seasickness
 

I am going to Alaska in a few weeks. I used to get seasick as a kid, but have not been bothered by it for a long time. Then I went sailing with a friend on a windy day recently, went below to get osemthing, and was pretty sick. the next time I went I tried one seasickness pill,which worked but made me pretty sleepy. Any other strategies out there?

I have been seasick on the ocean, the gulf, the bay and on the Key West trolley so I am always interested in this topic!!

There are lots of strategies and lots of options.

It depends on 1)how subject you are to motion sickness and 2) how rough the water is.

I get seasick standng on the dock watching the boats go up and down. So I take dramimine and damn the drowsyness.

Other options are some OTC pills (Bonine?) that are supposedly non-drowsy.

The Rx Scopolomine patch - which works beautifully for about 85% of people and not at all for the others (including me).

Fresh ginger (useless)

Wristbands - called Seabands I think (useless)

The Inside Passage is usually calm. There is a slim chance that you will be bothered if the weatherr is rough so be prepared but not overly concerned.

I have the same problem! When I went on a cruise, everybody swore that I wouldn't get seasick but I didn't believe them. I got a perscription that sticks behind your ear and it worked great. It is supposed to last 3-4 days; by the middle of the third day, I was ready for a new patch. As soon as I put it on, I felt much better. I did not feel drowsy at all.

Greetings,

Sleepy and drowsy are not the way I like to vacation but seasickness is rotten. No offense to NYtraveler but I have had lots of patients use ginger root with awesome results. One in particular use to get sick just driving here and there. She now sails in the carribean for 6-8 weeks each winter on a private sailboat taking NOTHING but ginger root with no sickness at all!! Consult a local reputable health food store...preferably not the big chains and try this first. If it works you will have no side effects, if it doesn't might have to try other options.

Sick as a kid, too. Actually- now I have "good" days and "bad" days. On my good days I can ride "thriller" roller coasters and sail on choppy water. On a bad day- well, riding in the back seat of a car or sitting on a dock, watching the waves bob up and down...bad idea. Strategies- usually, I know when it's going to be a bad day and I just don't participate in whatever activity planned.

I've tried every "cure" pill, bands etc. Bands don't work, meds make it worse.

So...5 rules.
1) Never go below/climb ladders while on a boat or train.

2)Don't overeat beforehand- Do keep hydrated.

3) Avoid foods that either are more likely to upset your stomach (spicy, high sugar (pop, really sweet candy, processed food such as cheetos)) or food that you unfortunately know tastes incredibly nasty coming "back up"- oranges *shudders* or booze.

4) Stay towards the front of whatever you're riding. I can't ride in the back of a distance bus for some reason.

5) Last but not least- DO enjoy yourself- and DON'T obsess over the fact you might get sick! :)

I get seasick if :
* the boat is sitting still, just rocking..therefore, never go on a glass bottom boat :(
* I go inside, like to the bathroom ( head) or bunks..therefore, never leave the deck :(
* boats that make me sick-
little ones, ferries, big ones, fishing ones, big big ones...
So far, the only things that work for me , knock me out- which is alright after you have reached a certain degree of sickness and prefer death to feeling that way another minute :&

Just because you got seasick sailing recently doesn't mean you are suddenly prone to seasickness. I think most people can get seasick if the amplitude of the waves is just wrong for their ear canals. It can be very unpredictable and doesn't mean your tolerance has become less.

The trip to Alaska should be mostly smooth sailing. Don't take anything to start with. If you start feeling queezy you can try any of the remedies suggested. I guess you might start with ginger, move to Meclazine and finally, have a Scopalamine patch handy if you can't hold anything down. By then, as Scarlett says, you'll prefer death to that feeling, so won't mind passing out once the patch kicks in four miserable hours later.

The problem is, once you are feeling sick, little can be done to relieve the problem.

I tried the ginger thing recently on a smooth sea....that was a really miserable experience. I'll never try that again.

Dramamine makes a "less drowsey formula"... I think it's the same ingredient as Bonnine. Actually, I take the stuff for a day or two before hand, and I either get used to feeling drowsey or it doesn't affect me as much... not sure which. BUT a couple of glasses of wine will make your knees rubber, even if you took the Dramamine in the morning...watch out for the stairs!

Still... I took Dramamine every morning when I cruised the inside passage. Even so, you'll love the trip. Enjoy!

