Is There A Medical Doctor In The Forum?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

NCSU Dad

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2017
Posts
174
Location
OBX NC
We are looking to buy our first RV. After posting and reading posts on this forum I am seeing the wisdom of owing a Class A. We have been to two RV shows in the past 30 days.

The problem we are having is my wife has some kind of a physical or psychological negative reaction when she gets up front in the driver & passenger area. I guess this is vertigo. She voices the fact she does not like the massive windshields and how you can dang near see the front bumper from the cockpit.

Has anyone here experienced this?

Thanks!

PS -Divorce is not an option  :)  (it's true divorce is always an option, but after 43 years of wedded bliss I wouldn't know how to act)
 
I am not a doctor (unless you are a lady and want to play doctor :eek:) but my thoughts are how is her vision? I would think she should visit an eye doctor and get an exam. And is she taking any medications? If so she might wish to discuss this with he primary care physician.
 
SeilerBird said:
I am not a doctor (unless you are a lady and want to play doctor :eek:) but my thoughts are how is her vision? I would think she should visit an eye doctor and get an exam. And is she taking any medications? If so she might wish to discuss this with he primary care physician.

Yes she has glaucoma for the past 15 years. Over that time period she has been treated by specialists with checkups involving all sorts of testing every 3 months and taking the prescribed medications.
 
NCSU Dad said:
Yes she has glaucoma for the past 15 years. Over that time period she has been treated by specialists with checkups involving all sorts of testing every 3 months and taking the prescribed medications.
Bingo
 
Go to a dealership and take a few for a spin. Maybe she might get over her fears. Have her start out on the couch or table area and work her way up to the front. Maybe once there is scenery going by, she might not notice it as much. I love the view that the big aquarium like front gives you. No better way to see the country, and over almost all the traffic.
 
I have two comments.

First, Glaucoma is probably not involved as a contributing factor.  Glaucoma is a medical condition where the intraocular fluid pressure is elevated.  This is usually caused by a constriction or blockage in the area of the outer edges of the iris.

It is treated by either using medication like Pilocarpine to relax the radial muscles in the Iris  to constrict the pupil size and allow better fluid circulation and reduced pressure in the eye or it is treated surgically by performing a Iridectomy or Iridotomy.

An Iridectomy involves removing a small section of the Iris to allow better fluid circulation during invasive surgery and an Iridotomy involves using a laser to burn a small opening in the iris tissue without surgically entering the eye with any instrument.

Glaucoma normally can cause damage over time if left untreated by reducing the periperal or side vision or by increasing the size of the blind spot in the eye thru cupping of the disc on the retina.

The more likely cause of her discomfort might be Vertigo, similar to the reaction from standing at the edge of a cliff or driving along a mountain edge.

A practical solution might be for her to do what Renae does when we travel.  She is bothered by riding in the coach and she simply drives her car separately.  You might not like that option but it works for her.
 
Many years ago my wife had the same reaction when we were looking to buy our last RV.  She felt far less comfortable in the Class A than in the Class C.  While some might attribute this to being so close to the front I cannot say that this was the case for her because we used to own a Toyota minivan where we sat just as close to the front.  She never had difficulty driving that vehicle.  For this reason I attribute this to the open feeling of size associated with the Class A relative to the more confined driving space of the Class C.

Last year, when we upgrade our RV I convinced her to consider a Class A because she appreciated the amenities of a Class A and that the towing/weight capacity of a Class A was needed.  Then it was a matter of her feeling comfortable as a passenger and later comfortable enough to drive the Class A in those circumstances where it became necessary.  It took several trips for her to feel comfortable enough to drive our RV. She still has had a bit of trouble with road position, making for an exciting ride for me, but is slowly getting the hang of it.  Keep in mind that the copilot one has no control, and this can often be even scarier than driving yourself.

If your wife can see the difference in the amenities of a Class A over a Class C and the advantages of having the cockpit area feel like part of the living space when parked, she may be willing to start out sitting on the couch and then gradually move to the copilot seat later.  You may find her driving this some time later.  It takes a bit of road miles for any of us to get used to riding in or piloting such a huge vehicle.  Some of us have had the opportunity to move up in size gradually, but for those who are starting with such a big rig, it is a shock.  I can easily remember how I had white knuckles when first driving my Class C.  Now it all seems so natural.

Best of luck in making your choice. Remenber that whatever you buy it doesn't have to be forever.
 
