Profile For BubblesDhaDrivah

Congrats. I never did write about driving and pregnancy.

Are you asking if you should drive pregnant or drive without medication for a serious mental illness that can cause mood swings and erratic behavior as well as suicidal tendencies?

My answer to driving unmedicated for Bipolar 1 would be no. This is not only a mood disorder but an impulse disorder. Unchecked, the impulse to run off a cliff or run someone over....stop in a bar for a one night stand, gamble your money away or even drop the load and drive away could overtake a person. With this disorder you may also be susceptible to postpartum depression or even psychosis. So being monitored regularly after delivery will be essential for both your safety and the safety of your child. Andrea Yates comes to mind... The woman with mental health issues who suffered postpartum psychosis and drowned her 5 children. Also who will care for the child once you drive again?

My answer to driving while pregnant would be it depends on the pregnancy. I personally had issues carrying a child so I would never risk it. Nor would I risk the safety of the public if I got a sharp pain while driving that could swerve me into the other lane. Some women get dizzy in the first trimester and 80% get morning sickness. That is not something I would want to endure OTR. Many women have uneventful pregnancies but I would imagine the company would have a policy as to when a woman would need to come off the road.

Being misdiagnosed with mental disorders is common since there is no objective test such as a scan or blood test. Symptoms of both disorders overlap...such as hearing voices. My sister was schizophrenic and had been diagnosed bipolar 1 in her 30s. I found an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that said a significant percentage of women diagnosed in their 30s with bipolar were then re diagnosed as schizophrenic in their 40s. This was true in her case.

Obviously I am not a mental health professional nor a doctor or trucking company owner. If I owned a company i would not want you driving and would encourage you to go on temporary disability until you were once again stable on meds and able to safely perform your duties. Sorry if this sounds cruel.... But the stress of trucking mixed with a lack of meds could result in serious harm to you, your child, or others.

Be safe.... And congrats. We want pics of the baby when it comes! And possible names

Thank you so much for your response Kearsey. I swear this has been in my mind for days. You also put a thought to mind with being alone on the highway and if I have a break down in the middle of no where,which is a fear I have with carrying. I have an appointment December 15 and January 7th to discuss, medication wise. Don't even know if I'll be able to take these meds while pregnant 😞. I definitely have alot of questions for my doctor. As in letting my company know, is a must. To be honest Im they would let me get home everyday. With having bipolar 1. After going some months without my medications, I definitely went through boiling hot water. I really want to get over this illness. Not even sure if it's curable. And I heard about Andrea Yates myself,what she done to her kids hunted me for an entire year. I can never hurt a child. That's why I'm afraid,of what I'm going through now but extremely grateful and happy that I will be getting the help I need. Hate this illness with a passion. But I really really really needed to read this Kearsey.

Thanks so much for yall reply Anne and Rob!! That's the part that scares me. Is being out for periods of time and experiencing situations that my body wouldn't be able to handle because I'm carrying. And definitely will be talking to my OB about this for sure. Carter offers regional routes (home every day) but I'm thinking I will probably need seniority to be on this type of routes. I haven't told the hubby yet planning on telling him either on his birthday or on New years day. Nervous because knowing him, I'll be seeing Carter after my baby is 3 years old haha. I will definitely update y'all‼️

Thank y'all for your amazing responses. I'm definitely gonna keep my head up high. Even though it seems as if my rollercoaster is never ending ride. I feel it coming to a close and it will just be smooth sailing ahead. Just got news a fees days ago that will probably hender me from driving. Praying it doesn't SERIOUSLY.

Hey y'all hope your having happy holidays. Some of you know the update rollercoaster I'm going through now. Which is super freaken crazy. Well adding on to it. Afew days ago I saw a new mental health doctor since I really didn't want to wait next year for an appointment (late January). She done a health evaluation on me and come to find out I have bipolar 1. So you're telling me I've been misdiagnosed, with schizophrenia?????? Will definitely will be letting Carter know. But really don't think I'll be taking medication for it anytime soon,as I just got new IM EXPECTING ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ Good Jesus,Mary and Joseph 😱🥰.

My question is could I still drive? I know I know,I should ask my OB,but just wanted to hear from yall about it. I'm NERVOUS and excited all at the same time!!

