tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post3688121650221893631..comments2024-01-22T18:22:29.391-08:00Comments on hedera's corner: Sleepyheadhederahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-73042313836916746872008-02-18T20:08:00.000-08:002008-02-18T20:08:00.000-08:00Yes, it's terrifying, isn't it? I'm not sure the ...Yes, it's terrifying, isn't it? I'm not sure the tendency to fall asleep at the wheel on long road trips is the same problem; I was having these uncontrollable urges to nod off while driving between Oakland and Concord. Rolling across the desert, there's almost an excuse for it. Try driving Highway 50 some time, too. <BR/><BR/>The trouble with caffeine as a solution is that it wasn't working for me - I drink a full pot of tea, over 20 ounces, every morning, and it wasn't helping. Fortunately this has stopped happening; but like you, I support the Coca Cola Co. on long road trips. We're planning one to Yellowstone this summer, I'll be interested to see how I do. But my mother invariably fell asleep in the car on long road trips, and I've always done so too. Come to think of it, maybe I inherited the apnea from her.hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-87802801440427876502008-02-15T11:53:00.000-08:002008-02-15T11:53:00.000-08:00Some years ago, I had a couple of incidents of sev...Some years ago, I had a couple of incidents of severe "narcolepsy" (as you call it) while driving home from work on I-80 (via the Bay Bridge). I'd never had anything like this before: Almost a sense of dizziness, like fainting, which I had to really concentrate to fend off. This went away, and I had no problem with it until the last five years or so, when it's begun to return a little bit. Something about low blood sugar. Then this happened last Fall: I was driving, alone, to Salt Lake on the first leg of a long swing through the Rockies and back to the West Coast, across those dreary straight-as-an-arrow freeways across the Salt Flats, in the fast lane with a big rented SUV, doing about 70 mph, just meditating and staring ahead. Suddently, the car began jumping and skidding--I was on the gravel shoulder on the left side of the tarmac, leaning about 15% to my left, bouncing on the median (at 70!). I had "nodded off" and the car had drifted about one "lane" to the left. I was able to hold the wheel straight while the vehicle slowed, and I stared around sheepishly to see who might have seen me, but there was only a single "semi" going the opposite direction across the way, and no one had been around to notice. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. It scared the living excelsior out of me, and now I make sure to scarf down a bottle of that cheap sweet Starbuck's stuff at each gas station island I come to. Better to be a little buzzed than dead!Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-60695510502907779352008-02-11T10:20:00.000-08:002008-02-11T10:20:00.000-08:00Thanks for your concern, Stephen, my test was nowh...Thanks for your concern, Stephen, my test was nowhere near 33%! I was somewhere between 80 and 90%, and not even all of the time. Apparently I have a lot of small incidents. <BR/><BR/>I concluded after I got some sleep and calmed down that I could probably learn to sleep through it, but I don't relish the prospect... having been there, you probably understand how terrifying those "falling asleep at the wheel" incidents are! I'm SO relieved those have stopped!hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-64127465526771139552008-02-11T07:04:00.000-08:002008-02-11T07:04:00.000-08:00Glad you didn't need the machine. My dad has Slee...Glad you didn't need the machine. My dad has Sleep Apnia and uses one, you do eventually learn to sleep through it. I use to ride into work with him when I was younger and would watch him fall asleep as he drove. When he went in for his test they said he has a 33% blood oxygen level. Be careful with that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com