Driving A Car With GBS (and variants)
-
-
March 10, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I was wondering how many are able to drive, and who can’t.
What’s [B][U]your[/U][/B] story?The day after I left the hospital I started driving.
My main problem with GBS has been my feet. When I left the hospital 10 days after I was taken by ambulance to the ER. I had no sensation in my feet. My hands were not nearly as bad but were also a bit numb. My coordination had returned and my eyes were not seeing double.
I am a retired police captain so I didn’t mention or discuss driving with either my Internist or Neurologist. I knew it was their obligation to report my condition to the Department of Motor Vehicles…..if they thought to do so.
I also felt that I would attempt to drive out of the garage and down the block to test myself. Fortunately I passed my test. Yeah, yeah….so I had an in with the tester……
My driving experience is much more than the average person’s. When you drive a police car all day for years coupled with the special training, your reflexes can be very good. I was also a driver when I was in the Air Force. I have often driven with very heavy boots with very thick soles. Soles backed up with a steel rod to prevent any flex, and I could walk on sharp rocks without feeling them. These were special hiking/climbing boots.
My reasoning was that if I could drive with the boots and not “feel” the pedals, would the GBS make a difference? It did…..
There was a BIG difference. At least with the boots I could feel the pressure of my feet pushing against resistance. With GBS I could not feel the pressure to tell me how much I was pushing, or even where my foot was.
However, there is more than foot feeling involved in driving. There is also “muscle memory” that had been created by thousands of hours of driving. My muscle/brain connection knew how much pressure to apply to the pedals to correspond to the sensation of acceleration and braking.
These actions become automatic when we drive and we don’t have to consciously think about it. That changed with GBS!
With my foot above the accelerator pedal I could tap the left side of my shoe against the higher brake pedal to be sure my foot was where I thought it was. A few times I found myself applying the brake -and the gas pedal – at the same time……but I was lucky and quickly adapted.
My feet are much improved for sensation now, but it is still an issue, as is the pain, especially late in the day or into the evening. Also, after being on my feet all day for a photo shoot, my feet are so numb and in such pain that doing anything is awful……
I thought about this because tomorrow I’m headed out to drive a couple of thousand miles by myself. I am not concerned about it. My car helps a lot with it’s laser cruise control. The laser cruise control automatically keeps my distance from the car in front of me, applies the brake if I the other car slows and sounds a warning if I’m too close. So I can relax my feet/legs more than with normal driving/cruise control.
-
March 10, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Ken,
I have the same problem “feeling” if I’m on the gas or the brake and the gas. I found that if I slide my foot over to the right as far as it can go, I’m on the gas pedal. I just have to move a little to the left and I’m on the brake.
So far it hasn’t present a problem. If the car isn’t accelerating the way it should, it means I have my foot on the brake and the gas pedal. Getting to the brake is not a problem. The brake is a much bigger target. 😀
-
March 10, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Started driving about 8 weeks after onset of GBS. The muscles in my arms were the biggest problem because I was partially paralized there, but when paralysis resolved, I had enough stength to control the car. I still limited my driving to “need to” basis for a couple of months afterwards.
Ken L, I’m interested to know what kind of car you drive because the laser
cruise contol you described sounds like such a good idea – for anyone, not just GBSers. Where can I get one of these wonderful devices?Suzanne
-
March 10, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I have been driveing for the past month. My feet are numb but do have feeling and have had no trouble so far. Next week will be driveing my Motor Home for the 1st time in 2 months. In the past 2 days the numbness suddenley has started leaveing both feet Thank you God. I am now walking alot without my cane. I have had GBS for about 3 months
-
March 10, 2007 at 5:36 pm
[QUOTE=Suzanne]Started driving about 8 weeks after onset of GBS. The muscles in my arms were the biggest problem because I was partially paralized there, but when paralysis resolved, I had enough stength to control the car. I still limited my driving to “need to” basis for a couple of months afterwards.
Ken L, I’m interested to know what kind of car you drive because the laser
cruise contol you described sounds like such a good idea – for anyone, not just GBSers. Where can I get one of these wonderful devices?Suzanne[/QUOTE]
Hi Suzanne!I have a 2006 Toyota Avalon Limited. I don’t know what other make/model cars have it….I think Mercedes uses a radar system instead of laser.
Funny thing is that when I went over the list of options before ordering my car I thought the Laser Cruise was an unecessary, ridiculous idea…… 😮
But….the car they found with the options I wanted, also had the Laser Cruise. It took me using it one time to realize how nice it is! 😮
If Toyota has it, then so does Lexus. I sold my Lexus ES300 and got the Avalon because the Avalon is a quieter, softer riding car, and has many features that Lexus charges much more for…… They share the same drive-train.
-
March 10, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Thanks for your comments Jim and “Mochacat”!
-
March 11, 2007 at 6:49 am
I was able to drive for a couple of years with special equipment. I couldn’t use my feet because of lack of strenght, but I managed with hand controlled gas and brake pedals. The strenght and stamina that was required to drive failed me in the end and because of increasing pain in arms and neck driving a car isn’t possible anymore.
-
March 11, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for posting Eva! I hope that if you want to, one day you will again be able to drive.
-
March 11, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I didn’t vote but will answer for Frank.
He started to drive again 2 years after diagnosis. The first 2 years he had no control of his feet at all. I took him to a vacant parking lot to see how he could manage driving and he did well. He wouldn’t drive if he was having a relapse or alot of pain.
-
March 11, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I came down with a severe case of CIDP in April of 2002, with a very rapid decline. When I applied for a handicapped placard that November, my driver’s license was revoked by the state of MN. But they were correct in doing so, as I was essentially a quadriplegic at that time.
As I slowly recovered, I went in on a whim in Feb of 2005 & retook the permit & road test. Even with AFOs & driving with two feet I was able to pass both tests. Thank goodness I used to teach driver’s ed, as the permit test has a lot of trick questions! My feet are still partially numb & always will be, but I feel very comfortable driving. My right foot does get tired pushing down on the pedal for long periods though, thank goodness for cruise control… -
March 12, 2007 at 4:33 am
After GBS in the UK in 1990 I could not walk properly for four years and my hands remain practically useless. I had become accustomed to being a passenger, but when my wife broke her ankle in 1994 everything changed. The British authorities allowed me to drive an automatic gearbox (her sports car was a manual gearbox) and I now drive 10,000 mi. a year in UK without difficulty, relying on the spokes of the steering wheel for directional control. I have minimal feeling in my feet, but it has not presented a problem.
-
March 12, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Thanks all for posting!
I’m still out of town and am trying to check in for a minute or two when I can!
-
March 14, 2007 at 2:23 am
I drive but not as much as I used to. Its not the CIDP as much as the drugs. I also sit around in the house so much sometimes when I get out I get a little anxious behind the wheel.
I had the stomach flu last week and felt better friday. Mistake. I went out for awhile, the sunlight bothered me because it was so bright and after walking around in a store I got so tired I just had to get home.
The only problems I have really had are driving my wife’s rodeo- its too small for me (6’2) and my knees would ache badly after driving for more than 20 minutes and one time before I had AFOs I started having peroneal muscle fatigue and making a Uturn almost caused me to crash into a pole. Luckily the street was residential and deserted.
I can drive but prefer not to when Im not 100% ummm …..not 8……..50% 😉
I did some FMLA paperwork for my wife’s employer and now she can get any day off to take me to appointments without using sick or vacation time.Its funny because nurses told me I shouldn’t drive because my foot drop is so bad but the docs never said anything. If things keep up like this I dont know what the situation will be like when Im 44 instead of 34.
-
