Sudden Dizzy Freeway Driving

[TTMom15]

I have read a few folks who have had similar symptoms and I'm encouraged while reading them!  Mine are slightly different however and I'm hoping someone else has experienced this and can share possible solutions.

I'm 48 year old mom.  I am overwieght...probably about 50lbs.  I'm 5'9".  I wear glasses.  I do have untreated sleep apnea.

All of a sudden I had problems with balance when driving at night on the freeway.  Driving in town day or night no issues.  It was like I was "floating" and I couldn't "feel" the road normally.  This was especially hard on curves/turns/or hills. If I slowed down it helped a lot! Then, one day I was going over a very high steep bridge and it happened again only this was during the day.  I felt like I was going to fall off the bridge and I had to really concentrate on the road.  When I got to the other side everything was fine again.

I had a very scary episode yesterday during the day driving on the freeway.  I was fine, singing to music, all was good.  Then I hit a tunnel going into a mountain and all of a sudden I felt off balance...I had to really concentrate on the road...my hands were gripping the wheel so hard.  I had no where to pull off.  My heart started RACING really fast.  I was trying to breathe deep and slow.  I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the other side!  It was very scary!  It probably took 15 minutes for my heart rate to return to normal with lots of slow breathing.  After my appointment I went home a different way and on a small embankment...where there was no ground on either side of the freeway...I started to get that off balance feeling again but my heart didn't race or any of that.  It was much more mild.  

I just had my eyes checked.  All is normal except some dry eyes.  I just emailed my doctor but these symptoms are so random.  I do not feel like it's a panic attack...but I do think the symptoms may be causing some panic.  So scary!  I need to drive!!  I'm way too young to stop driving!!  

I will say about five years ago I started getting a weird vertigo feeling with heights.  I've never been afraid of heights.  I'm the one who teased my hubby by driving too close to the edge because it bothered him and I liked to tease him.  I chalked it up to "getting old" and a possible reason for the new weird height thing.  Not sure if it's related but ya.  

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!  

[thomastonct]

The dizziness while driving, especially on the highway, is almost certainly due to neck muscle and upper back muscle "trigger points". These "knots" can be massaged away and stretching helps keep them from coming back.
This is called trigger point massage, or myofascial massage. Check out the book "Trigger point therapy workbook 3rd edition" by Clair Davies. It is the STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID (SCM) trigger points that create the dizziness while driving.

You may also have trigger points along the upper back and between the tops of the shoulder blades (upper trapezius). These trigger points will create a dull ache at the base and back of the neck and create an unsteady feeling while just standing or walking around. Some people call this feeling "brain fog". It can be eliminated by trigger point massage along the top and in between the top of the shoulder blades. The best stretch to get rid of the brain fog is to bring the tops of the shoulder blades together and arch the neck and head backwards like to look at the ceiling.

The dizzy driving SCM trigger points may take a few days or weeks to get rid of all of the trigger points if you have a lot of them. You have to check all along the whole length of both the front one and the back one, and also down under the collar bone where they attach to the breast bone. The SCM trigger points in the neck can cause pains in the forehead, jaw, behind the eyes, the top of the head, near the base of the throat where they attach to the breast bone, and the back of the skull down at the base. Usually you will notice no pain in the SCM neck muscles themselves until you squeeze them to find out where the trigger point are. All kinds of neck stretches help keep the trigger points from coming back as strong.

This all probably sounds like new age kook stuff, but trigger points are real. I had the dizzy while driving problem for 13 years and no doctors knew what was causing it or how to fix it. This included a regular massage therapist, two chiropractors, ENT specialist, neurologist, and the Yale Balance Center.

Make sure you do not have poor upper body posture like thrusting the head and jaw forward while staring at a computer screen for hours at a time.

Hope you see this and good luck.

P.S. The driving down the hill dizziness could also be related to the "brain fog", which is the upper and middle back muscles. The stretch where you pull the shoulder blades together and tilt your head and neck way back helps this condition immediately. If you feel upper back and shoulders getting tight or hunched any time while driving, try to relax the shoulders and when the road is clear try the stretching and massage the area over the top of the shoulder blades.

[caregiver222]

I suspect you did not get a thorough eye exam. Certain people develop "night nearsightedness", generally starting over age fifty. At night the eye behaves differently. These individuals may require special prescription eyeglasses nwhen driving at night.

Another possibility is cranial nerve palsy secondary to diabetes. This means the eyes may not focus properly, creating a loss of balance. In the daytime there are sufficient visual clues to overcome this. At night those clues disappear.

Get a consult with an opthamalogical neurologist.