Four years ago I faced the same issue - the copilot not feeling comfortable up front.  I could be 2 to 3 times the distance needed to safely stop, and she would continually tell me to back off or don't get so close to him....

(It took her a little longer to get used to looking semi drivers in the eye as they passed us or we passed them....  worried that we would hook mirrors or worse...)

After the first month on the road, she wasn't commenting and her knuckles weren't white any longer.

Curiously we introduced some friends to our new MH this past weekend.  The wife had the same concerns.  My wife's response was to tell her not to worry about it, she would get over it quickly.
 
My ex-wife used to continually accuse me of straying over the white shoulder line on two lane roads.  It was a combination of the seating position being higher and further outboard than what she was used to, and the fact that I had to cut it close so the left side of the motorhome didn't stray over the center line.

She also complained about the rolling motion, again sitting above and outboard of the springs gives a different ride than when you're in a car and seated down low between the springs.
 
There's a lot of good suggestions here, but a trip to the Dr. should be in order. There are different types of vertigo, and different causes. It would be in her best interest to get it checked out.
 
If your wife can't stand the big windshield, take a look at an RV built on a truck chassis like http://www.heavydutyrv.com. These should put her fears to rest.

That may be overkill, but what about a Super-C such as the Jayco Seneca or Thor Chateau Super-C?  Similar to a Class A in size and comfort, but with a more traditional cab area and windshield style.

https://www.jayco.com/products/class-c-motorhomes/2018-seneca/
https://www.thormotorcoach.com/chateau-super-c/
 
I'm thinking Acrophobia or a fear of heights.  In a Class C you sit behind the wheels, but in a Class A you sit forward of the wheels.  The large windshield may make it seem like she's right at the front of the motorhome - which of course she isn't, but it may be how she perceives it.  My mother had several phobias and she didn't care all that much for riding in the passenger seat.  I noticed she preferred to sit on the sofa where she could look out on all three sides when buckled in facing forward.  I don't like heights either but have learned to overcome most of them.  I also prefer to be the driver.  Jerry says it's a false sense of security and he's probably right but I still like being the one to control our position on the road.  By the way, I doubt it has anything to do with Glaucoma.

ArdraF
 
Instead of divorce, maybe get her some blinders, to choke down her field of view? :eek:

I was thinking fear of heights too.

I have that bad, but I'm also a licensed pilot and have done all sorts of up high ladder work, sky diving, hang gliding, scuba diving in air clear water....  i fight through it sometimes.

 
It sounds like the height and large window is causing some vertigo.  Why not cover the bottom part of the windshield in the area she looks out of with some of that bubbly or foggy looking window film?  Here is one pattern that lets light through but would hide the road and that bumper:  https://www.lowes.com/pd/GILA-36-in-W-x-78-in-L-Frosted-Ocean-Waves-Privacy-Decorative-Static-Cling-Window-Film/50303957

It is static cling, and you can remove it and reuse it when needed.  There are lots of different patterns. 
 
Why not cover the bottom part of the windshield in the area she looks out of with some of that bubbly or foggy looking window film?

Not to be too picky, but that would be illegal anywhere on the windshield.  Even though its in front of the passenger rather than the driver.
 
Has she ever been in a bus accident or another traumatic event (not a wreck) that could be causing the fear?  I will spare you with what I've been through, but I will not fly because of an incident that happened to me at an airport when I was about 4 or 5 yrs old.  Over the last 30+ years, it has manifested into a full blown fear of flying that just the thought of flying somewhere makes me nauseous and my blood pressure skyrocket.   

I suppose she figured this out during a test drive? Before your next visit to the dealer, pick up a beach chair at Walmart that's fairly low to the ground and sit it behind the passenger seat.  I would put it at an angle so her view isn't completely blocked by the seat. She will not be on top of the road.

She does need to speak to her GP about this.  He may prescribe something to take the edge off a bit until she becomes more comfortable being so close to the road.  The repetitiveness of the lines on the road or being able to see the aggregate in the road so close may make her sick/dizzy feeling as well.  Paul Harvey's voice would make me very sick. My dad learned that the hard way when he refused to turn off his radio show during a road trip when I was a kid.  Same goes for reading in the car.  I just can't do it. 

 
xrated said:
Wow, I didn't realize that we had so many "non-Doctors" on here!    ;D

Yeah.... I don't know about these other folks..... but as for me...
I'm not a doctor, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express a few times! 8)
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
131,749
Posts
1,384,212
Members
137,520
Latest member
jeep3501
Back
Top Bottom