driving set back????

[Beachlovingkiwi]

I’m 4 years post mtbi and 3 years since the second and I still struggle to drive long distance - 100km and over. Any tips ?? After doing a drive 200km round trip two weeks ago I feel back to brain fog, fatigue , head aches and takin nurofen most days to get through - I know this is minor compared to others and wha it could be but I was doing so wel before I drove - like almost felt normal ish 😫 I just wonder whether to pursue and keep trying driving - maybe smaller distances and hope it gets better or is this a life time thing😢 just feel shit about it all …. Sorry for depressing post 😬 I do know I can few better and have an appointment booked back with osteopath just want other experiences I guess 🤞 thanks

[Leaf100]

Hi BeachlkI would suggest practicing shorter distances, and stop and take a rest break about half way. A little nap in the car, if possible, and some water, maybe a pit stop.

I was fine around town for short hauls only for years and , then worked on expanding my range. I didn't make much progress til about year 8, and I persisted.

The other things that may help, are those sunglasses that reduce glare - they have special ones for night driving, and polarized grey ones for day are great. And - do not listen to the radio or music when you drive. These things reduce the amount of work your brain ahs to do, leaving more capacity for driving.

The other thing that helped a lot, though it seemed unrelated at the time, was playing plants VS zombies. My brain was really struggling watching things moving in colour - the first x times I tried it I felt ill. Well , keeping at it helped all that a lot. Other games where things are moving quite quickly may also do the trick, there are some where you drag token around. I also did hidden object games and I feel they helped my vision / brain processing as well.

It may depend on what you find bothers you.

There arecalso prisms you can get in your glasses that may help, though jot everyone needs them - I don't. That would be through an optometrist who does them - some do, some don't.

We never know what will hang about and what will improve- doesn't hurt to keep trying. The awareness and the frustration seem to be ongoing in various ways.

Best of luck with it

Leaf

[Beachlovingkiwi in reply to Leaf100]

thank you so much for your reply😀😀 will defo be trying shorter distances and breaks too will also look into those games as I think it has a lot to do with it I.e the fast movement etc I felt like my eyes were going to die at the end of it 😂 thanks again some great advice - take care xox

[lcd8]

I can't bear the thought of driving long distances full-stop. I'm far too nervous. I always stick to short distances and where I know.

[Beachlovingkiwi in reply to lcd8]

I hear ya however I’m a stubborn determined person but obviously need to ease off a bit lol thanks

[Teazymaid]

I only do short journeys , avoid talking if I have passenger as I struggle to remember what I’m doing or my brain thinks to hard about what foot to use .. if I’m relaxed and not tired it all happens naturally .. I wouldn’t attempt to drive much more than 20 miles from home … sue x

[Beachlovingkiwi in reply to Teazymaid]

thanks for your reply 😀

[LostGenius]

Sorry to hear you are struggling like that but I know exactly what you mean! I used drive 16-20 hour road trips by myself and had to stop driving completely when I didn’t know how to start the car one day after physio. 😖

I think it really depends what deficits you might have that you need to try to overcome. I seem to have lost language related things so reading signs at high speed in multiple languages while driving is hard.

It takes time & practice to build your tolerance back up to normal again. Try more short trips before you attempt hours again.

I always do & bring the following things to make my life easier before longer drives (even just across the city in traffic):

1) Sleep! Be well rested before a long trip. The days leading up to the longer drive I make sure I am well rested and not already feeling depleted.

2) Sunglasses for the glare and brightness.

3) Baseball cap or some kind of hat with brim that cuts the weird shadows and light that reflect off the cars in front.

4) No additional noise or distractions. In the beginning I couldn’t handle the radio or any music. Or even people talking as it added to my processing overload so cutting those thing out may help you too. Now at times I can handle only music I enjoy that I know the words to (very odd 😂) when I’m more overloaded.

5) Breaks as needed. Pull over somewhere when you find you get overloaded and fatigued. Keep track of that amount of time. Then make sure to stop BEGORE that amount of time and rest. I would sit in my car eyes closed with sunglasses & a hat blocking external light and earplugs to block noise…. even just a short 5-10 minutes like this helped recharge me! It was incredible the difference! I was able to keep driving .

I also learned that even shutting one eye while driving for short times gave it enough of a break (if there was nowhere to stop safely). I would cover it with my hand to help reduce the stimulus like light coming in for a few seconds then change to the other eye.

6) Timing the drive. Less traffic. Less/more light depending on your deficiencies.

Initially I would only drive in direct light that was diffused on cloudy days so there were no string shadows and that strobing effect of light between the trees/buildings that made me feel like I was about to have a seizure. I avoided snow, rain & darkness. Rain seemed to be a bad trigger as my eye were seeing the rain drops and not through the windshield of the car (that was pretty scary) until I did the vision therapy.

Now I just make sure I have my car kit:

Hat, glasses, ear plugs, water, blanket, sunshades (for the window when I pull over) and mostly importantly a GPS to not get lost.

I make sure my iPhone is fully charged to map my drive so I don’t get lost and know where I’m going even for short trips . Having that always on with the ‘Waze’ driving app running alerting me to traffic and accidents on the way to my location helps so there’s less thing my brain has to do… it redirects to shorter driving paths to avoid traffic when they are available on your route.

6 years later I’m finally trying to not use a GPS on short trips and been doing ok not getting lost but with memory deficits it’s still a struggle. Thank god I drove a lot before the accident & overcame some of the fear of getting back on the road. The biggest help was a vision test & vision therapy to know what deficits I had to improve. Now I have some depth perception back! No more hitting potholes I didn’t see!

COVID and/or weed legalization here made drives crazy stressful again in the last few years as everyone weaves in and out 2-3x the speed limit and they can’t seem to not try and drive into other cars or keep in a straight line. I call it COVID car rage where at least 2-3 cars run every single red light. I hope it isn’t that bad where you are!

Here’s to hoping with time and practice things will get better for you and you will again enjoy the open road ahead on a drive. 🚗 🌅

[Beachlovingkiwi in reply to LostGenius]

thanks so much for your reply will defo try some of these suggestions 🥰