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Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:13 pm
by NGRhodes
I can't currently drive (had a full on fit- seizure and also got something wrong with my optic nerves - Papilledema ). I can't decide if that is worse than owning/driving the worlds most boring car (Previa). Both combined are killing my interest in cars and driving, I rarely bother even visiting here, not that anyone misses me...

More annoyed than bitter (plenty of other things I can do to keep interested), but being a Yorkshireman I thought it was worth a moan :D

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:18 pm
by mik
To be fair - that’s a pretty good moan. :?

Hope things improve - do you need to be a year seizure free to drive again, or optical issue limiting you? I wasn’t able to drive for a month a few years back and it drove me mental. :cry:

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:20 pm
by Rich B
The age old problem (not the seizures - that sounds rubbish, hope it's ok soon). Buying boring cars because you think you have to grow up, then being surprised that you're not so interested in cars/driving...

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:20 pm
by Mito Man
Shit dude have you had a MRI?

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:23 pm
by Carlos
Hopefully youre on the mend.

Having a boring car is a great opportunity to look for the next thing you fancy 😎

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:34 pm
by NGRhodes
Mito Man wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:20 pm Shit dude have you had a MRI?
I originally got an appointment in March to see Neuro (4 month wait), I went to the opticians before Xmas and they scanned my eyes and phoned the hospital straight away to get me an appointment for Neuro opthalmology next week.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:35 pm
by Broccers
That sucks.

New year, new goals.

Plan on getting an exciting car and make it happen!

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:41 pm
by NGRhodes
mik wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:18 pm To be fair - that’s a pretty good moan. :?

Hope things improve - do you need to be a year seizure free to drive again, or optical issue limiting you? I wasn’t able to drive for a month a few years back and it drove me mental. :cry:
I currently don't have any visual issues from my optical nerves, purely the seizure that's stopped me driving.

With 1 seizure it's once discharged/given all clear by your GP/hospital, if you have 2 it's an automatic 12months.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:44 pm
by nuttinnew
NGRhodes wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:13 pm being a Yorkshireman I thought was worth a moan
You're not wrong.
I can't relate to your experience of being unable to drive because of medical reasons, the time it happened to me I didn't feel like/want to/need to drive anyway, but when I could drive again it didn't matter if it was a boring car - it got me about - as long as it wasn't a bad car. An unremarkable, forgettable drive was and is fine, it means you don't have backache, haven't gone deaf, haven't been constantly annoyed or distracted by it. Boring doesn't equal bad; the Previa might though, in which case yeah, tough call. Hopefully getting driving again won't be too problematic and you can use the meantime to plan what to replace it with.
As for being missed, if I said nobody missed me you'd tell me to go and cry into my soft southern shandy :D ;)

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:33 pm
by jamcg
Hopefully they get you sorted soon- you do know this car based forum doesn’t discuss cars that much don’t you? :lol:

Its also a safe place to discuss problems so that’s good

As for the boring car- I’ve had some very enjoyable and memorable drives in a 1.6l 120hp diesel Vauxhall vivaro- you can have fun in a boring vehicle

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 10:45 pm
by DeskJockey
Sorry to hear that, hopefully it can be fixed. Also, what @jamcg said. This is a safe space to have a moan about difficult things in.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:28 pm
by nuttinnew
I dislike the term safe space but agree totally with the sentiment, people are very supportive here 8-)

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2022 8:23 am
by Explosive Newt
NGRhodes wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:41 pm
mik wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:18 pm To be fair - that’s a pretty good moan. :?

Hope things improve - do you need to be a year seizure free to drive again, or optical issue limiting you? I wasn’t able to drive for a month a few years back and it drove me mental. :cry:
I currently don't have any visual issues from my optical nerves, purely the seizure that's stopped me driving.

With 1 seizure it's once discharged/given all clear by your GP/hospital, if you have 2 it's an automatic 12months.
Depending where you live in the world, and depends on what sort of seizure it was - see the dvla site https://www.gov.uk/epilepsy-and-driving - it’s minimum 6 months for one where you lost consciousness though, and will be determined by the medical evaluation.

Shame the papilloedema wasn’t picked up when you first seized (although maybe wasn’t there at the time). At least it’s getting the fast track now.

As a boring car driver (hopefully temporarily), I still enjoy reading running reports etc posted by the people with more interesting cars or reading about the work done by those handy with a spanner. More of that please.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2022 8:52 am
by Coaster1
All the best to you @NGRhodes 🤞👍

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2022 9:58 pm
by 16vCento
Hope you are doing OK, if you need to get out and have a walk or just chat shit, I'm only up the road 👍

It's not nice having the freedom of driving been taken away, especially when it's no fault of your own, I could see how much it affected my dad when he couldn't drive for 3 months after his operation.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2022 10:21 pm
by McSwede
Coaster1 wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 8:52 am All the best to you @NGRhodes 🤞👍
What he said, and get well soon.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:28 am
by Explosive Newt
NGRhodes wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:34 pm
Mito Man wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:20 pm Shit dude have you had a MRI?
I originally got an appointment in March to see Neuro (4 month wait), I went to the opticians before Xmas and they scanned my eyes and phoned the hospital straight away to get me an appointment for Neuro opthalmology next week.
When's your appointment, Nick? Hope it goes ok.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 11:21 pm
by NGRhodes
Had a good eye MOT on Thursday.
Good news is nothing wrong with my eyes, which reduces chances of my seizures having any serious side effects (as the things that can cause optical nerve issues are far less likely) - I still have to wait til March for my Neuro appointment.
So I do have raised discs, but its complete benign - they are being caused by the optical fibres being bunched up by too narrow an opening into my eye - there are no pressure or issues with my optic nerves.
Had a regular eye test, an eye exam by optician, some rather powerful eye drops that had me tripping over (good job my wife was with me), 2 different scans and a 2nd eye exam.
I could not even focus properly for a few hours after, so I had to listen to music most of the afternoon.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 1:11 am
by nuttinnew
That's got to be some relief :)
They sound similar to the eye drops my father had; got told his eyes were ok but left with worse vision than when he went in. He tripped over on the way out - impatience - and fractured a bone in his foot.

Re: Not being able to drive VS boring car

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:30 am
by V8Granite
NGRhodes wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 11:21 pm Had a good eye MOT on Thursday.
Good news is nothing wrong with my eyes, which reduces chances of my seizures having any serious side effects (as the things that can cause optical nerve issues are far less likely) - I still have to wait til March for my Neuro appointment.
So I do have raised discs, but its complete benign - they are being caused by the optical fibres being bunched up by too narrow an opening into my eye - there are no pressure or issues with my optic nerves.
Had a regular eye test, an eye exam by optician, some rather powerful eye drops that had me tripping over (good job my wife was with me), 2 different scans and a 2nd eye exam.
I could not even focus properly for a few hours after, so I had to listen to music most of the afternoon.
The FIL had coke bottle glasses and was struggling to see.

I think his eyes were an odd shape, he had a wrinkled retina or something and was essentially going blind.

He was on some trial Oluvon or something and now has better eye sight than when he was a child. Clever buggers.

Hope they figure it all out quickly, can’t be an easy situation to be in.

Dave!