Anyone else feel shakey after driving a distance? I experience this much more in the afternoon than in the morning. If so, any tips on how to avoid it? I imagine that it is probably unavoidable after expending some effort through the day.
The shakiness could be cause you are over doing it. Driving can be quite tiring for ME/CFS people. Maybe have a break half way throu these drives.
or as the ggingues said.. maybe low blood sugar esp if you arent having your regular meals when you usually do, due to driving at the time. Take some snacks in car with you.
I think it's something to do with the concentration of driving combined with the sitting in that position for too long. Whenever I have to concentrate I tense my muscles. When I drive anywhere there is a point after about an hour that I start to feel shaky.
Interestingly, when somebody else is driving me the point of discomfort and pain (I have fibro) comes much SOONER. Almost as if the concentration of driving actually stops my fibro/CFS from kicking in immediately.
Driving is very cognitively demanding and it's emotionally stressful as mistakes can be quite dangerous. When I drive I try to plan my route to reduce stress as much as possible.
The things I try to avoid are:
- Freeways (you can set your phone's navigation app to avoid them)
- Left turns in general and especially left turns across multiple lanes of traffic without a green arrow at a traffic light
- Roads with speed limits that are 40 mph or more
- Roads with two or more lanes of traffic in one direction
Google maps usually highlights the higher speed/ higher traffic roads so those are the roads I avoid. It makes driving more tolerable for me but it's still stressful.
This may seem a little silly, but have you tried deep yoga breathing to just calm your system before and during driving? Stress hormones can get released during driving, which can give you the post adrenaline shakes. Not to mention the amount of mental energy and concentration needed.