, solving those two two issues in 2011 and 2012 got me ready to face my phobia and start driving. I started practicing in January of 2013 and got my license in August. It also helped that I had a huge incentive to finally do it. I had to meet a friend at a cat show in Las Vegas and pick up a kitten. I knew I could not ask somebody to drive me the whole way, so I had to be able to do my share of the driving. It has been almost 4 years since I got my license. That kitten has grown up and performed for 3 commercials. And I am a pretty good driver who likes to err on the side of caution. I do still get tired sometimes, usually fro early mornings as I can't force myself to sleep early. This past weekend, I pulled over a took a nap only 15 minutes from home. It was dark, raining hard, and I did not not feel safe to drive all the way home without that nap.

I am also very aware that I have two red flags that I am getting tired. I tend to hug a line rather than staying centered in the lane. And i tend to find myself speeding and have to slow down, Multiple times. Both of those are warning signs that I need to take the next exit and take a break.

I do NOT use cruise control under any circumstances. It believe it reduces reaction time if your foot is not ready to hit the brake. And I think it might lead to paying less attention if I do not have to monitor my speed. Since I have two sleep issues, the last thing I need is an invitation to pay less attention.