Hi I am a 28 year old female. 2 months ago I was driving and all of a sudden felt like I was going to faint. I pulled over and my husband drove the rest of the way. The next day the same thing happened. The day after that, the same thing happened and I felt so close to passing out that I ended up in the ER. They did all sorts of tests-- blood pressure, pregnancy, blood sugar, EKG, CT scan, Chest x-rays...all came back normal. I tried to drive again after that, and every single time I felt like I was just about to faint. I felt like I had to shake my head to keep myself focussed. (I was only able to drive for a mile.) Now, I haven't driven since Jan. 2nd. I also feel the same way when I'm a passenger. I've tried Zoloft, Xanax, beta-blockers, and deep breathing and nothing made any difference. I've been tested for vertigo, ears checked, and had my eyes tested. I do not FEEL panicked during rides in the car. I do not have negative thoughts like "Oh no, here we go again, this is so dangerious.." It's just this physical feeling of being unable to focus, like right before you fall asleep. I do not know where to turn next. Please, if you have any more ideas of what I can look into, let me know. Does it sound like anxiety even though all those things have not helped at all? What else could it be? Thank you so much.

Hi...I used to have my worst anxiety attacks while driving. My feet/legs/arms would feel numb and my palms would sweat and i would get dizzy and feel lightheaded. I had great success with PAXIL. I feel that paxil saved my life and allowed me to have my life return to normal. I also read a book on anxiety that helped me a lot. One of the things it suggested to do while driving is if you feel an attack coming on start counting cars...count how many blue cars you see, how many white cars you see, etc. Another thing I read to do is wear a rubberband on your wrist and snap it if you start to feel an attack coming on. Also...turn the air conditioner on HIGH ! These things help you focus on other things. I would also call my husband and just say keep talking to me until I get to where I can stop. I do not have to do any of this anymore :) I wish you luck. There is hope! Don't give up...your life can be normal! You and your doctor just have to find what works best for you.

I gotta say reading this post helps me as well. i too have problems driving due to my anxiety.in a month i am moving about 5 hours away and was wondering how i was gonna deal with the drive. im glad to read some tips and know that i am not the only one that has to deal with this stupid anxiety. i did try paxil but it didnt work for me. the side effects were worse than the anxiety symptoms. i think it actually made me worse. before i took paxil i was able to go into stores and after taking it i turned into an agoraphobic. anyone have luck with anything natural for anxiety?

Hi....

I had driving anxiety for six years. I became agorophobic for a year because of it.

The "natural" method I used was good old "aversion" therapy.....I got in the car, and drove. I saw a Doctor, once a week, who told me that I was only hurting myself by not driving....and he just generally harassed me (in a good way) to keep it up.

I had dizziness, I cried, I sweated....and probably everything else that I haven't mentioned.

I now drive, anywhere, anytime, and have no anxiety at all....even less, than I had before I became scared of driving.

It's empowering to know, that I was that afraid of something, and overcame it.....my ex-husband and my family Doctor both thought that I would never drive again.

Good luck....keep us posted

Lil

I am not afraid to drive exactly, but I live near 2 huge cities and I do not go near either one. My husband signed up our little one for all kind of Spring sports and that means me taking him everywhere. When I do not know how to get somewhere I get my heart racing, sweating. I am very bad at directions. Thank God for mapquest. lol

As a 30 year old single man who has struggled with this driving anxiety issue for the past 15 years, I can definitely relate to the frustrations and logistical challenges involved. I moved to New York City about a year and a half ago in an effort to take this driving issue off the table, and while the logistical concerns have been dealt with the psychological ones have not. You see I consider myself fundamentally flawed as an adult because I have let this driving aversion affect me both personally and professionally. I need to get back to driving to prove to myself that I can handle and overcome life obstacles, but I am terrified by the prospect that I would continue my anxious-obsessive thought patterns which caused me to give up driving a couple years ago.