Hi everyone...it's been a crazy few weeks for me. No I'm not dead or in jail haha. Been on safety leave because I had an episode with one of my trainers. So they have me on leave to get my medications figured out and approved by my doctor (meaning my doctor said I can still drive with my medication)...than 4 days later bam!!! I get info my grandma passed. So now I'm beyond overwhelmed. I'm going back to work since I only had two weeks of training left. Travis (the driver manager) has been extremely careing and understanding in this moment of my life, Shonda (the human resource manager) has also been careing and understanding.

So after everything has calmed,I'll be returning back to Anderson to finish out my training. Like Travis told me,to relax and be with family. That's what I'm certainly going to do.

Thanks so much y'all.

Thanks PackRat 😄😃!! I still can't believe I got less than 2 weeks here. Tbh I'ma gonna miss being in Anderson,but not much as I miss being home. I can't began to tell you how home sick I was when I came here. On day 3 of being in Anderson,I just about packed up my things to head home. But I had to think about why I came here. I won't lie,I had to beat myself up to stay. I'm so glad I did because I would definitely regret it. These weeks done passed so quickly!! Now I'm just waiting to receive my big shiney truck. I can recall that Carter has two kinds of trucks The Volvo and Freightliner. I wouldn't mind getting the Freightliner as it seems to be alittle bit bigger than the Volvo (probably be just me that sees that). But again happy and excited for the future. Got an email from my driver relations manager (who is super cool and sweet) to go pick my uniform shirts to finish out my training. When I saw that email I knew stuff just got REAL and I'm about to be Solo out in a few days aka weeks!!!!! Will definitely keep everyone updated!!!!

Listen,I completely understand. My first trainer was kinda ok. Just didn't like feeling like an idiot when I'm with her and she completely showed I was being "slow" when it comes to following signs and backing the trailer. For some reason sometimes we tend to get,what's the word I'm looking? I can't think of it. But it's kinda similar to being bossy and having a big head. Not all women who training in this industry is like that. But if I were you,I wouldn't give up. You came to far to quit. Request another trainer asap!! AND I MEAN ASAP!! Just met my new trainer yesterday and he is completely amazing. I mean freaking amazing. He has been married for 30 YEARS (goals),has 2 kids and 3 grandbabies. Not being sexiest but I would rather train with a male. But since alot of problems come up with a male and female together in a truck. There are more male trainers afraid of training females. Hopefully I didn't spark anything with my comment, definitely not trying to, Seriously. But like I said plz don't give up. Request that you get switched out from her. Sending lots of luck your way

Thank Jammer😃😄!! I'm pretty excited for what's to come after going solo. Really starting to love this company,has amazing people and everyone knows your name and it feels like home. I can actually call Carter Express family. This might be surprising to say but I'm actually glad my husband have me go back to Memphis after trying Titan. I'm happy y'all.

Haha thanks Anne!!!! To be honest she's pushing 80 years old. After all those mistakes I'm surprised that the company is still keeping her. We had one load on Friday because she had to get a physical done. Yes I'm totally finished with my local training. Will start my last two weeks of otr training tomorrow morning. Thank God above. I should be getting my truck on the 23rd or they will give me a rental to go home for a few days. Hopefully they give me the rental because I will have no way back home from Arkansas to Memphis. Because if they give me a truck,they will give me a load as well. But man this has been a great,crazy few weeks. I made new friends, learned new thing met new people,saw new things,saw,heard,and learned from mistakes. I'm not gonna lie y'all I'm so extremely surprised that I made it this far. I'm very thankful.

HEYYYYY Y'ALL ‼️‼️ Goodness this has been a long crazy 2 weeks haha. First day tractor died because my trainer done put DEF in the fuel tank, nearly got into an accident on the highway backing the tractor into the trailer to hook it up after getting a new tractor (no I wasn't the one creating this madness),she done jackknifed the tractor and nearly broke off the side tractor panels, it was trust crazy. No one was in the office to ask for a new trainer cause apparently 5 people caught Covid and everyone was gone but the shippers/receivers. Had to wake up every morning around 3am to head out to Columbus,IN. Had to do alot of loads/unloads there so I did my full 11hrs. Just got in touch with my new trainer today and he seems like a very cool guy. He has been a yard dog for 30 years and have been with Carter for 7. I'm extremely excited and happy as can be!!