Dreadful travel sickness - made worse by glasses but nowhere to turn and really impacting quality of life.. Which specialist or doctor would you see?

[HappyThursdays]

I have always been travel sick. I can't sick backwards in trains/cars/ buses etc. and can't sit in the back seat. I've always worn glasses to drive. I'm 49.

Probably the last 10 years, my eyesight has deteriorated and I now need glasses to read and glasses to drive. If I wear my glasses (either of them), I get nauseous. I have given up on the reading glasses because I can get by without them. However I can't drive without my glasses. I can make it about 45 mins with them on before I start physically throwing up. If I'm driving, I have to pull over and it's now got to the point where I cannot drive anywhere that might take me more than 45 mins as I can't physically drive any further. And that's 45 mins total in one day.

I have been to the GP who said there is nothing they can do but to go back to the optometrist. I've been to optometrist who said maybe try weaker glasses but the same thing happened. I've now been to 4 optometrists in absolute desperation but none of them can do anything about it. They all agree my prescription is right. They have asked me to try building up the time I wear them but as soon as I get to 45 mins i start hurling. I've been referred to an eye doctor (opthamologist) who also had nothing new to add and said I should go back to the GP who said there is nothing they can do.

I've tried travel sick pills and nothing works.

I just don't know what to do next. We have had to move house now because I needed to be able to get to work without having to drive because the drive was making me sick! It is totally ruining my life yet I cannot find a doctor who is in anyway interested in the issue.

ENT? Although probably private or the GP would have referred you. sounds miserable.
An ENT can examine your ears, nose, and throat to determine if any problems are increasing your risk of motion sickness. Routine tests can be done to check the balance and nerve functions, as well as your blood pressure and hearing

thanks Alice. I did see an ENT as I had an accident in 2018 and burst my ear drum. I went back to him a few times and asked if it was linked but they did a full check up on my ears, a hearing test and a cat scan of my sinuses and said all was ok. I was really hoping it would be the magic answer but sadly it seems it wasn't !

I haven't had my blood pressure checked though. Maybe I should go and ask the nurse to do that? I am absolutely desperate to try and sort this out as it's really limiting what I can do!

ENT is just the start. Ask for a referral through to the Balance clinic. It's run simultaneously between ENT, physiotherapy and audiology.

Can you wear contact lenses? DH can barely tolerate driving (or walking) in glasses but is fine with contacts. Something to do with the change at the edge of the glasses for him.

are the glasses lenses aspheric? they can sometimes make people nauseous.
have you tried contacts?

Have you tried using contact lenses? The easiest and most comfortable for occasional use are the daily disposable. The reasoning behind this suggestion is that you get a wider field of vision that is has less distortion at ‘the edges’ which you can get with spectacles, which maybe be (subconsciously) contributing to the nausea.

Laser eye surgery?

Crossed posts!

ooooh thank you all! no, no one has mentioned this to me about the contact lenses.

I shall go and ask the optometrist and see if they work!

thanks namechange (sorry can't figure out how to highlight people). I will ask about the balance clinic too.

thanks for all the suggestions - it's the first positive steps I've been able to take in years!

Following with sympathy op. I'm very similar to you, I feel sick after about half an hour into a car journey and can throw up any time after that. I've tried to learn how to drive 3 times and could only make it through a lesson with travel sickness tablets. I tried whilst pregnant and it was a disaster. At least travel sickness tablets actually work OK for me, I just can't be taking them for every journey(?). I've seen ENT specialists for other issues and brought it up then , aswell as with my gp and they both just recommended frequent short journeys and the pills. I now really, really need to learn how to drive so I'm seriously considering paying for a short cab ride every day to try and get used to it, unless someone comes on here with a genius answer!

Does that mean you've only ever worn your glasses for short periods? I felt horrendous with my latest pair as it was a many years overdue prescription change big jump. I didn't vomit, so clearly not as bad as you, but felt like it was impossible - constant nausea and spinning and distorted perishperal vision that felt like I was in a weird fair ground ride. Taking them on and off stopped me getting used to them though. I had to just power though and it magically went away after a week of suffering. I didn't think it was possible at first, it seemed like it must be insurmountable but it wasn't.

Maybe anti-nausea tablets and just sucking up the horrendous feeling and vomiting and seeing if it improves? Keep eating and drinking so you don't get that dreadful dry heaving if you are sick. I'm sorry though, it's so awful. I did find contacts less problematic from that point of view but got such sore eyes I had to give up with them. Might be worth a try? Also different frames can be worse than others - my sunglasses that I got at the time weren't quite so bad. I

Oh god, I feel for you, OP.

I also have hideous travel sickness. It's honestly on my 'one free wish' list. If I could change anything about my body, I'd give myself the gift of being travel-sickness free.

Is it just the one car you drive?

We've just had our windscreen replaced and there is a weird slight, tiny ripple that makes me feel sick. No one else can see it, but it's definitely there.

Can you see if another car is any better?

You could try a vestibular physiotherapist.
I had problems with dizziness and nausea and feeling 'fuzzy headed', which to me feels very similar to travel sickness. It worked miracles when nothing else even touched the sides.
In my case it was a series of repetitive exercises to replicate the scenarios in which I was feeling unwell, this apparently retrains the brain by helping it recognise that those scenarios (eg driving in a car) are not scenarios where it should be feeling off balance.
I'm sure there's a more technical explanation but it's certainly worth a try.
Good luck

I'm so sorry other people suffer with this. Yes it is truly hideous isn't it. I would also use it for my one wish if I had it because it is so limiting!

I am going to the optometrist to pick up my prescription this afternoon (I can't find it grr) and then I will order some contacts to try those.

It's the same with any vehicle unfortunately. I have tried to power through with the glasses - I can last slightly longer without actually driving (i.e. just walking around) but once I start throwing up, if I don't take them off, I get into a situation where I am just permanently vomiting and the only relief happens when I take them off. Without driving, I can last maybe 90 mins - 2 hours. And I have tried days where I throw up, take them off for a bit and put them back on but all that happens is I throw up quicker the second time!

thanks nannylp - I had never heard of that and I will certainly give it a try. It is definitely something between my eyes, ears and brain that is causing this!