Marthas Vineyard Ferry - Need Anxiety/Motion Sickness Tips If You Have Them
 

I have the pleasure of having friends with a new home on the Vineyard and a invitation for a weekend in August.

Problem is as with flying (I have not flown since 2006)...I am prone to anxiety prior to flight along with motion sickness. I know that the ferry ride is only 45 mins total, but I need remedies in which I can hopefully get over my anxiety and sickness. I dont know if there is a place on the boat in which it would be better to sit (in the middle, inside or outside).

Any information on what has worked for you would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

Zanax, go up top , relax, enjoy

Ginger works very well for motion sickness and nausea. We always take it with us for boats or cruises. It is very inexpensive, and natural so you don't need a prescription.

As far as sitting. If you can sit on the lower level toward the rear of the boat, I have found that to be the best place. The higher up or if you try to sit inside, it can exaggerate the rocking and cause more sickness.

Ask your doctor what he/she would suggest. Half a 10 mg valium works well for me on flights and boats, but you really need a doctor's guidance on this. Good luck!

If you really have motion sickness (versus a little queasiness) what generally works is dramamine. They now have a less sleepy formula that you take much less often. I have serious motion sickness (boats, planes, trains - sitting backwards - back seats of cars, I get nauseous standing on the dock and watching the boats go up and down. This is all that works.

For anxiety - which I no longer have since I got shrunk - I found dramimine addressed that too,

Dramamine, but this is not a ferry that is much troubled by chop or roll. The ferries to and from Nantucket are different, and the one from Nantucket to the Vineyard is awful.

See your doctor for a Rx for Transderm Scop (scopolomine).
You stick the little patch behind your ear after a shower and you are good to go for 3 days. Dramamine makes many people sleepy/dopey. NASA has been using TransDerm Scop for many years.

I second the transderm patch. My daughter's surgeon used to give those to us to use on the ride home after a same day procedure. If you don't want to go to a doctor though, my son (who has urked up in far more backseats than I care to remember) has had good luck with lemon drops. For ferries, specifically, it helps me not to look at the cars or other large stationary objects on the trip.

As for the anxiety:

You can try to retrain your brain ahead of time. I've heard that travel anxiety can be a form of obsessive thinking that involves mistakes in perception. You can try proving to your brain that it sometimes gets the wrong idea by trying this exercise:

Purchase a lottery ticket a few days before the weekly drawing. Set aside a half an hour every day to think about winning the lottery. Really convince yourself that you will win. Then, when the numbers are drawn, check your perception against reality.

Travel anxiety can also be the flight or fight mechanism running amok. Sometimes people can fool their bodies into turning off this process. There are a couple of things you can try to do this during your ride.

Take a large styrofoam cup full of ice with you on the ferry. If you start to feel anxious, take out a piece of ice and squeeze it in your hand until it melts. This way, you occupy part of your brain with the other semi-unpleasant sensation of the cold and it could bring the anxiety down a notch.

You can also try bringing wet wipes with you. If you get uncomfortable, take out a wet wipe or two and very meticulously clean your hands. Sometimes doing something like this tells your brain, "Hey! If she's doing something as mundane as washing her hands, the situation must be under control." Then it aborts the whole process of trying to get you out of danger.

If none of that works you can try an imagery exercise. This one has worked well for a family friend: He closes his eyes and imagines his worry as a big ball. He tries to notice the size of it, the color and the texture. Once he has a grasp on what it looks like, he imagines himself reaching out with two hands to grasp the ball. He notes the temperature of it and whether the texture of it matched his expectations. When he is familiar with the ball, he imagines himself moving it to the side -- just out of his way.

I know some of these things sound silly but I also know that some of them work for some people some of the time. I hope they work for you.

There's a catamaran fast ferry out of New Bedford to Martha's Vineyard. Catamarans tend to be more stable so less chance of motion sickness. Don't sit on top. You'll have more swaying the higher you go. I also have motion sickness and I took this ferry to MV last week on a very windy and choppy seas day. I didn't have any trouble at all. I find if I go fast I also have less trouble with motion sickness.

Another advantage to the New Bedford ferry is that if you're not already on the Cape then you don't have to worry about traffic going to the Cape.

Ask your doctor for some Ativan. Stops anxiety and nausea all together, and does not make you totally dopey. I am terrified of flying, but love to travel. Since I live in Hawaii, it meant I had to fly. Love Ativan!

I have used over the counter Bonine with success. Some people swear by the wrist bands you can buy over the counter. If you're going to use the patch, my Dr suggests using only 1/2 of one to avoid the side affects of a whole one. I had a friend who used a whole patch and after a few days she started to hallucinate. You can buy ginger in tablets, candy or dried in health food stores.

I get prone to motion sickness and I've never gotten sick on the ferry to the Vineyard. Not even close, I think you'll be fine.

As for the anxiety, I really can't imagine having anxiety getting on a big ferry. It doesn't compare to flying at all. I think you're worrying over nothing.

Nausea and anxiety aren't something you can talk yourself out of: Follow your doctor's orders, take a high speed ferry, sit toward the middle (not the sides) of the boat and enjoy your visit on MV. Good for you for making the effort to go; it'll be worth it!

Zanax before you board your plane. Your doctor will give a scrip for it. When you board the ferry, sit outside and be sure to watch the horizon which is fixed and does not move and sip ginger ale.

Try to get some fresh air and keep your eyes on the horizon. I have never been seasick but if I start to feel like I might, that's what I do and it works.