I have trouble driving on the freeway, especially at night with all the lights. At times when driving I experience spatial displacia and don't actually know where I am in the lanes. My family has protested and stopped me from driving (as well they should) except for short trips to the store, running errands, etc.
I have SCA13. Has anyone else experienced problems driving?
I have to drive on freeway to work daily for one hour. I feel lot of tense and cannot take any new roads except known roads to my work.I decided to discontinue driving soon. I do not change lanes unknowingly, but still feel nervous. My eyes cannot capture speedily moving objects.
what is sca13 ??? i have seen sca6 etc. in this site but i was just diagnosed with non-famial cellebeler ataxia i am confused…
Hi Isolde!
Driving, yes I experience the same sort of things. During daylight hours I'm quite confident
but in poor light and after dark I don't drive. One good thing is my speed keeps down, because
going fast means I'm unable to focus quickly, so there's less chance of a speeding ticket now!
I don't like driving in fast moving traffic on the motorway (freeway) or having to find my way to
an unfamiliar place. The intense concentration required for this causes too much stress, then
fatigue sets in and a vicious cycle is in progress! xB
I had trouble driving particularly at night and also slight double vision. After getting pulled over for DUI I decided to discuss it with my doctor. He explained that the same area of the brain (the cerebellum) is affected when you drink so for me to drive was like letting a drunk behind the wheel. I thought it much more important to not kill an innocent person than to hold onto this form of "independence".
David
Hi David!
Re the double vision. Have you tried anything to counteract this problem?
Finally I've arrived at a solution that suits me. In my affected eye I wear a partial
occlusal contact lens and in the good eye a variofocal contact lens. This odd
combination actually works, I've tried variofocal glasses and didn't like them
but the contact lens is much better. xB
tumbles83 said:
I had trouble driving particularly at night and also slight double vision. After getting pulled over for DUI I decided to discuss it with my doctor. He explained that the same area of the brain (the cerebellum) is affected when you drink so for me to drive was like letting a drunk behind the wheel. I thought it much more important to not kill an innocent person than to hold onto this form of "independence".
David
Yes ..............I to have noticed my driving is unsafe. I made the decision to sell my car. I talked with my doctor and we both agree that I feel safe enough in slow in town driving and that is it. I sometimes get bothered by this choice but my mind knows that for everyones safety it must be this way. I oly feel comfortable drivng slow in town. It was such a sacrifice as I feel as if I have taken so many things away already to keep myself safe. Examples: No longer trust myself to carry babies,have nothing to do now with boiling water to be drained. Going up/down basement steps to do crafting and laundry,shopping by myself. going to friends homes to visit in another own. Driving is my biggest issue. Can't spent time with grandsons as much. Truly I am not trying to sound like woo is me. It's just a difficult adjustment to get use to. It just stinks to make a drastic change in my life. But I am adjusting and know that I need to stay focused and determined to live one day at a time. i have pretty much succeeded with a positive way of thought. I have trouble in the dark always with my balance. I have night lights set all over in my house and boy is that a life saver. Works great for me.
Thanks for sharing this topic with us. Now I know I am not alone.
Me too.......I gave up my motability car after nearly causing an accident due to peripheral vision. I think it's really important to accept the condition and consider other road users, it's hard, I miss my car every day and haven't driven for over 2 years now. I got a power chair instead, it's got enough battery to get to the local supermarket etc and small enough to get round the aisles when I go to town. I also have problems with dusk vision and bright lights.
Haven’t experienced any trouble driving so far. The challenge is getting my walker in and out of the trunk(boot) . Ditto on the boiling water and carrying babies! Do not carry either. No vision problems except sometimes a little blurry. I don’t drive at night or in any extremes of weather , because if I fell it could be bad. So sorry for those who can no longer drive.
I also have alot of trouble driving at night. I've been taking Lutein a daily vitamin for my eyes and vision and it hasn't helped. I avoid driving at night. Luckily I work very close to home so when I do have to drive home at night I arrive home quickly. I also have trouble seeing other cars in the other lanes and have to be careful when changing lanes. I make sure I have plenty of room when I have to change lanes.
I have noticed the lane issue just recently only on one particular
Street is this sure to my ataxia?
I have noticed the lane issue just recently only on one particular
Street is this sure to my ataxia?
I have noticed the lane issue just recently only on one particular
Street is this sure to my ataxia?
Hi displaymom!
If you've been aware of this only recently, and on one particular street. I don't know if anyone
will agree with me but it might have something to do with your vision. It may be possible for
you to have experienced some Nystagmus (flickering eye movement) when you glanced in a
specific direction. It would distort your vision somewhat, then looking in another direction
might have brought it back to normal. This bothered me a lot at one time. If so, it is one of
the symptoms we can experience with Ataxia. xB
displaymom said:
I have noticed the lane issue just recently only on one particular
Street is this sure to my ataxia?
I have limited driving. Can't do much more than an hour on familiar simple low traffic roads without getting really fatigued and losing vision and coord, and can't do downtown crowded or inter sectioning or commuter traffic situations on most days and definitely not anyplace that I don't know really well.
BUT I have found that I do much better with my spatial displacia if I a.) drive a car with more road feel (tire vibration) so I can "feel" the road. SPORTS CAR!!! :-))) .....or maybe a jeep ;-/ 2.) I need a car with really good body hugging wrap around seats to give me lot's of body position feedback and balance support. 3.) a sunroof so I can feel the warmth of the sun on my head and know which way is up.
I'll never be able to drive a cadillac but I do dang well with the right car and right environment. :-)
Hi Blueberry!
You desire two extremes here! A sports car would take some manouvreing in and out of
(my son has one) and a jeep (I used to have one) is quite high, you have to hitch yourself up onto the seat,
that's because I have short legs! Could you have a 'sports seat' in your current car? xB
You're right, on a good day everythings perfect!
Blueberry said:
I have limited driving. Can't do much more than an hour on familiar simple low traffic roads without getting really fatigued and losing vision and coord, and can't do downtown crowded or inter sectioning or commuter traffic situations on most days and definitely not anyplace that I don't know really well.
BUT I have found that I do much better with my spatial displacia if I a.) drive a car with more road feel (tire vibration) so I can "feel" the road. SPORTS CAR!!! :-))) .....or maybe a jeep ;-/ 2.) I need a car with really good body hugging wrap around seats to give me lot's of body position feedback and balance support. 3.) a sunroof so I can feel the warmth of the sun on my head and know which way is up.
I'll never be able to drive a cadillac but I do dang well with the right car and right environment. :-)
Ataxia takes away eye-hand coordination. If my deriving is dangerous and possibly deadly why would I choose to unleash that on an unsuspecting public? Perhaps because I am so selfish that I want to do what I want regardless of possible harm to others
I gave up driving only a year ago and I have had CA for nearly 7years.I thought it would be the end of the world but it wasn't.I chose to give up rather than having my llicense wrenched away.I could not live with being reported or injuring someone.
I lived in fear all the time. Now I would rather do without but that is just for my circumstances.
Good for you! We don' become less than just because wee can no longer do what we once did. I believe that being disabled does not mean that we can not do but rather that we must find another way to get things accomplished.
I like that comment about finding another waay roound tumble.I am guilty of saying can't but left to my own devices I find a way round.That part of the brain works very well and for that I am very grateful.