Migraines from riding in car
I get a migraine every time I’m in the car for more than 40 minutes (nonstop). I’m always the passenger, as I don’t drive anymore due to my migraines. We recently moved and are now 100 miles away from our family and make the drive quite often and I always spend the next two days in bed. Does this happen to anyone else? And does anyone have any remedies?
Thank you!
Dana
Hi Dana- Thanks so much for reaching out. You are not alone in this! I'm so sorry it's happening to you. Sounds like a real struggle given where you are living and your vicinity to others. I thought this article might interest you (has some helpful tips within): https://migraine.com/blog/driving-migraine-trigger
Hope it helps. Thinking of you! Warmly, Holly (migraine.com team).
I have a big problem with it. People don’t understand: “but if you just sit in the car, like you sit on the couch…” 😡
I explain that it’s VERY different from “sitting on the couch.” -
1) The couch isn’t moving. There’s no rolling sensation beneath me to make me nauseous and then cause migraine.
2) On the couch, there aren’t visual images, lights, flickering of lights through trees, colors and shapes, etc., flying by to make my migraine eyes go berserk.
3)The couch sits still, indoors. In the car, the noises of the road are various, uncontrollable, and usually only hurting me.
The other cars make noise just by moving, there’s honking, MOTORCYCLES 😱, construction sites, parades… (just kidding about the parades - they’re pretty infrequent.😆) You even have to talk loud in a car.
All of these sensitivities, which are migraine symptoms, are also migraine triggers. They are for me, at least.
And the distance is a huge factor. I can drive to the corner store, but if we drive to the beach I get migraine on the way home, if not before.
Oops - all I wrote, there, is a bunch of agreement and reasons why. I’ll leave it all, in case it’s any validation, but you asked for solutions. The only one I have is to not go, and hope this won’t always be so bad, since this thing changes all the time, over the years.
Im going to read the link that Holly provided, and hope others have more ideas.
Kate 🌷
@kateymac, thank you for sharing and validating this for @danadibs1979. It always helps to know that you are not alone. My friend also suffers from migraine triggers in the car. Her doctor wrote her a prescription for window tinting that is darker than the legal tent. The prescription also allowed her to tint the front window. She says it helps tremendously. I hope you both have a great, migraine free day. Hugs, Shayla (Migraine.com, Team Member)
Thanks, Shayla✨
Thanks! I know I’m not alone! If it helps I recently purchased back and butt support for the car. I’m very short, so I also thought that not being the right fit for the seat might be part of the problem. It has helped a bit. I hadn’t thought of that! That’s actually a great idea! No problem, @danadibs1979 and @kateymach. I hope that it helps you. Shayla (Migraine.com, Team Member)
