falling asleep while driving--only while driving

[kSativa]

My friend recently got a car after a period of not driving for about six months. Every time she drives...every time, she falls asleep. She has had several really close calls lately. She is getting plenty of sleep, she eats well and stays healthy...she weighs about 120lbs and is 5'7. She says that she doesnt feel tired, she just uncontrollably falls asleep. This doesnt occur any other time, only in the car. I concerned that it could be a form of narcolepsy. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[x50]

perhaps a case of carcolepsy?

 

[p-mo]

probably just road hypnosis... Only thing to suggest is to look about more (don't just stare at the road ahead the whole time) and ensure your breathing frequently and deeply. And if you start to feel tired pull over immediatly. 5 mins snooze does absolute wonders...

 

[Opiate 420]

watch out for that, drowsy driving kills more people than drunk driving if im not mistaken

 

[a thing]

Put on some music.

 

[Jackal]

Keep a window open. Lots of babies sleep with white noise, such as you get in a car, so music is a good call too.

 

[kSativa]

thanks guys....we've tried a number of things. she drives with the music on, windows down whatever...doesnt seem to help. I agree, sleepy driving is more dangerous than drunk driving, problem is sleep comes without an warning of 'sleepiness'. she even falls asleep when others are driving. this weekend she had a full blown psychotic episode that landed her in jail strapped to a chair so hopefully now her parents will pay for her brain scans to make sure there is nothing going on =/ quite sad that it takes a major episode to get someone to care

 

[KStoner6tb]

perhaps a case of carcolepsy?

That's actually a real disease with doctors and medicine and stuff

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

My wife is like this. She can't drive for more than 1 hour without getting very sleepy. Luckily, she doesn't really happen to use caffeine in her day to day life, so when she inevitably stops and gets a big fast food cup of iced coffee, she's positively jacked, and problem solved. The funny thing is, it's not a matter of inadequate food or sleep, and like your friend, it's only when she's driving.

Driving can get very boring. Both boredom and the subtle rocking vestibular stimulation you get in a car can establish the brain wave rhythms for falling alseep.

I always chalked this not being an issue for me up to my constant caffeine consumption, meh.

 

[Fjones]

This is a serious problem. I have this intermittently. I'll be driving along, after a reasonable night's sleep, and I become overwhelmed with fatigue. My eyelids weigh a ton, and I cannot fight it off. I have pulled over numerous times to sleep. I am not comfortable taking a long drive without Adderal or Ritalin. Provigil works best, but it leaves me wired all day, which I do not like.

I am healthy and eat reasonably well, though I may have some sort of sleep disorder.

For the OP - I recommend provigil.

 

[fatiguefighter]

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Reyner and Horne (1998) asserted that common countermeasures employed by drivers to ameliorate the negative effects of fatigue and drowsiness, such as redirecting cold air directly onto the driver’s face via the vehicle’s air conditioning system, appear to be of only “marginal and transient benefit”.

 

[yougene]

People that have undergone hypnosis can also have this problem when the stimulus that was used to put them into a trance is similar to the stimulus provided by vehicles. A visit to a hypnotist might help?

 

[kultron]

Perhaps exhaust carbon monoxide fumes are leaking into the car, those def make you sleepy.

 

[rant*N*rave]

^Definitely something to check for.

Although if she falls asleep regularly in cars other than hers, she's probably just particularly susceptible to the sleep-inducing properties of a moving car. It works wonders on babies, and it could obviously extend into adulthood for some people. I definitely have had this problem before while driving between home and school (about an hour and a half drive of boring, almost straight highway... bleh...). The only thing I can suggest is some caffeine or other stimulant or pulling over to take a nap. Driving sleepy is extremely dangerous.

 

[ranunky]

perhaps a case of carcolepsy?

HAHAHA that was funny

 

[DarksidePharmacist]

This might not help in your case because it seems more serious than my experiences.... But i find sucking on mints, life savers or lollies while you drive keeps you awake. Very simple, but the act of mastication will keep most people awake

 

[DMFNR]

I felt this when I was on methadone. I eventually just stop driving while I was on the program after a couple close calls. I have terrible insomnia, and when I'm driving sometimes I can actually start to feel like I could sleep. It's kinda relaxing. Even towards the end of opiate withdrawal, when I would in for a drive it would be really calming for me.

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

My wife is like this. She can't drive for more than 1 hour without getting very sleepy.

This is a serious problem. I have this intermittently. I'll be driving along, after a reasonable night's sleep, and I become overwhelmed with fatigue. My eyelids weigh a ton, and I cannot fight it off. I have pulled over numerous times to sleep.

Wow.. this is me! In the past I've been a lot worse, as in getting extremely sleepy and even having to fight micro-sleeps after driving for very short amounts of time. Now I can generally get through around an hour of sleeping without getting to a 'dangerous' stage of drowsiness.

I had no idea other people experienced this same phenomenon!

 

[JohnnyTruant]

I was about to post about having this problem then SWIM UTFSE, and presto! Bump please..

I find myself constantly falling asleep, due to opiate use(i believe), but ONLY WHEN DRIVING. I started taking Nuvigil, which seems to help some. It's totally weird, cause when I arrive at my destination, I am wide awake. I am awake before I drive somewhere. At first I thought it was a freak coincidence, but it has gotten worse the longer I have used. I didn't notice it at all for the first year I used...

I personally think it has something to do with the faster motion -- all my driving is highway driving. When I am driving at slower speeds, I don't notice getting sleepy. When I am blasting down the highway at 80mph, I start to get the head creeps..As you can imagine, this is super dangerous, and totally crippling if you don't drive at all as a result of this...then again it could be totally crippling if you smash into a wall or another car at 80+ mph...

Ever since it happened, I have had to pull over and get out and walk around. It freaks me out, the last thing I want to do is hurt anyone. My solution, make sure and have a cold drink with me (coke, red bull, water), and something to chew ( a mint, or tic tac, or something). It does seem to help some, and is probably cheaper than that electrical device that was spammed a few posts ago.


If anyone has any other insight, medical or otherwise, or solutions to this problem, I would love to hear..this is very interesting to me.


jt

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

I know someone who fell asleep driving it it was because of Sleep apnea.

Tell your friend to get checked by a doctor that's really weird that she would fall asleep like that only while driving.

JohnnyTruant-Don't drive after opiate use or while nodding?