Re: Sensory Issues While Driving

[Guest guest]

Hi Larry. I have similar problems when driving. In my case it seems to be more

pressure caused than fatigue. My heel and the ball of my foot go numb first,

then the rest of the foot follows. Thank goodness for cruise control! It seems

that driving a car is worse about causing this than my mini van, so angle must

also play a part.

Wade

[Guest guest]

I've had that happen to me, except mine are random panics that I'm not

sure where my foot is. It happens far enough apart that I don't worry too much

about it and I haven't noticed if fatigue or certain shoes have anything to do

with it. It's a scary feeling.

Rena

[Guest guest]

Please be careful and aware when this happens. I had difficulty lifting my foot

from gas to brake and had a couple fender benders and switched to hand controls.

Hand controls are a great option because you can still use your pedals if you

want to. My husband drives my car all the time and does not use the hand

controls. I am at the point now where I can no longer use the pedals at all and

adjusted very quickly to the hand controls.

My mother (who does not have CMT) has done this twice and thank goodness with no

injuries (although very expensive damage) One time she went across 2 lanes of a

busy street and hit a pole insisting that her foot was on the brake. The other

time she went through a garage and damaged her friends 2 cars and house!

Jackie

[Guest guest]

I'm embarrassed to admit that this has happened to me also. It's only

happened a couple of times though and thankfully my car was in park

when I had my foot on the gas (instead of the brake) and I didn't

realize it til the engine revved up really loud. I am extra careful

now. I told my neurologist and he smiled and said he wouldn't write

that down in my medical record. I think in my case it is a

proprioception problem.

Holly

[Guest guest]

Hi Larry:

I have had similiar problems when driving on a long trip. My family

lives about 6 hours from me and it is increasingly hard toward the end

of the trip for me to feel where my foot is on the pedals. Sometimes

my foot will actually slip off the pedal and my rate of speed will

suddenly decline. The first time this happened I thought I was having

engine trouble! I don't have the problem when just tooling around

town tho. I've learned that it helps to stop and browse in the gas

stations along the way or at a park or something. It seems that if I

can walk just a little bit the numbness will subside. Of course, when

that doesn't work, my husband usually takes over the driving and that

is a whole other story! His driving scares me to death. Hand

controls sound like a good idea. I wonder how expensive that is? I

don't trust my reflexes enough to use the cruise control.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I began having this problem 2 or 3 years ago, and it was really scary, several

close calls.. Since I'm the only driver in the family, I had to face either

getting hand controls or giving up driving, which would mean giving up my

independence.

My hand controls were purchased and installed by Mobility Systems in Emeryville,

CA. The cost was about $900, then, being a scaredy cat, I spent about $400 more

for driving instruction to learn to use them. Well worth it!

It was like learning to drive all over again, forming new brain synapses so that

my hands would do what my feet were used to doing. Now it's perfectly natural,

people riding with me sometimes don't even notice that I'm using my hands

instead of my feet.

BTW, I thought much of my traveling was over, because I assumed rental cars with

hand controls weren't available, but now they are, thanks to the Americans With

Disabilities Act, so I can fly somewhere & rent a car with hand controls at my

destination, as long as I order them in advance.

Happy trails,

Ruth