Falling Asleep While Driving - A Danger to All

How often have you driven your car or truck when you were tired or drowsy? Most of you will probably admit that you have done it before – and will probably do it again. It is a serious problem and one that could be caused by sleep apnea.

It is unknown how many accidents are actually caused by people who have fallen asleep at the wheel, but it is likely that many are the result of someone getting in the car and driving when they were too tired to do so. If you fall asleep even for two seconds you can travel a considerable distance and cause irreparable damage to your life and the lives of others.

Sleep apnea can cause you to fall asleep literally at the drop of a hat and be asleep for mere seconds - that can mean the difference between life and death. It doesn’t take long to drive into another lane into the path of another car or to go off the side of the road into a ditch or down a mountainside – just split seconds that can make your life literally spin out of control.

If you are feeling too tired to drive, the best thing to do is to stay where you are or get someone else to drive you. There are also many “stay awake” tips that can be used to combat drowsiness and help you keep alert.

They include opening the windows wide or turning on the air conditioner. Turn up the radio full blast or put on a CD that will keep you awake and not put you to sleep. Stopping at a diner or somewhere to get coffee or caffeine or something to eat is also an option. Any of these actions will help to minimize your sleepiness but if they don’t work, you should stop and not drive.

Read this response left on Yahoo Answers
"I suffered somewhat the same thing. In my case I had sleep apenea, a condition that closed my throat at night, causing me to choke. So, the effect was I was spending many hours in bed but was so sleepy when I was up that I had trouble driving. It kept getting worse until a Dr. spotted the problem. Using a "cpap" machine cured me right away... I mean cured from one day to the next. If the question above is all true you might need to have a sleep study session done."