Falling Asleep While Driving

[SSSdave]

Many times over decades, have started to fall asleep (dreaming) for a moment before recovering with a head shake. Never enough that I began to veer off a road but is very dangerous and I know that. Far more have gotten eye weary to the point I was fighting it. Usually go through a sequence of prevention like slap my face, eat something like peanuts, chew gum, put on some loud rock music, because sometimes that is enough to break out of it. Other times especially when I've had a long strenuous day, I know that is not going to work because my eyes are simply too weary so I find a place to pull over, close my eyes and will sleep 10 to 20 minutes then wake up and am good for the rest of the trip. The reason that works is it is not that my body is so tired that I need to sleep but rather that just my eyes are tired.

I cannot have any drinks that contain caffeine but chocolate contains a similar though less potent chemical, theobromine, that is a mild enough stimulant that I can eat it once a week. So may stop at a convenience store en-route home buying a chocolate bar or chocolate milk to help keep awake. However if my eyes are truly tired like after a long hike out on a trail, that won't help much and instead will pull over per above.

This same thing happens to me all the time while reading at home and note I've been reading a lot of technical materials all my life, really boring stuff haha. I'll be trying to read and just nod off while sitting up on a couch and start to tip over which keeps waking me up each time. After a few times I know its time to put a book down and turn off the lights.

You may have read that when people dream at night they have rapid eye movement aka REM sleep and that most people dream so briefly a few times a night. I am very unusual in that I seem to be dreaming 100% of the time I sleep even if it is just momentary and do so all night long. Every time I wake up it is while dreaming and this last couple weeks have disappointedly woken up a few time just when things were getting really exciting with some gal. Oh well ): A dream researcher once related there are a few other people with the same behavior. Thus when driving a car and momentarily nodding off, I also start dreaming momentarily. Same thing used to happen decades ago in high school study class while reading whatever books.

David

[sparky]

Ive been close too many times to count, but I have never fallen asleep driving.

Dave, have you ever experimented with lucid dreaming or astral projection?