I had to stop scuba diving because I would get deathly seasick on the dive boats. Especially when I came up from a dive onto a boat that had diesel gas. It was horrible. I used the Scopolomine patch and it worked great until they took it off the market because it made some people a little nuts. During that time, I tried everything - even drugs not approved by the FDA that friends brought back from Europe. Nothing worked. Then they put Scopolomine back on the market, but if you were diving, it had a tendency to fall off. Then you fed the fishes :). Seasickness has to do with the inner/middle?? ear and someone told me that deaf people don't get it...I've also been told that if you're prone to it, it gets worse with age...Great :(. Wish I could help you. Good luck!

Many (most?) people experience seasickness when the water is rough. For them - some of the less drastic measures may work.

For me seasickness is a function of the shape of the (inner?middle?) ear. I once went to see an ENT for vertigo (had to hold onto the wall to walk) and he took one look in my ear and said - it was the worst he had ever seen. Even gave me some exercises to help - but they made me so dizzy I was afraid I would fall and break something.

I get sick on any boat - even on a lake or river, on any plane, on trains if I have to sit backwards, on long bus trips, in the back seat of cars (limos are the worst - I can only ride up front with the driver) but it's fine if I drive myself and OK if I sit in the front seat with lots of air flowing around.

So try some of the simpler remedies - but have the major ones on hand if you need them. (But once you're sick they usually won't work until after you have actually vomited.)

The captain of the catamarran at Buck Island handed my friend a cotton ball and told her to sniff. It worked. The cotton ball was saturated with alcohol...rubbing alcohol folks! :-)

We were both amazed. When I knew she would survive, I jumped back in the water and snorkeled around the island.

Captain Heinz says it ALWAYS works for guests on his tours after the seasickness hits.

I get very seasick and have had excellent results with a combination of ginger capsules and the wrist bands...I've found that I need both PLUS I keep slowly eating highly sugared ginger cookies washed down with ginger ale or coke.

A friend munched ginger snaps the entire way "over the pond" and had no problems on the flight. Good traveling companion - 'cause I could steal a cookie or two from the stash! :-)

I get sick on a porchswing so was very concerned about my taking my first cruise a few years ago. My doctor suggested a meclizine (dramamine II nondrowsy formula or bonine have same ingredient) each evening before bedtime - it worked great. I also use it before curvy car trips, amusement park visits, etc. Good luck and have a great time!

I get motion sick on anything-porch swing on up. This winter DH and I were fortunate enough to be asked to join our college friends on their yacht to St. Barts. Say no to the trip of a lifetime???? The adventurer in me said yes and I stumbled upon a magic cure for me. "Less Drowsy Dramamine". I started the day before we arrived and took in religiously. Not to promise too much, but I was even reading on the boat and the swells were sometimes bigger on our crossings. I did notice that I could go much lighter on the wine intake but that was about it. Maybe I got lucky, but wanted to pass this on to my fellow sickies! PS The trip was beyond sublime!

I find the only way to prevent "losing it" from seasickness is to stand outside looking straight at the horizon with the wind blowing directly in my face!

Always had seasickness problems on boats, but then it started while I was snorkeling in Bermuda. The water was a calm as could be, but the constant bobbing up and down did me in.

I'm like NYtraveler, must always sit facing the direction of the train -- even if it means sitting apart from family or friends. I've had two serious episodes of vertigo as well - horrible experience.

For some reason I don't have a problem with airsickness. Hopefully that will continue.

So my strategy is to get as much fresh air as possible.

Good luck!!

I have only been seasick twice in my life, once on a 27 foot sailboat while sailing on the Inland Passage and once taking the hydrofoil from Naples to Capri..but that was more from all the people around me that were vomiting..it was ghastly!

Remember that saying "when you are seasick you are afraid you are going to die and than your are afraid you are not going to". That is how I felt on the sailboat.

I hope you find something that will work for you youngtom.

Regarding Sea Bands. I have to tell you that chemotherapy patients use them with great results. They are accupressure - so if you do not have them in the exact right spot - they do not work. I rarely see anyone wearing them properly. This is one place where following the directions is essential. Seabands are the only thing that does not have potential side effects.

NY traveler, I have a question for you, on your list of meds you said "FRESH ginger" - are you serious? You actually tried to chew a raw ginger root?

Peeled, I assume. I can't imagine eating this root uncooked. Eewwww!! This would make me sick for sure! Forget the motion!

I used to get sick on anything that moves till I've discovered ginger capsules (not fresh!!! dried!!!)

ShaeC, I don't remember the chemical names, but Dramamine and Bonine are different.

Starrsville: I love your approach to ginger(cookies) :)

Do not go below.

Stay on deck.

Face the direction that the boat is moving.