Have been in regular therapy for the past four years and have so far resisted getting back behind the wheel because I thought that I could avoid the issue entirely by moving to a city with comprehensive public transportation. I now know that I can make it here on my own, but I fear that becoming a husband and a father in the future will be compromised unless I take drastic action now to correct this problem. My social growth has been shunted too because of this driving issue and I see myself as that awkward, klutzy boy who cannot seem to get out of his way. For years and years, I masked the pain and disappointment by pursuing and earning academic accolades but now I just want to be a normal guy who gets the girls and feels confident in himself and his abilities. Driving is not the be all and end all for me but it will take away some of the blocks and limitations which still inhibit my personal growth.

mrslots

You need to get in the car and drive....even if it's a few feet at a time at first. You might feel dizzy....you might cry...(I know you're a man). It can be done. I've proven that it can be done.

Lil

Hi everyone,
Thanks for your responses. The thing is, I am still not convinced it is anxiety related. Why, you ask? Well, because I don't have any other symptoms. I'm not nervous, I'm not breathing rapidly or sweating, my hands aren't clammy. I just feel like I'm half unconscious. I have tried driving the car around our subdivion and that is okay because I am going slow. But then, the second I try to go on the main road (at a faster speed), wham there it is again. It also feels (and I know this may sound dumb) like my arms are like wet noodles and I can't comprehend how they can control a car moving so fast. I went to a psychologist and we tried beta-blockers and she told me to start taking baby steps. The problem is that I can't take baby steps as far as driving on a main road because you can't go 10 miles per hour on a major road! I have an appt with a neurologist tomorrow. So I guess my question is-- can this be anxiety even though I don't have any terrified or panicky thoughts, and no other physical symptoms besides the weird feeling of being about to go go sleep?
I thank you all for your responses.

Hey, It sure sounds like anxiety to me. I have panic attacks, but none in quite some time thank the good lord, as I have learned my triggers and how to control them. My driving fear hit me out of the blue about 10 years ago. I never was afraid and then WHAM, got on the interstate one day and all I could think was I wasn't able to control this car and I was going to hit something and what would that feel like that. I can and could drive on side roads find. In fact ,, about two years after this started, I got into an abusive relationship that I found unable to leave as I was afraid to get in the car and drive anywhere. I finally did, after 6 years, and once I arrived across the country after driving it by myself, I again couldn't get on interstates for 2 more years. Then situation forced me to for my son's sake. Drove back across country and again I find myself immobilized. I feel like a prisoner to my fear. God bless you, I know what it feels like

to mcsnick, i know exactly what you are talking about. i get where my arms feel and body feel like jelly. like they are not real. im starting to think it may be psychosomatic. i dont have any other symptoms either (sometimes i do), but when i distract my mind and focus on something else it goes away. it just came from out of nowhere. i used to drive around for the fun of it. not anymore. i have been to doctors and had numerous tests done.they all say the same thing. see a psychiatrist.

I know I have to get back in the car before I give up on the idea entirely. It has been about four years now and before that I did very little driving. For me it is the anticipatory and performance anxiety that absolutely buries me not the panic attacks while I am driving because I cannot relax enough when dealing with a life or death matter. Driving a car for me is a full-fledged phobia because no matter how well I drive or how successfully I find a location, I constantly obsess about getting lost, merging on a highway, missing a stop sign, etc. In fact, the obsessions are physically and mentally draining and this is my driving challenge not really the mechanics.

Andrew

[raises hand]

yeah... same here. I've been driving 20+ years, love driving, love highway, getting from here to there..

However, out of nowhere I felt like I was going to faint. It just kept happening, I wasn't near an exit or a place I could pull over so I had to keep driving.. The best I can describe it is almost like that weird "WHAT WHAT?!" thing if you start to nod off watching television or something and SNAP back awake.. only without the nodding off, just a weird going to faint head thing..

I have since experience "noodle arms" and at times a weird, disconnected feeling with my arms (or legs) where I feel dampened sensation and the illusion of dampened control - like if I have an itch on my nose, raising a hand to scratch real quick and then back to where it was almost seems like some strange juggling act. It's like, lift, scratch, woah.. wooooaaaahhh.. ahh.. okay.. that's done..

