staying awake on long drives on road. BIG PROBLEM

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I recently discovered that I can not stay awake in a moving vehicle on the highway, interstate, etc. for any longer than about 45 minutes. I never really realized it till I had to drive myself to my appointments .( aspergers specialist for women)in another city that is about 60 mins. away. I really have to make sure that i get tons of rest the night before, make the appt. for early afternoon, and listen to a variety music that keeps my mind busy and awake. When I am really tired, it only takes about 15mins. till my head starts to bobble, and my eyes can't focus( each eyes goes in different directions. ) It is frusterating, because I can't help drive on our family vacations. We just got back from Yellowstone National park and thte Grand tetons. My husband had to drive the whole way. It is something to do with the monotonus vibraing of the vehicle as it goes over the bumps in the road, and having the same visual stuff to look at. My husband had to drive over 2000 miles total. I also notice that in everyday life, my eyes have a difficult time focusing on things. Especially after looking at one thing, then glancing at something else, and then going back to what you were originally looking at. It is espescially a problem when I am tired. My eyes just can't keep up. Anyone else have this problem? I don't see how truck drivers can do it.

Long road trips are hard for everyone I think. I also get tired on long car trips when I drive so I pull over and walk around and it wakes me up. I also use energy drinks to stay awake. Perhaps that's what truck drivers do.

That is not quite what I meant. I mean that I can't stay awake for even short drives like 15 minutes on the interstate or highway. Energy drinks do me no good. they seem to make me more tired, and slow down my reactions. I also take Adderall for ADHD. On long drives, I can only stay awake for about 15 minutes, then I fall asleep. If I wake up, I am only awake for about 15 minues,again, and fall asleep again. When it comes to a 20 hour drive. I can't even help out my husband, becasue I can only last about 15 minutes, in the day time( not at all at night) then I have to switch off.

Wait, you said 45 minutes. Now it's 15?

it's the monotony that lulls you into a trance. Listen to something you utterly hate, like talk radio of a different political or religious stripe than you are, Yell at the idiots that call in. Become truly involved in your point of view and become animated about your discussion. Get that blood pumping, get oxygen into your system and make it work.

I used to do that on late night driving trips across country. I would get so zoned out by the driving and the monotony. . . not good. Its dangerous out there. I am not saying it will work for you, but ones does what one has to do.

My suggestions are

Turn off the air con, make sure that you are not wrapped up too well. Make sure that you are not too comfortable.

No relaxing music.

As oftein as possible stop the car and go for a short walk.

This may not apply to you, but I had trouble with this. I was prescribed medication to deal with anxiety and depression, and overall it helped me to be less anxious, but I found that it made me sleepy all day. I found myself struggling to stay awake even when I was sitting in a chair having a conversation with my mother! And I felt drowsy when I was driving (which is seriously dangerous).

I told my psychiatrist that I thought the medicine was making me too drowsy, and he prescribed me a second anxiety medication with side effects that sort of balance the first one out. (On the other hand, it can make me feel jittery, especially if I drink caffeine, so I try not to drink too much. But I don't feel in danger of falling asleep when I'm driving anymore.)

I don't know if that helps, but I thought I'd share it.

pop in your iPod, and listen to some good music; sing along to it, or--with caution--dance along to it!

Im the exact opposite...for some strange reason, when I did my 16 hour drive to Winnipeg from Red Deer, I basically drove all the way there and only stopping to go to the bathroom and to eat and get gas. I listen to music and I am basically wide awake.I got to Winnipeg, and found that I could only fall asleep after sitting in the hot tub in the hotel pool.I can handle long drives, but in the end, it makes it hard to fall asleep because I am OVERtired.

If I need to get somewhere fast, I will not stop - unless I need to. Try the British roads, very entertaining and always changing. I make a game of it sometimes. Staying at the maximum speed limit allowed then I get really pissed cos the person who just overtook me decides to slow down and I catch them very quickly.

So - what is it 45minutes or 15?

If you're anything like me, you're just drained from daily life, and falling asleep behind the wheel when you're fatigued can be precipitously easy.

Blasting the air conditioning, playing loud music, singing along with said loud music - it succeeds at keeping you from totally dozing off, but from my experience you're still always on the verge.

But coffee, diet soda, 5-Hour Energy drinks - I once made it through a snowblind blizzard with 4 hours of sleep the night before without even dozing.

Best option is to just get enough rest that you don't have to rely on chemicals, but if you feel the slightest bit sleepy, don't hesitate to pull over and stim up.

I hope it was a typo she did. I always get skeptical when people say one thing and then another.

I am exactly the same way-whether it's 15 minutes or 45 minutes or 3 hours. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's scary when it does. I work in the field and drive from job to job, usually a distance of less than 10 miles. My head gets fuzzy my eyes start to droop and I have to fight to stay awake. This is not on a long drive although that happens too. I think it is an executive dysfunction thing. When I was in high school and struggling in algebra when I didn't have clue what was going on, I would feel intensely sleepy like that. I would look at the text in my math textbook and the letters would jiggle and separate. When class was over I was able to snap out of it. My son is the same way. A friend of mine and his wife were in a head on collision last Saturday. Thankfully everyone survived but the accident happened because the other driver fell asleep. Anyway, I was glad to hear others talk about this because I've been dealing with this debilitating mental weariness for as long as I can remember.I think it happens both when you are not getting enough stimulation and also when you are faced with a task that is beyond your executive processing skills.