Dangerous Driving

[Prairenurse]

Did I scare myself today! I was doing a three hour drive home from a trip. Halfway home I stopped to eat and had a salad at a restaurant that in spite of all care taken, must have had gluten in something in it. Within 20 minutes back on the road I was fighting drowsiness and a sensation of unreality and of seeing double. I was driving with cruise control at 3 kms over the speed limit (113) and momentarily fell asleep and went off the road, a 4 lane highway with a wide grassy meridian between the lanes. Fortunately I was in the meridian on the grass and there were no obstacles - posts, rocks, culverts, etc. It was rough terrain but I was ok and I think the car is too. I drove back on the road and got home ok. It makes me wonder how I traveled all those years and never killed myself, and not knowing what caused the sleepy spells and poor concentration. I was diagnosed 4 years ago after 40 years of undiagnosed celiac disease. It makes me wonder what my many doctors took in medical school or if any of them care a darn about their patients! They really do need to wake up to the high prevalence of celiac disease and risks for developing autoimmune illnesses. It has ruined many lives!

[georgie]

Gosh - that sounds scary. Glad you are OK. I have had similar happen to me many times and it has got to the stage that if I am driving - no food or drink passes my lips that I have not prepared myself. I also have had near misses. It is amazing the effects gluten has. Truly scary.

[ianm]

I know the feeling. It's a miracle I never killed anyone while driving back when I was eating gluten.

[Mack the Knife]

I've had to pull over and get my girlfriend to take over the driving when I've started to vague out after getting glutened. I am really not safe driving when I am in that state.

She's made me promise to call her or a taxi if I'm driving on my own when it happens.

[thleensd]

Scary....

Reminds me of right before diagnosis when I was feeling faint and pulled over on the side of the freeway. Highway Patrol found me and said I either needed to sit up and drive or call 911. Even if I'd have known the problem, I'm not so sure Mr. Officer would have bought, "sorry sir, I just ingested wheat"...haha.... *sigh*

Be careful out there.

[quincy]

Scary....

Reminds me of right before diagnosis when I was feeling faint and pulled over on the side of the freeway. Highway Patrol found me and said I either needed to sit up and drive or call 911. Even if I'd have known the problem, I'm not so sure Mr. Officer would have bought, "sorry sir, I just ingested wheat"...haha.... *sigh*

Be careful out there.

hopefully someone will see my post and give me some insight about this lightheaded, slightly off-balance sensation I have had that began in April, right around the time of my diagnosis when my symptoms were the strongest. It begins in the morning and finally starts to dissipate in afternoon. I have asked several doctors what this is and they just stare at me and shrug their shoulders.

my only vitamin deficiency that I know of is vitamin D, for which I am on 50000 IU's twice a week for the next several weeks. not anemic, and all other blood reports are normal....

any insigt would be great.

[BethM55]

hopefully someone will see my post and give me some insight about this lightheaded, slightly off-balance sensation I have had that began in April, right around the time of my diagnosis when my symptoms were the strongest. It begins in the morning and finally starts to dissipate in afternoon. I have asked several doctors what this is and they just stare at me and shrug their shoulders.

my only vitamin deficiency that I know of is vitamin D, for which I am on 50000 IU's twice a week for the next several weeks. not anemic, and all other blood reports are normal....

any insigt would be great.

You might want to check alignment, and nerve and blood flow status in your cervical spine. It's possible that mal-alignment while sleeping decreases those vital functions and can cause the symptoms you describe. Allergies which cause congestion of ears, nose and sinuses can also cause similar symptoms because of pressure on the balance centers in the ears. It's spring, so that may be a factor.

Just a thought, IMHO.

[deesmith]

Could be one of many things, but have your PTH level checked.

[Mari]

I have found several things I can do. With me it is usually that my neck or upper spine is slightly out of line or my neck muscles are too tight and are affecting the flow of blood to my head. First I press on the muscles which hold up my head, firmly and on both sides until the muscles are relaxed. Then, while sitting up straight, I put the sides of my hands under the ridges at the bottom of the skull under my ears and press upward and then rotate my head slowly back and forth. The heels of my hands are under my jaws and my fingers are under the skull. Do this gently and with even pressure on each side. Some people don't advise doing this type of thing because using too much force or pressing unevenly can be counterproductive. But if you are having problems and need to do something just to deal with a problem and are miles from home you may want to learn to do these procedures.

It helps to strengthen the neck muscles. One chiro. told me to do this. Lay flat on a solid surface and try to raise your head up without using your upper back to push up. I couldn't do this at first so used my hands to push up my head and after a while the muscles began to strengthen and after a few weeks I could do it without using my hands. Another chiro. told me that people with chemical sensitivities have an instinctive reaction in which the head jerks back and that can put the neck vertabrae slightly out of line.