Panic attacks while driving

Gisette · Post by **Gisette** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:49 am

Loved your post, Mrs T Bones! Inspirational on using anger as a motivator to lick the driving panic attacks!

karenLeigh · Post by **karenLeigh** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:59 am

Hey everybody,
I haven't been on the forums in a long time. I seen this topic and thought of what I've been dealing with.
I started having panic attacks a few months back while taking my daughter to school. It's sooo frustrating!
I have problems with seeing. I havn't read all the post so I'm not sure if anyone has said this or not.
I feel very alone with this problem. There have been a few times when my vision has been so blurry that it was hard to see the road.
Has anyone had that happen to them??

Gisette · Post by **Gisette** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:02 am

Hey, Karen,

Well, you're definitely not alone in having panic attacks while driving.

I have weird eye attacks, where it's like my eyes get dazzle after-images on them that persist and get worse. I'm not really clear on whether they come from anxiety, or if my light eyes have just gotten really sensitive, when the pupils are dilated from being indoors, then suddenly hit with full-blast sun reflecting off something like a car window. Could be a little of both.

Very irksome when it happens.

Gisette · Post by **Gisette** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:24 am

What is a "painless migraine", Cloie?

A friend of mine also mentioned "eye migraines" when I described my issues to her. But my doctor said he'd never heard of it, and had no idea why my eyes went nuts.

I did finally invest in prescription sunglasses, though. Used to not wear sunglasses, in favor of having my distance Rx lens on. But I was walking every day down the beach at the time, near noon, and on a bright day, light off the water is awfully bright.

Gisette · Post by **Gisette** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:44 am

Huh! Thanks, Cloie. I've only had a couple of the pain-type migraines in my life, and don't have headaches very often. I guess that's why I didn't recognize the "aura" part as "migraine" at all!

YvetteNicole · Post by **YvetteNicole** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:46 pm

Hi i am brand new to this program. I have had agoraphobia for 15 years. Been on medication for 11 years. Ive been doing great for 8 years now and all of a sudden i was driving and freaked out thinking there is no shoulder what am i gonna do. My issue is that i PASS OUT when i have a bad panic attack. If i am not able to calm myself i will start sweating, lightheaded then pass out. Does anyone else have it this severe? Im scared ive been doing so well for so long and then out of the blue this is happening again. I cant go threw life like that again too scared to leave my house and dont want to lose my job because i cant drive to work anymore.

C64MF · Post by **C64MF** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:50 pm

Mrs T Bones,

I also have visual changes sometimes without the headache (also have them with migrains). Have you found anything that helps eliminate these "painless" migrains?? I was thinking of trying a beta blocker or something, but not sure if it would help.

Thanks.

C64MF · Post by **C64MF** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 1:28 pm

As for driving, I also have trouble with panic attacks while driving, especially home from work after a long (16 hour) shift. My mind races and I feel short of breath and like I'm going to "lose it".

But rest assured, you can drive safely while having an attack, I've done it hundreds of times. It's not the driving that is causing the attack. It's the worrying about it and "what if" thinking about it. I'm sure the first attack while you were driving was spontaneous, but now you have convinced yourself that it has something to do with driving. Stick with it, because you can get over it and you can drive safely while having an attack. It isn't comfortable, but it is safe and really the only way to get over it. The driving CD from Stress is also very helpful (not just for driving but overall).

Driving is really a good way of thinking about your symptoms overall (as taught to me by my doc). If you were a bus driver and there were some noisy kids on the bus, would you just stop and turn the bus around? Would you just quit? No, you would continue to drive and get the kids to school, because that's your job. Well, the symptoms of anxiety are just noise, just symptoms and nothing else. They are not dangerous in any way. Just some noisy kids on your bus of life.

Don't stop your bus just because of some noise. Don't "what if" your symptoms. Just float with them and accept them for the noise that they are and keep moving forward. The more you can accept the symptoms and keep doing what you are doing (and it helps to act unafraid while you are doing it), the less trouble you will have with them. Avoiding them is like throwing fuel on the fire, it only strengthens them.

I know this isn't as easy as it sounds, but it is true. Really, everyone has some "noisy kids" on thier bus. Everyone has some of the symtoms that we fear, they just don't fear them and that is the difference. We give them too much value and worry about them while other people ignore them completely.

A rattle in the dash of my car drives me crazy, while my wife doesn't even notice it unless I tell her. I'm sure she hears it in her subconscious, she just knows that it is of no consequense and the car will keep running fine. It's the same with these bodily sensations. Bodies make "noises". I've learned to fear them, while my wife knows it's just noise and of no consequense.

creamcheesepuff · Post by **creamcheesepuff** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:26 pm

Yes, I have had a severe migraine while driving on a highway near New York City in the dark. I had no pain, only the aura which appeared over my left eye like a bright blue/white UFO!!! It was intense, I became very upset, got my car over to the right lane and slowed down. I concentrated and it calmed down till I got home. I had my cell phone just in case. My migraines have changed since then, I do get headaches now, auras have since calmed but get pops of light once in awhile. It usually comes when I am very upset/stressed. I tend to stay away from certain foods but I do on occasion snack on them without problems....I have alot of muscular tension in my neck, shoulders and upper back which I know causes most of the headaches. My left shoulder creeps into my left ear at times by itself...sounds funny but thats the muscle. Seems to never relax.

Newly retired · Post by **Newly retired** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:07 pm

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I have had 3 panic attacks while driving, two while on the highway. I did almost pass out during one and had to pull off the road. Luckily there were some very kind people who called an ambulance. Going through tests, they so far haven't found anything "mechanically" wrong with me,but when I had another today, just driving across town, it threw me for a loop. I'm working through Lesson 2 and trying to use the breathing, self-talk, and relaxation. Glad to hear it has worked for people.