Suddenly cannot drive due to excessive anxiety and intense fear
Posted , 5 users are following.
Right now I'm trying to live through a return driving trip that is going to take two more long days. I am traveling with my husband and am trying to cover up for the intense fear I'm feeling and it's not gonna work. I fear my driving shift. I had an extreme panic attack just trying to get in the driver's seat. It was so bad that I had to pull over and switch drivers. Shaking terribly inside and out. My eyes were blurry and it took at least an hour and a half and two Clonazapams to finally calm down. I'm extremely jumpy and have visions of having an accident. I startle constantly when other cars get too close or we just weave a bit. I can drive for several hours sometimes, but other times I just can't. I didn't drive at all today and it's getting me upset because I'm not helping. I've been shaky all day and couldn't eat much of anything. It didn't help anything when we saw rescue and police cars at a an accident that just happened before we got to that stretch of road. One mangled tractor trailer that rear ended an RV and both were in a ditch. Couldn't get the image out of my head. We're at a hotel for the night now and I'm trying to calm down. I fear tomorrow because it's a it's going to be at least 12 hours. I'm still shaky and I noticed I have belly bloat besides. What's that about?? Is that a symptom of anxiety?? Now I'm also in hypochondriac mode. Does anyone here ever feel this way?? I'm so scared! I can't sleep! Hoping someone can relate.
Debbie
0 likes, 7 replies
gino78308 debra83792
Posted
Hi debt omg I cannot believe you just wrote that i went to visit my dad yesterday for Father's Day we live two hours away as soon as I got into our car I started to drive I got about 2 Klm down the road and I couldn't drive any more my partner had do drive all I did was yell at her telling to watch out for all the cars the fact there was an accident did not help by the time we got there she was in tears I was stuck to the seat and we had a drive back my poor partner I had to explain to her that she did nothing wrong and she is a much better driver then me that's why she was driving it was horrible
debra83792 gino78308
Posted
Hi, It's good to hear I'm not alone. I've been so afraid to admit that I'm this frightened. I feel it makes me look crazy. I really just don't understand this reaction I'm having. Long distance driving is nothing new to me as I often have driven from Illinois to Massachusetts (many trips have been on my own). This time we went to visit friends on the coast in Oregon for a week and decided to drive to break in the new can we just bought. Driving three days with 2 overnights. I did fine going out there. Drove 5 hours the first day, 4 the second and 4 on the last leg. No anxiety, no panics. I have no real idea why the trip back was so frightening. Well, I only drove 2 hours on Sunday and couldn't continue after second shift of 1 hour when I had to stop and switch drivers due to panic. Didn't help seeing the accident. I feel a lot better today after explaining to my husband how I feel last night and more today while he was driving. I was so concerned about him thinking I was going crazy, but he doesn't. That also helped big time.
frazzled debra83792
Posted
Debbie -- 12 hours on the road in your condition? I'd be freaking out too. I feel your fear coming right thru my monitor. With that much stress, you can expect not only belly bloat but distorted vision plus many other nasties (yes symptoms of anxiety). Plus, not eating lowers your BP and will make you dizzy and possibly your reflexes will be effected?
You should NOT be driving in that condition. Can't the trip be shortened to 4-5 hours and then bed down for the night or are you on a deadline? This would reduce some of the burden on your husband and you would not have to be behind the wheel.
Again, in the condition you were and may be again, YOU SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING. Don't push yourself at the your expense and others. It's too dangerous for everyone. I wish I could offer some encouragement to help you along but I know that when I get shaky behind the wheel, I pull over and rest/breath until the panic passes.
I hope you can get some sleep. You're going to make yourself feel a lot worse if you keep this up. Don't feel bad that you are not contributing your share of the driving -- doesn't your husband know how you feel? I'll say this too not to scare you but I wouldn't want to be on the same road with you knowing that your are driving under extreme anxiety. Please think about what you're doing.
Sending calming vibes of strength.
debra83792 frazzled
Posted
Hi, Today was a much better day and I was fine and drove several hours in two shifts with no problems. I certainly don't want to endanger anyone or us, so as soon as an attack came on I pulled over in a safe place to switch drivers. We had a talk last night and I fessed up about all the feelings. He can't understand how it feels, but certainly doesn't want me to drive if I'm in panic mode. Today was a much better day and I was able to drive several hours in two shifts. Talking about it helped and we figured out that driving through smaller two-lane winding roads is where I feel the fear, so we modified the plan and I found I was fine if he did the driving through mountains ad I did my time on relatively straight, flatter sections. So I sat out the Continental Divide and the Rockies. Eastern Montana was fine. I also downloaded a few audiobooks on my MP3 player this morning and found that it helped so much to listen to something interesting instead of just music. It also makes the time go much faster! Did take one pill today when I felt a panic coming on while in the passenger side and that took it away.
Also, maybe the calming vibes of strength from you helped?
mac58 debra83792
Posted
Debra, you should not be driving when you feel like this.
It really isn't good for you or other road users!
Please try to get your husband to understand that you need a 'time-out' until you feel better.
debra83792 mac58
Posted
I think you an read the other replies I left for Gino and Frazzled so I'll just say today was a much better day!
jan34534 debra83792
Posted
Anxiety can cause belly bloat. I'm sorry you're feeling this way. There are many people who share this type of anxiety.
you need to calm down your mind because negative thinking leads to fear and people are often stuck in fearful thinking.
you need to take control of this so it doesn't control you.
start with slow deep breathing in through your nose out through your mouth. Do this several times. Focus on your breath and what it feels like coming in and going out. This keeps your mind in the present moment and not thinking about your anxiety. If you can, listen to some meditations on YouTube that will calm you down. They have them for anxiety and overthinking etc. there is one called detachment from overthinking and another called clearing subconscious negativity. Many others to choose from for anxiety. I use earbuds .
when you get an anxious thought, don't try to fight it off because it will get worse. What you do is calmly acknowledge the negative thoughts for a few seconds, then imagine it floating off in dissolving. Do this every time!
Hope you feel better soon.