I don't know about anyone else but I have noticed it more frequently when I'm hungry. Not exclusively, but definitely around 75ish% of the time.

I don't have thoughts before it happening, but during it definitely gets dicey, since I'm on the highway, operating a car in a sea of cars usually with a loved one with me. So I don't think it's obsessive, weird or whatever to be have a concern and related thoughts or panic that you don't want to kill yourself, a loved one or complete strangers if this "episode" goes as it implies it could.

I've had anxiety and panic episodes before (entering rooms full of people, enclosed close personal interaction areas like a dentist appointment and such) I would say this driving one doesn't hit ALL the symptoms for me but enough of them that I'd definitely consider it an anxiety-related thing. Absolutely.

I wasted a bunch of time and money on a psychiatrist/medication combo years ago to try to eliminate the people/space related anxiety with no positive results. I mentioned the driving thing and other stuff to my regular MD.. he said casually, "sounds like anxiety and maybe some panic".. I said, "yeah", with an awkward smile and he handed me some sample Lexapro.

First attempt at a whole pill (don't recall the MG) I didn't feel well, stopped immediately and called the doc.. he suggested taking a break, going for half a pill initially, building it up in my system and seeing how it goes.. well.. today is my first day half a pill retry, so I can't say if it'll help anyone or not..... including myself.. I'm hopeful and definitely think anxiety would be a great consideration for noodle arm, thinking you're going to faint drivers on the highway or elsewhere. All the best to us all :)

Let's try another name on this for a bit....undue stress....

I had a "dizzy" spell about two weeks ago, for the first time in about....oh....15 years or so. I was standing on a stool, painting cupboards...nearly fell off the stool, but just hung on until it passed.

Why?....no phobias, nothing like that....I was handling, and dealing with so many things at once, that the phobia symptoms started coming back. I recognized them, and ignored them.

The chances of you passing out from the dizziness are very slim, to none. The more you don't react to it, the faster it will go away.

This is in our heads, and we can make it go away.

Lil

I wonder if it could of been from the paint fumes...

I had a few frightening panic attacks while driving to an appt. I was stuck at a busy intersection waiting for the left turn arrow to turm green so I could turn. I felt trapped and have posted before about how I wanted to run out of my car and leave it there. I had to keep saying the word no to myself several times and then kept my mind busy. After that, I was able to handle the rest of the drive there and back. I had taken a Xanax before my drive, but it was a low dose and didn't really help. I know I've been worrying about several health problems that I've inherited. I don't drive on the freeway anymore b/c that scares me to death. I don't trust shrinks, so I haven't been to one in several years.

I wonder if it could of been from the paint fumes...

Nope....

I paint stuff all the time. It's never happened before.

It was the exact same feeling as I used to get, when I had very bad anxiety, and phobias.

I knew I wasn't going to pass out. When I pass out, I see black right before I go out. If it's anxiety it's more like a "spin" feeling.....almost like being drunk.

Do I sound sure?

Lil

Mrslots,
Even if your not having some of the symptoms mentioned it does sound like anxiety. I experienced the same thing about 8 years ago. I was leaving work and it was 20 miles from my home. I got really light headed, my arms felt weak and I felt like I wasn't getting where and that I was going to die. I called my mom and told her what was going on. She told me to keep driving and roll the window down. I tried that and it didn't work. i made her keep talking to me but all I could do was cry and tell her that I was going to die. I felt like the highway wasn't taking me anywhere. When I got closer to the town I live in my mom met me at the grocery store and she drove me home. She did have to help me out of the car because I felt like a wet noodle. I was so shook up when I got home I had no idea what I was doing or how to change my clothes or anything. She had to put a fan infront of me to help me breathe. I tried different meds. but they didn't help. Now I'm on paxil I believe it saved my life. I can now drive out of town without having any problems. If I do feel a little something I turn the radio up and crack the window and I tell my self I can over come this. I always do!!!
Hope this helps!