Well, the thing I have been fearing happened yesterday, and I went spinning while driving. I'm pretty sure this was MAV not MM because it was brief and followed by a headache and nausea. The good news is some part of my brain must have gotten that it was imperative that I knew where I was in space. Even though I got that weird feeling, somehow the road itself stayed still. I pulled over. When I looked down at the dashboard it was moving. What a strange experience.
P.S. I hate that it happened, but I am reassured that I was able to pull over safely. I need to identify where the hazard lights are on my car. I am limiting my freeway driving.
oh my I am so glad you are okay! how frightening!!! Are you taking anything for MAV? Please be careful!
Isn't it scary to be behind the wheel of a car when the spins start? During my bad spin sessions and vertigo days I would not drive until I felt the session had passed. Sometimes I would go 3 or 4 days without driving. Once I started driving again I only drove in areas that I knew had little traffic. I stopped driving on the highways. Please be careful not only for yourself but for the innocent people who are on the road. Sorry you had to experience this
Very very dangerous, if you wreck or even worse hurt somebody, the judge is not going to take mm as an excuse, in fact he may hold it against you.y advice is if you have active mm do everybody a favor and stay off the road. Is carpool or bus/subway an option. Safety first!
OMG! Scary and so sorry but best to learn this lesson without doing any serious damage. My car was stolen in July 2013 a year before I got diagnosed. One reason I moved out of the suburbs to the city was my instinct was to live without a car. Now I can see that driving right now is pretty risky because of the migraine aura's and inability to navigate with a lot of random movement that my eyes cannot handle given how they are now helping me stay balanced. I think I read once that if you have MM, legally you aren't supposed to drive. Glad that option was removed for me ;D
Thank you for the notes. I actually had feared this happening, and though I wish it hadn't, I found it very reassuring that my brain made sure the road stayed still. I have such a vivid image still of that solid looking road at the same time I was having that weird feeling. It was very bizarre. But you are all right, I need to be very cautious.
I’m bumping this thread to get more input. And to thank those who’ve been through this and posted already. I’ll be sticking close to home for now. I may drop my courses until someone will please chop this disease out of my head.
After my 1 month reprieve, 5 vertigo in 4 days. I’m looking at taxis, Uber, friends and family for driving. It’s still just scat, the thought of getting a spin and having to convince a taxi driver to pull over, stop NOW. I can barely whisper when an attack hits. Public transit has triggered attacks for me before - a special level of hell, trying to get home from that. My hubby, crazy sweet man that he is, is researching getting us a Tesla. I don’t yet if this is a safe enough option. I’ll likely drop my semester. I’m hoping that all this is temporary. I’m gathering my records for House Clinic (red tape aargh). Or 2-7 months to see Dr. Lange. Man, I wish I’d listened to Bulldogs 5 years ago. Laby or bust!!
Anne, I agree 100% with Bulldogs...stay off the roads until you know you can handle driving without risking the spins. It's just not worth it. Consider the liability of your situation...not to mention the potential for loss of life. If you have an accident and cause harm to someone, you may spend the rest of your life trying to pay off the lawsuit. Not to mention that there is nothing more terrifying than being hit with a vertigo attack while behind the wheel of a 4500 lb. car going 70mph. down the freeway in the fast lane. Only thing that saved my life (and potentially others lives) was luck, and an ability to remain calm under intense situations. FWIW, it's the movement of the car that gets you sick..a Tesla won't be any different.
Hi mike b Yup I am removing myself from the road. Integrity first - I absolutely don’t want to cause anyone else harm. God this is so hard. I’m all about engagement, being with people. I’m processing the adjustment to accepting yet more help. I’m grateful I’ve already got home delivery groceries, a home studio, financial resources, a friend with epilepsy who has been through ‘no driving’ periods in her life etc. Hubby helped me install the Uber app to my phone. I had another vertigo (brief) this morning so I won’t be experimenting with Uber quite yet.
I used Uber - super easy, fast (got here in 4 minutes!), not as expensive as a taxi. I’ll try taking the bus somewhere close by and see how I do. Hopefully the weather will warm up so I can walk to the local strip mall. Staying safe, don’t want to harm anyone else. Definitely ready for gent or laby.
Does anyone know if there are guidelines to driving when you have Menieres? Specifically, once you’ve had drop attacks... I’m assuming I need a procedure to kill my vestibular nerve before I’d be 100% safe to drive. Or... is there a timeline, like with people who have seizures? If I’ve been drop attack free for 3 months...? (I’m erring on the side of my first assumption for now.)
There was a former police detective in my Meniere's group, back when we had one. He said that if you are pulled over by a cop and you admit to having Meniere's, you will lose your license on the spot and not get it back. This is in Minnesota, maybe throughout the US.
I have trouble believing that one. Meniere's is such a broad range of symptoms. Many people with Meniere's are completely safe on the roads. In fact, I would think that the vast majority of people who have at some point been diagnosed with Meniere's are as safe on the road as anyone else.
Yeah, not disputing what you might have been told but most often the response you get when you tell someone you have Menieres is...what’s that? I don’t think most officers are trained to recognize vestibular diseases I’m in Chicago and they’re just trying to keep there heads down. LOL.
Last year, for my drivers license renewal, I told them about the Menieres. At that point I hadn’t had drop attacks and was always able to drive a few blocks to a parking spot - uncomfortable for me, but not unsafe. I’m now resigned to no driving until I can get a laby or gent injections. While I wait to get in for that, I may try epival (depakote), which dr Lange told me is good for drop attacks. I just can’t find any studies or other menierians who’ve tried it.