Do not try and read or other detailed eye movement (loading film, winding watch, playing with gameboy, etc)

Faina - the "Less Drowsy Formula Dramamine" is the same active ingredient as Bonnine.

Meclizine Hydrochloride

Regular Dramamine is something else.

Oh, sheesh, yes- forgot the no reading thing! Biiig No No.

I just have to add that that the Seabands worked wonders for my daughter while on our trip to Thailand (transporation included plane, bus, boat, taxi, skytrain and the lone elephant - no motion sickness there). She says they're the best invention ever made and carries them in her purse all the time now for those times when she begins to feel a little queasy just driving around in a car. My mom has also used them on every cruise she's ever been on and swears by them.

I just can't believe you will have a problem on the Inside Passage, but I understand your fear. I get seasick everywhere. In fact, I have an inner ear problem that causes me to hold on when I turn over in bed! :-) I was sick in the Atlantic cruising to Bermuda when the nurse (who gave me a shot of some miracle drug) said the ocean was like a milk pond. I have been sick on glass bottomed boats and even on little ferries crossing a 200 yard wide stream...BUT...I did not get sick on the inside passage! When I DO get sick, the only thing that helps is meclazine (sp)! Relax, carry meclazine and enjoy your cruise.

Hey, tom--you CAN get sick on an Inside Passage. Not all of it is inside! We went on an Alaska cruise exactly one year ago and it would have been ruined if DH had not brought along patches for us. They worked perfectly, no drowsiness or other side effects. We were able to enjoy the cruise and some other family members did not :(

If you take any small boat trips to see glaciers up close, whale watching, etc., or up in small seaplanes or helicopters, and have a tendency to seasickness, you will be glad you have the patch! Home remedies do not compare.

Did a catamaran cruise to island to snorkle and several started feeling queazy (?) The captain gave them each a cold beer and told them to hold behind their left ear. We were surprised to see that this worked very well.

You mean drink the beer and hold the empty bottle? o-)

I purchased relief band and it works well. It has batteries and sends an impulse to your brain to stop the nausea - you feel a vibration in your fingers.

I always get sea sick and the last boat trip I took many other people were sick but I was not. It is about $150 but well worth the cost.

Took the two grandgirls on a cruise when they were 12 and 13, gave them and hubby a Bonine every morning - no drowsiness, no side effects for any of them.

I do not generally get seasick, but if my stomache feels the slightest bit queasy I do opt for a gingerale and I also bring candied ginger. I have tried the wristbands, but can't say if they worked or not. On our very first cruise, I took Dramamine and felt drugged the whole time. Never again...

You have to find what works for you. Sometimes the psychological factors alone will determine what works. Hubby now gets the patch every cruise and has no side effects.

God luck. The Alaskan cruise will be our next one!

NannyJan

Ok - have to ask if anyone else has had this problem: I had no problem on the ship during a western carribean cruise but would get "land sick" while we were in port. When we got home, I would get random bouts of vertigo for about a month after the cruise. The doctor had no clue what the cause was.

fairygemgirl, I have heard of that..I think it is an inner ear thing. :&

I thought it must be but the doctor couldn't find any infection or anything. I guess as I get older, my "unique inner ear" gets more bizarre cuz it takes less and less to make me dizzy. You don't suppose this is Nature's way of slowing down the alcohol consumption, do you?

There's a "mostly non-drowsy" Dramamine. It still makes me a little drowsy but I still stay awake. :-)

Several people have mentioned meclizine (marketed as Bonine, or non-drowsy Dramamine). It lasts for about 24 hours, which is good. The bad news is that it may still cause drowsiness, but at least for me the drowsiness seems to last for only the first day or so. You might try sticking with the pills for a couple of days, to see if sleepiness goes away.

TrnasdermScop works very well indeed, but the side effects may be unpleasant. For me, that means a dry, almost hoarse throat that is very annoying. Also, after 5 or 6 or maybe 7 days of use, I start to experience dizziness.

Consult your health care professional and determine what is best for you. With Bonine- sometimes it is better to take the med at night, some people do better spliting the dose for half in the am and the rest at bedtime.

fairygemgirl, the same thing happens to me after I spent a weekend sailing.

It is just your equilibrium adjusting and I can't believe your MD couldn't figure that out.

It is very common. Especially with sailors.

I couldn't take over the counter medicines since they had a warning about those with asthma. I used the seabracelets and it helped with an especially rough trip out of NYC to Bermuda. I believe that they are most effective that you wear them before you feel seasick. Good luck!

I have found that Bonine works best for me. Makes you alittle tired, but not to bad.