Falling Asleep at the Wheel

Bryan, that is scary! I feel bad for you because I knoe it must make you feel helpless. I wonder if there is something that your Dr. could give you for the trip home, or could you take 1 pill of the ridalyn before work and one after?

Maybe if you could get on a different shift?

I don't deal with this because I don't drive often and when I do it is short distances but I bet there are others that do and hopefully there will be some advice for you.

Lyme made me super sleepy. I was taking naps left and right. I was fortunate to not be working. I would sometimes take 3 naps in the middle of the day and then sleep okay at night. My body likes to sleep when it is ill.

Can you take Uber and sleep on the way to and from work? I know it is an added expense, but it may be a life saver.

Thank you everybody. Denikeef - it doesn't seem to matter which shift I am on because if I am in the morning shift I will fall asleep and if I am on the evening shift I will fall asleep on the way back. I don't really think I can take the other pill on the night shift because I would take it at like 9pm and then I probably wouldn't be able to get to sleep and it would make it worse the next time. The good news is the Ritalin makes it so that I can actually do things that I haven't had the energy to do for over a year now. I will actually text/call friends back and clean my room and talk to people instead of just going home and almost dying on the drive home and then not wanting to leave my house because there is no way that I could drive anywhere else and I live far away from all of my friends.

Trav - yes I am aware of the negatives of Ritalin. I actually abused adderall back before I knew I had lyme (but I was really sick and tired and depressed all of the time). I was completely upfront with my stimulant abuse with my doctor and he knew that when he prescribed the ritalin (we are doing a "pediatric" dose, very small). I do need to be careful though because the ritalin is doing exactly what I want it to which is exactly what happened with adderall in the past and that's why I kept taking more and more. But yeah I think getting my adrenals tested is a good idea. I take holy basil and ashwaganda to try and help them but I also drink caffeine daily (once again, in an attempt to try and be awake and not die driving, but I feel like the caffeine actually makes me more tired and makes me cracked out and like I'm running on fumes, but I tried quitting and did for 16 days and then I was even more tired and fell asleep at the wheel even more). I feel like the only way to get over this is to quit caffeine but be camping in the woods for myself for a month while my body readjusts.

No I don't think it's narcopelsy, I only fall asleep while driving, the other times I am just tired 100% of the time but never falling asleep.

Pete - My work is 40 minutes away so taking an Uber would probably be like 40 dollars each way, I might as well just quit my job if that was the case I only get paid $13 per hour I wouldn't make any money.

Krimpet - I don't know how my blood glucose is, maybe we have done that test before I can ask my doctor.

I'm not really expecting anybody to have any answers for me I guess I just needed to vent and be heard. This disease is so awful and I can't wait to be done with it. I just had to turn down a new job today that paid way, way, way more because I would have to get up at 5am everyday and when I did that last summer the same thing happened and I was falling asleep both ways every day on the way to work and my health plummeted because I could never get to sleep early enough to not make me want to die the next day.

You can also order through ZRT labs. I just ordered one the other day. I've done a couple through them and have been very pleased. There are different choices. Many choices. Female and male profiles as well....all depending on what you and your doctor want to identify.

www.zrtlab.com

Have you thought about pulling over each time...and napping. Leave for work 1/2 hour earlier?



"I'll sometimes come to halfway in another lane on the freeway. I am a danger to myself and others."

You really shouldn't be driving until you have this sorted out.

Since this is a known problem, documented with doctor visits and prescriptions, if you kill someone on the road you will end up in jail. If you hurt them you will be paying their doctor bills for the rest of your life. Stop driving.

Amazon sells a sleep alert for drivers.it is an earpiece that vibrates if you start to doze off, it works very well

I guess you could say that Jesus didn't take the wheel! Haha!

Pardon my lame joke. No offense to the people with their lord and savior in tow.

Yes, I am a terrible human being.

Best wishes to you, sir.

Hi, bryguy27007.

Yes, I had the same problem. I fell asleep everywhere, including while driving. And I would also nod off at every red light. Fortunately, I was able to give up driving for a year or so. I'm now back to driving again, though I can't drive every day and I can't drive for a long distance.

For me, it was worse when the sun was out than at night. And I usually couldn't tell when I'd nod off.

I was tested for sleep apnea, and I do not have that. I have thought, though, that I might have narcolepsy. I work two days a week and I normally sleep most of the day and night on the other five.

I hope you find a way to handle this where you don't have to drive. Could you car pool to work? Or pay someone to drive you?

Adrenal fatigue is low levels of cortisol - not high.
Although, I have read that sometimes before you are truly in the fatigue stage, your adrenals go on over-drive and pump more out...resulting in higher levels. Maybe that's happening to you?

I'm surprised your Dr. won't prescribe Nystatin. You've/ you are on antibiotics, right?

I was told Nystatin is not harsh on us...where Diflucan can be.

Has your treatment been changed up? I see you have listed Flagyl, mino, plaquenil - have you been on specific bart and babs treatments?

You can order a test kit yourself from ZRT Labs - it's a 4 point saliva test.

bryguy27007- I would get like that in the past sometimes. Was scary. Think it was from a combination of things. Most of it was thyroid related, and standard T4 did no help, T4 + T3 helped most of it.

It was possibly adrenal related too, as I was "tired but wired" - that is the classic adrenal fatigue feel.

Still get fatigued / sleepy, but have control over my eyes now- at least when I'm driving. But If it get bad - I park and take a 10 min power nap..

Are you getting REM sleep, dream at all? I was not back then. Now I do.

Post Edited (astroman) : 8/15/2016 9:12:27 PM (GMT-6)