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    Falling asleep at the wheel

    My fatigue is pretty severe. Im falling asleep at work and the wheel when I drive. So now I've stopped working because I don't want to kill someone. Has anyone had severe fatigue like this?

    #2
    Originally posted by Jola View Post
    My fatigue is pretty severe. Im falling asleep at work and the wheel when I drive. So now I've stopped working because I don't want to kill someone. Has anyone had severe fatigue like this?
    During flares I've had days where I literally slept all day, but normally I feel my fatigue as body fatigue, not sleepiness fatigue. That's not to say MS doesn't cause sleepiness fatigue.

    Ask your doctor to send you for a Sleep Study to evaluate you for apnea...falling asleep at the wheel, MS caused or not, needs to be evaluated.

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      #3
      I have fallen asleep/blacked out (I can't figure out what it is) about 3 times in the last several weeks. It is so scary. I am now on steroids so I dont' seem to have that overwhelming fatigue at the moment. I would definetely mention it to your doctor.

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        #4
        I have bad fatigue but I donot feel as if I am going to fall asleep driving.....I agree, you may need to call your doctor about that.....especially if you work and have to drive to get to your job. My fatigue is a muscle type fatigue where when I walk the stairs in my home, I almost cannot make it upstairs or downstairs and I also want to stay in bed.......I hate the fatigue symptom terribly bad....I have always been active and I also work out at the gym....or, I did I just wished, I could get back on track going to the gym but I am beginning to wonder if I can do like I always did....maybe not......I will be happy to just feel decent again......

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          #5
          Falling asleep while driving, This time of year concerns me of carbon monoxide poisoning. It can cause you to fall asleep driving. Even a dirty furnace can cause it.

          Please be careful and have your appliances checked, if in doubt. fed

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            #6
            I dont have gas appliances in my house. Its all electric.

            I dont think its sleep apnea either, I havent had this problem prior to the ms diagnosis.

            There are two type of MS fatigue, one is tiredness and the other is muscular. I get the tiredness one.

            Im also taking Symmetril, and it does nothing to stop this.

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              #7
              Jola; 'thinking' vs. 'knowing' it is sleep apnea driven is something that needs to be determined by a sleep study and certainly a good start to figuring out what is happening to you.

              amyrising; when you say "black out" do you mean you are losing your vision at times for short periods? I use to do that but, haven't lately. It i pretty frightening not knowing why. fed

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                #8
                Before being forced to retire I had a 45 min drive to work and can remember many times that I 'woke up', 'came to' or whatever, not knowing where i was or where I was going. Super scary! Finally figured out to just keep driving and that I would catch up soon.

                But yes I have also had the sleep driving thing happen too - often on the drive home from work. Especially when I was working shift work. A friend from work insisted that we carpool so that I would not have so far to drive by myself.

                Sorry, but I never did come up with a real solution to the problem. Good luck

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Fed Up View Post
                  Jola; 'thinking' vs. 'knowing' it is sleep apnea driven is something that needs to be determined by a sleep study and certainly a good start to figuring out what is happening to you.

                  amyrising; when you say "black out" do you mean you are losing your vision at times for short periods? I use to do that but, haven't lately. It i pretty frightening not knowing why. fed
                  I totally agree...ask your doctor for a sleep study.

                  A sleep study will show if your falling asleep might be due to "obstructive" sleep apnea or "central" sleep apnea, i.e. caused by a problem with the central nervous system.

                  It can be related to your MS. Here's an article that explains the link between MS and sleep problems like apnea.

                  http://www.healthcentral.com/multipl...3941/multiple/

                  If the link is not allowed by the mods just google Sleep Disorders in Multiple Sclerosis and the one from healthcentral seems to have good, understandable info.

                  I thought I had no problems with sleep, just fatigue, and when sent for a sleep study I was having significant apnea, no REM sleep, etc...so now I use a CPAP at night.

                  Falling asleep at the wheel is a hallmark of sleep apnea...ask your neuro about getting it checked out.

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                    #10
                    I have the EXACT same problem! I will kind of nod out and startle back up real quick. I have came back to as I am drifting into the next Lane. I fall asleep in class ALL the time. I had told one of my professors about this the first week of school and asked her to wake me if I had not knowing realizing it would get the attention of the whole class. So I fell asleep last week and she tried to wake me up. The first 15 seconds or so I woke up but couldn't move so I could hear the whole class laughing at me. I was so embarrassed, I left class cuz I was crying and slept in my car another hour until the gardeners woke me up and then had the scary drive home.

                    I'm scared, I need the school money to keep a roof over our heads and I have no one to drive me to school. I live in the middle of the desert, mostly because it's all I can afford. I know how you feel. Please let me know if you find anything out or anything that helps.

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                      #11
                      Ive had the same

                      My boyfriend kept waking me up. luckily he could tell because my head would slowly drop. since ive been on Adderall I haven't fell asleep or even got sleepy so im so happy about that, I was gonna quit driving it was scaring me that me.

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                        #12
                        Sleep apnea would cause you to wake up from sleeping, not fall asleep. It is a disease where you stop breathing briefly while asleep and that wakes you up. It wouldn't cause you to fall asleep though. Narcolepsy is the disease that causes you to just fall asleep at any time.

                        That being said though sleep apnea can cause you to feel very fatigued during the day because you wake up often at night.

                        I am so tired during the day lately that I fall asleep at any time. A coworker was giving me report last week and I kept closing my eyes while she was talking, couldn't stay awake. It was very embarrassing. I have an hour commute to work so have to try a lot of things to stay awake and stay safe.

                        I do wake up all night long though. Every two hours like clockwork. This definitely contributes to my daytime fatigue. If you are waking up often at night or snoring a lot, sleep apnea or some other sleep disturbance could be affecting your wakefulness during the day.

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                          #13
                          Hello AriD,

                          Originally posted by AriD View Post
                          Sleep apnea would cause you to wake up from sleeping, not fall asleep. It is a disease where you stop breathing briefly while asleep and that wakes you up. It wouldn't cause you to fall asleep though.
                          Sleep Apnea causes nighttime awakening due to not breathing. You can also have the same experience anytime you sleep, regardless of time of day/night.

                          Untreated and with lack of restive sleep a person can fall asleep anytime, anywhere and sleep more often sometimes causing a Quality of Life issue.
                          Diagnosed 1984
                          “Lightworkers aren’t here to avoid the darkness…they are here to transform the darkness through the illuminating power of love.” Muses from a mystic

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                            #14
                            Sleeping while driving

                            Oh my! I have the worst problem falling asleep while driving. I know this thread is from awhile ago but I just had to comment. All of my doctors are about 45 minutes away and I cannot make it without falling asleep. I've tried everything: all windows down, air all the way up, music blaring, etc. my latest trick that seems to work is if I snack all of the way there. For some reason, if I'm eating I don't fall asleep. My family freaked out when they found out so I don't drive myself very often now. Also, after doctor appt I would sleep in my car about 1 1/2 hours before driving back.

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                              #15
                              I have sleep apnea and wear a c-pap at night, I still have to nap during the day.
                              I have had optic neuritis and when my eyes get tired I need to sleep even if my body is not that worn out.
                              My license was suspended because my neurologist and neuropsychologist said it was time to stop driving.
                              Life with MS can get to that point.
                              LA dx MS feb 2008
                              Avonex Feb 2008-May 2009, Betaseron July 2009-Oct 2011 -- Tysabri Nov 2012-2014 -- Tecfidera 2014-2015 (allergic reaction) --Copaxone 2015-2016 (could not tolerate the painful itching) -- Tysabri November 2016 - Trying CBD for pain control

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