What could this be?

[keypooh90]

Not really looking for advice or anything, just curious. Totally curious. I was driving home today and for a few seconds, I "blacked out." I'm not really sure if that's what you'd call it, but my mind went blank and I got dizzy and sort of forgot I was driving. I THOUGHT I had my foot on the brake but turns out it was on the accelerator. I didn't realize it until a few seconds later when I was pushing 60 on a 35 zone. I recently got pulled over for speeding so I panicked and quickly slowed down.

Anyway, not looking for advice, just curious about what could have happened.

 

[happygirl]

Not really looking for advice or anything, just curious. Totally curious. I was driving home today and for a few seconds, I "blacked out." I'm not really sure if that's what you'd call it, but my mind went blank and I got dizzy and sort of forgot I was driving. I THOUGHT I had my foot on the brake but turns out it was on the accelerator. I didn't realize it until a few seconds later when I was pushing 60 on a 35 zone. I recently got pulled over for speeding so I panicked and quickly slowed down.

Anyway, not looking for advice, just curious about what could have happened.

Maybe you were more sleepy then you thought

 

[keypooh90]

That's a definite possibility! I have been very busy lately!

 

[Jennasis]

It's a trip to the ER, is what it is. You could have killed yourself or someone else. I'm shocked at your blase' attitude about it. Wanna laundry list the possibilities??

Stroke
Heart Attack
Seizure
Aneurysm
Narcolepsy

Seriously...go to the ER or at least call your doctor's office right now. This could be something REALLY bad.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

It's a trip to the ER, is what it is. You could have killed yourself or someone else. I'm shocked at your blase' attitude about it. Wanna laundry list the possibilities??

Stroke
Heart Attack
Seizure
Aneurysm
Narcolepsy

Seriously...go to the ER or at least call your doctor's office right now. This could be something REALLY bad.

Right?????


Wow....

 

[Sugardimples]

Sounds like a drop in your blood sugar. Go to the doctor.

 

[happygirl]

It's a trip to the ER, is what it is. You could have killed yourself or someone else. I'm shocked at your blase' attitude about it. Wanna laundry list the possibilities??

Stroke
Heart Attack
Seizure
Aneurysm
Narcolepsy

Seriously...go to the ER or at least call your doctor's office right now. This could be something REALLY bad.

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

That's not what the OP described.

 

[LilyWDW]

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

That is NOTHING like the OP described. The OP "blacked out" and wasn't at all aware of what they were doing. They could have easily hurt or killed themselves or others.

OP, please see a medical professional.

 

[Sorsha]

OP, you describe to a "T" what it felt like when I started getting adult-onset Partial Seizures before I was diagnosed.

Then, 8 years after my diagnosis, one of my medications was no longer working properly (I had developed a tolerance to it and wasn't aware of it), I had another episode like you describe, drove off the side of the road, and accelerated straight into a tree stump. Just a few hundred feet earlier or later on the road and I could have been killed (steep embankment).

My meds are back on track now, but I no longer drive. I am too scared of something like that happening again and someone getting seriously hurt.

I AM NOT saying this is what you experienced, but please keep an eye on yourself, and if something like this happens again, see a neurologist. And I am so sorry this happened, I know how scary that loss of time can be.

 

[crashbb]

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

No.

Not that that is what the OP is describing anyway.

 

[keypooh90]

Whoa. Maybe I should have used another word than blackout. I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that. My eyes didn't even close, I don't think so anyway. It only lasted like half a minute. It was more like...idk. I just was physically there but I wasn't aware I was driving, I guess is the best way to describe it. Could this really be something serious? I mean I'm young, a college student. I certainly didn't think of a stroke or heart attack...haha.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Whoa. Maybe I should have used another word than blackout. I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that. My eyes didn't even close, I don't think so anyway. It only lasted like half a minute. It was more like...idk. I just was physically there but I wasn't aware I was driving, I guess is the best way to describe it. Could this really be something serious? I mean I'm young, a college student. I certainly didn't think of a stroke or heart attack...haha.

Yes it could be serious and you describing it in this post really doesn't make it sound any better.

You were dizzy... Unaware... You didn't know you were accelerating...

It was a dangerous situation and you were lucky you didn't get in an accident.

 

[Bonnie151]

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

I've driven on autopilot before but I've never gotten dizzy and accidentally hit the accelerator rather than the brake! It might be nothing (low blood sugar, not eaten/drunk enough etc) or it could be something. Definitely worth running past a doctor though!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

And it doesn't matter how long you felt like this episode lasted... It only took me about seven seconds to slip in the snow on Friday and rear end someone at a light.(Everyone was okay... Just a tap. No damage or anything, just using it as an example)

 

[Sorsha]

Whoa. Maybe I should have used another word than blackout. I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that. My eyes didn't even close, I don't think so anyway. It only lasted like half a minute. It was more like...idk. I just was physically there but I wasn't aware I was driving, I guess is the best way to describe it. Could this really be something serious? I mean I'm young, a college student. I certainly didn't think of a stroke or heart attack...haha.

OK, let me ask you a few direct questions from MY experience.

You say your eyes didn't close, or so you think - but you don't know?

If you aren't sure if your eyes were open or closed, you DID lose that part of your consciousness.

Did you lose an passage of time? You say you WERE going one speed then all of a sudden you were going a much faster speed. Do you know how you got there? If not, that's another kind of a loss of consciousness.

You don't have to "pass out" to lose awareness of your surroundings/what you are doing. That is what a Partial Seizure is. you just "aren't there" for a time. During that time, you may continue doing what you were doing before - like an automaton - but you don't have mental control over how you do it. Walk into walls, drive strangely, go to put a glass on the counter and drop it because you have no awareness of where the counter is, etc.

I speak from experience, so I am just letting you know what it feels like when this happens to me - it isn't the stereotypical seizure or "passing out".

And BTW I ALWAYS feel dizzy and confused after I regain awareness of my surroundings again. My brain has to readjust itself.

 

[Hardy]

I actually got into an accident not long ago bc of something like this. I was stopped in traffic at a light, and then all of a sudden I had rammed into the person in front of me, hard. All I could figure was that I blacked out and hit the accelerator, it was about 4 or 5 and I hadn't eaten all day, so I think it was my blood sugar. I to this day have no recollection of how it happened. I am now careful to eat breakfast everyday, and have a good snack before coming home. I was right next to a college and it could have been a pedestrian. Thankfully no one was hurt, but I damaged the car ahead of me pretty good and they also hit the person in front of them.

 

[Squirlz]

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

No. Never. You should not be on the road if you do this. I pay attention 100% of the time. If everyone did there would be far fewer collisions. I don't say "accidents" because true accidents are extremely rare.

 

[ariel71]

I don't know if I've ever wanted to crawl through the computer this much to slap some sense into someone.

You blacked out, while driving, with your foot on the accelerator going 60 in a 35 mph and your response is "ha-ha".

First thing I thought of was a TIA/ministroke, and it can most definitely happen to a college student (see link). Maybe it ends up not being serious, but don't just brush this off - if what you described really happened as you describe it, you could have easily killed someone.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/health/Former-Child-Actor-Suffers--182256231.html

 

[doxdogy]

Haven't you ever been driving and get somewhere and don't remember the drive there, Why get her all excited and upset over it??

We probably all have at one time in our lives. But this is not what the OP is describing. OP, it could be anything. Wouldn't hurt to mention to your doctor just to be on the safe side.