Car journeys..

[CathyDavies]

Full of anxiety and I know I won't sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning I'm heading off to Cornwall (England) which is about 2 hours south of me. I'm going in the back of a 3 door car - my worst nightmare because I feel so trapped - without my partner, who is basically the only person who keeps me sane.

I'm frightened to death that I'll have motion sickness and be trapped in the back of the damn car, freaking out inside my head. I'm not one to shout "stop" so I know I'm going to suffer in a nauseous panic

I tried finding real ginger beer but was unsuccessful. I found ginger and lemongrass cordial which I got to dilute. We're going to be doing pit stops because my mother-in-law will be sat in the front. She suffers from car sickness... Another reason why this journey is going to SUCK.

I need some last minute advice on how to stay calm during this hellish trip please!!

[SilentFrog]

Are you able to get hold of any tablets for motion sickness? They sell them in most supermarkets and over the counter in pharmacies. Or see if you can get hold of some "Sea bands", I've used them for sea sickness and motion sickness and they've helped me a lot in the past. I've found that taking some music with me helps a lot to take my mind off things, I can just close my eyes with some headphones and that helps, particularly with long journeys.

Also, it's worth reminding yourself that motion sickness is not infectious, so as unpleasant as it might be if your mother-in-law gets ill, at least you can remind yourself that you absolutely won't catch anything from her, she won't make you ill. If you do stop, it's worth getting out if you can and getting some fresh air, sometimes I find that in the cramped space of a car when the air gets quite hot and stale, I tend to start panicking, so it's always nice to get out, take a few deep breaths and calm down before going on. Sometimes even opening a window and feeling the breeze blasting against the side of my face or my hair gives me a physical feeling to focus on, which takes my mind off the dizziness.

[CathyDavies]

Thank you for the advice!
I didnt sleep at all, which has made everything that little bit harder. I'm sure it's just anxiety, but whenever I tried to close my eyes and sleep I started feeling nauseous and dizzy
I'm so bloody anxious and I'm going to be worse now that I'm tired!

[SilentFrog]

Do you ever get that feeling of dizziness which is like, I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but it's right behind (or in front) of your eyes when they're closed, it's like the room feels like it's spinning but only when you're eyes are closed and so you have to open them again... When I'm anxious and stressed in general I don't tend to sleep anyway, closing my eyes just makes me nauseous, as does just laying there, unless I get up and distract myself with something, but yeah, it's perfectly normal to feel dizzy or nauseous when you get anxious.

I might be missing the point here and I'm sorry if I am - it's just a thought - but perhaps if you're tired you could catch up on some sleep during the car journey? I know you'll be anxious and with all the feelings that go with it, sleep will probably be the last thing on your mind, but if you're really tired, perhaps you might find it easier to just fall asleep in the car and sleep through a lot of the journey. That's something that's happened to me before now. I was anxious about sharing a car for a long journey with one of my parents (who had been ill a few days ago), and it had kept me awake all night. By the time I got to the car I was sat bolt upright paying attention to everything, primed to cover my mouth with my jumper if he so much as coughed or sneezed.

About an hour into the journey I could barely keep my eyes open, the endless repeating patterns of the motorway shooting by probably bored me to sleep and the next thing I knew it was four hours later and we'd arrived at our destination. So I suppose my point is that even if you're absolutely adamant that you're not going to sleep, and far too anxious for it anyway, you might just find yourself falling asleep anyway out of pure exhaustion and before you know it the journey will be over.

Anyway, be sure to let me know how it goes when you get back on, and I really hope you manage ok, I'm sure it will work out fine in the end, and at the end of it don't forget you'll have something to post about in the Triumphs section, you survived the whole journey on your own, without your partner there to comfort you. Now in my book, that is an achievement to be proud of

[CathyDavies]

Yes that's exactly how I'd describe the dizziness! I'm also currently weening off Propranolol in prep for some new anti depressants, and the withdrawal is that awful thick dizziness.

I'm sure I will fall asleep as I'm already exhausted, but I'm so deathly afraid of being sick that I worry I'll wake up and not have time to get out. I hate hate hate the thought of being in the back of the car, practically trapped.
I just want to wake up and poof! Magically arrived. But I know we're doing LOADS of pit stops for mother-in-law. Which is great in some respect but in all honesty I just want to be done with the journey... not drag it out for hours and hours.

Ugh. I'm sat on my bed waiting for the family to arrive, trying to do breathing exercises and ward off the anxiety. It's coming and going, sometimes making me feel awful, sometimes being confused with hunger.
I have a hot water bottle, some mints and a pint of ginger cordial made up. I hope it gets me through without a problem. God I'm soooo anxious!! Never have I seen my hands shake this much

[SilentFrog]

Ah I know that feeling, when I was on 45mg Citalopram for months and then stopped cold turkey, I got that dizziness, bad to the point where I couldn't stand up for months, even then with all the dizziness and nausea I didn't v* or even come close to it, so that's something.

Try to remember that you can't get motion sickness when you're asleep, it won't wake you up suddenly making you want to v*, that's now how it works. If you do wake up then all you have to do is keep your eyes closed, take some deep breaths and let yourself drift back to sleep. Easy to say I know, but I promise you, you're not going to get motion sick while you're asleep

Anyway, it sounds like you're about as well prepared for the journey as you can be, if you do feel nauseous, you've got a whole toolkit of remedies to ward off those uncomfortable feelings. I hope you manage to get to sleep pretty soon into the journey and wake up at your destination having slept through the entire ride. Let me know how it goes

[CathyDavies]

Thank you, I will do. I'm glad to hear nothing came from all the dizziness, some days it just knocks me.
I'll try to sleep through it! Thank you again and I'll update later on this afternoon. X

[CathyDavies]

Update! FINALLY arrived. We did a lot of pit stops and hung around in Plymouth for a few hours. Although I didnt v*, I was so so anxious that my throat was gaggy and my stomach felt awful. Like it had been cut out? Not sure, but man did it exhaust me. Worth the trip though. This place is stunning. Absolutely stunning.
It has acres of fields with bunnies and owls and robins..

Thank you for your support! My partner is almost here so I can sit back and enjoy these gorgeous views.

[SilentFrog]

That's great to hear, I'm glad you made it through ok, and what a reward for your troubles, those views sound serene!

[canonguy]

glad you made it ok! car trips get me down too

[horsewoman]

So glad you made it, the fields with bunnies, owls and robins sound so relaxing.. Enjoy and be proud of yourself for getting through the trip! Each time you get through something like that I believe you get stronger. It Gives me courage, I have a lil trip on friday with a bunch of kids.. shew.. it'll be fun and nerve wrecking all at the same time..

[CathyDavies]

Thanks guys! It was well worth it in the end.
The place I stayed was just a magical fairytale in the middle of nowhere!