Falling Asleep at the Wheel?

[flightybird]

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in March of '13 and while I am far too aware of the fatigue that comes along with it, I am a bit puzzled.

I take Cymbalta (60mg) daily and it helps a LOT with my sleep. Whereas I used to wake up (to the point of coherent wakefulness) sometimes 8+ times a night, I don't wake up at ALL now. I wear a FitBit Flex to bed each evening to track my sleep, and I don't even toss and turn all that much. I get, on average, anywhere from 7-8 hours of sleep a night.

All that being said, every morning when I am driving to work, keeping my eyes open is an absolute struggle. And then, when I force them open it's a nightmare to try and get them to focus. This sometimes continues on to my workday. I sit at a desk all day (which I try to break up with walking breaks every so often) and find myself trying not to blink for too long, because I'm positive if I do, I will just knock out asleep.

Does anyone else have these issues? If so, has there been anything that you have tried that helps? Caffeine and B12 don't seem to be doing the trick (together or separately) and I'm getting decent rest at night. Is this something I should bring up to my doctor, or just another "deal with it" that comes along with the fibro dX?

 

[Trellum]

Sometimes the same thing happens to me; no matter how much or how well I slept the previous night, I end up having such a hard time staying awake. It doesn't happen daily tho. I take no pain meds at the moment. Btw, B12 actually makes me feel so sleepy!

 

[Caitlinmd]

Well I never had a problem with falling asleep, no matter how tired I was sleep just never came no matter the time of day. However, now that I am on a new medication I find that even though I sleep better at night I have so much trouble waking up. I feel like I'm ready to crash until around noon! I would say that though it doesn't seem too bad if you are afraid of falling asleep at the wheel definitely talk to you doctor.

 

[wulfman]

It is very dangerous. During my college years I had a lot of trouble because I lived 40 miles off campus. They say to pull over and rest . As stupid as that sounds it will save your life.

 

[AlexF15]

I never fall asleep at the wheel. I'm usually with someone to keep me up, which is always awesome. I wouldn't want to die to a car accident, be the worst way to go out of this horrible world.

 

[wulfman]

My uncle actually dozed off and hit a telephone pole. He is very lucky it didn't happen on the highway and on a small local street. He was not injured but the car was a bit dented up.

 

[atuckerit]

I used to have this problem (falling asleep everywhere that I was).
2 years ago, I tried something really drastic. I switched my diet completely.
I cut out all white pastas and breads, only ate whole grain. Cut out all sugar.
Only ate whole foods and no processed foods (only fruits, veggies, meats, and whole grains).
I cut out all dairy and caffeine.
I followed the dietary allowances for proteins, carbs and fat on the sparkpeople website and tracked my calories to 1400 per day.
I felt like junk for about 3 weeks till my body became used to the diet change.
Once my body detoxed from all the junk I was eating, I felt AMAZING!
I could have ran a marathon and jumped out of bed every morning.

All my cravings and everything stopped once my body detoxed.
I wasn't tired at all.

I have to get back on track to do that again. I never felt better in my life,
but had since fallen off the wagon due to being busy (it takes more effort to eat healthy than it does to eat fast food while I am working).

 

[Hedonologist]

There is one thing which I have done before, although this is in no way a recommendation. Sometimes I will close one eye for 3 minutes, then close the other eye for 3 minutes. This gives me a sort of 6 minute eye rest period and I'm often a lot more alert afterwards. However if you are prone to falling asleep at the wheel, this is not for you as it may cause you to fall asleep entirely.

 

[Gelsemium]

Driving with sleep can cost our life and the life of others so I think that if we feel tired we should just stop and sleep, no need to take the risk.

 

[Hedonologist]

Driving with sleep can cost our life and the life of others so I think that if we feel tired we should just stop and sleep, no need to take the risk.

Unfortunately people will often think "It's only 5 miles" or "I'm only a bit drowsy". Sometimes we will only start to feel tired in the middle of a long journey, with 50 miles still to go. People often find themselves in situations where they are tempted just to grit their teeth and carry on driving, without understand the gravity of the risks.

 

[Tharper]

I feel that way often, At work when I stop moving (I am a medical assistant in a clinic) I find my eyes get very heavy. On weekends I can sleep all day. I am often fatigued. I agree with most though, if you are driving and feeling that tired please pull over. Talk with your doctor ASAP.

 

[Peninha]

Whenever that happens to, I mean I feel my eyes tired behind the wheel I stop for a cup of coffee, I don't want to cause an accident, I prefer to drive when I am alert.

 

[JoshPosh]

You know i use to drink a lot of coffe to stay awake on long drives. But just recently as last week, I feel asleep while driving my motorcycle. I crashed on the side of the road and a bunch of guys came running to my aid. They thought I was seriously hurt and called in a ambulance. To their surprise I walked away with minor cuts and scrapes, but my ribs were bruised. I'm lucky to be alive. Everyone thought I was drunk, but I took off my helmet and they were surprised that I wasn't. I explained my condition, but most didn't know what it was. So.......that means that the awareness of our condition is still unknown to most.

 

[GemmaRowlands]

How are you doing now? It would be great to hear from you about how you're getting on. The advice that I would give to all of you, though, is that if extreme tiredness that you are not in control of is a part of your condition then there is no way that you should be getting behind the wheel at all. It isn't just you that you have to think about, you may well be fine, but there is always the chance that you're going to harm somebody else while you're on the road, whether you mean to or not. You should see your doctor and ask them whether you think you are safe to drive, but if you think that there is any chance at all that you're going to fall asleep at the wheel then the obvious answer is that no, you're not safe to drive.

 

[Peninha]

So true, with certain things we should simply not take the risk, if there's a chance of falling asleep the best is not to drive.