How to best combat motion sickness/post-travel discomfort?

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by target2019 https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682509.html Scopolamine patch I do not travel without one of these behind my ear.

+1

I don't get motion sick, but in my career as an oceanographer (from which I retired), I had to go to sea for work now and then. Because it was work, not fun, I couldn't afford to be even one bit sick at all because I couldn't just stop and pamper myself.

So, like many others I knew who worked at sea, just to be safe I wore the patch (prescribed by my doctor) behind my ear. After an hour or two, I could take it off because generally if you are going to get sick, you will do so right away. At least, that is what people tell me. I never did get sick but there were times in rough seas when I was glad I had the patch just in case.

Sorry that you are going through this!

[CardsFan]

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Originally Posted by MRG I was sent to a certified balance therapist who diagnosed me with "visual vertigo"(I'm not sure that's a real disease or a condition). In any case he claimed 5 years prior I'd have been sent to a shrink for valium. My symptoms would get very severe in visually active fields, grocery store and Wal-Mart would make me sick. The treatment was unpleasant. Basically it something made me dizzy I did that as therapy. Some of the treatments were: Balance board, rock back and forth, eyes open then closed, repeat 15 times. Balance ball, sit and rock eyes open and closed. Repeat 15 times. Disco ball, take in a small dark room and follow a light with your eyes. Repeat 15 times, rotating right and left. This was my favorite exercise. I always took a bucket with me, never needed it but always swore I needed to use it. Later I graduated to juggling balls while walking around outside, or riding escalators at the mall.

Thanks for the info. DW did go to therapy for a while, and some of these exercises sound familiar.

[omni550]

Thanks for all the interesting and useful responses!

Glad to know I'm not the only one who suffers (although I seem to be the only one in my family and circle of friends.)

I was at the doctor's office yesterday for another reason and she gave me an Rx for the transderm scopalimine patches. Looks like I need to stock up on Meclizine/Bonine, too.

I'd never considered starting treatment the night before and staying on it for a few days afterwards. That's a good idea.

Being on a cruise, an empty stomach is pretty rare.

I certainly might eat less (due to anxiety) on days when I might anticipate doing activities leading to motion sickness. Will try to load up on bananas, fruits, veggies (and the like) to stay full.

Again, thanks!

omni

[braumeister]

I believe a good attitude is very helpful.

We owned a boat (16 foot outboard) when I was a teen, and took it out all the time fishing (East coast). My mother used to get seasick all the time until she discovered Bonamine (similar to Dramamine).

One day my father happened to notice that the Bonamine tablets looked almost exactly like aspirin tablets so he tried substituting them.

My mother religiously took her aspirin tablet for the next few years until we sold the boat and never got seasick again. She was always happy to recommend Bonamine to her friends, and she never caught on that she wasn't taking them.

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by braumeister I believe a good attitude is very helpful. We owned a boat (16 foot outboard) when I was a teen, and took it out all the time fishing (East coast). My mother used to get seasick all the time until she discovered Bonamine (similar to Dramamine). One day my father happened to notice that the Bonamine tablets looked almost exactly like aspirin tablets so he tried substituting them. My mother religiously took her aspirin tablet for the next few years until we sold the boat and never got seasick again. She was always happy to recommend Bonamine to her friends, and she never caught on that she wasn't taking them.

That's a bit of a jerky move, don't you think..why would he do something like that?

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan That's a bit of a jerky move, don't you think..why would he do something like that?

Perhaps the father suspected that the seasickness reaction was psychosomatic, and that a placebo would work, (which it apparently did)?

[braumeister]

Pretty obvious, I thought. If it didn't work the first time, he would have replaced the pills. But it did work so we saved the cost of the meds and had a nice private joke between us.

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by Nemo2 Perhaps the father suspected that the seasickness reaction was psychosomatic, and that a placebo would work, (which it apparently did)?

Perhaps you missed the comment that it continued for years...laughing at her behind her back I guess..

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan Perhaps you missed the comment that it continued for years...laughing at her behind her back I guess..

If, as a placebo, it worked, why not continue?

And, if the placebo worked, then possibly revealing its existence might have caused it to cease being effective? In which case the mother would likely have returned to taking unnecessary medication.

Which is worse?

[Amethyst]

I'm afraid of motion-sickness drugs, as they all seem to be anticholinergics which are said to contribute to dementia.

In a car or bus, it helps to fix my eyes on one landmark far in the distance. In a plane, it helps not to look at anything at all! Ships don't bother me unless there is a *lot* of rocking motion (crossing the Irish Sea on a ferry, I simply had to put my head down and keep it there for the duration). If I feel a bout of nausea coming on, it's probably too late and I'll just have to grab a sick bag.

[kaneohe]

........and if possible stay away from seasick people.........the sights and sounds of them work on your psyche and make you susceptible to their affliction.

[Koolau]

I'm moderately prone to sea sickness. On a cruise (750 ft ship) we were in seas so rough they had to drain the pools to avoid them spilling across the decks. The bow of the ship actually left the water at times and crashed back down as I've seen on VICTORY AT SEA regarding some campaign in the Pacific during WWII. This was early 80s and all the bars on ship handed out dramamine (or equivalent) to anyone who asked. That's all I needed to avoid being sea sick.

Those who have mentioned feeling strange back on land - noticing yourself rock back and forth for no apparent reason - this is considered "normal" and should usually not cause sea sickness. YMMV

[Moemg]

The only thing on cruise ships that makes me nauseous is being seated at a table with a window facing the water . The up and down motion of the waves makes me ill. So avoid that at all costs .

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 If, as a placebo, it worked, why not continue? And, if the placebo worked, then possibly revealing its existence might have caused it to cease being effective? In which case the mother would likely have returned to taking unnecessary medication. Which is worse?

Hmmm... Perhaps many other medicines are also placebo.

We can have much cheaper cancer drugs.

From what I have read, many new drugs do not work that well anyway. They may be placebo from start.

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound We can have much cheaper cancer drugs.

Cancer, AFAIK, is not psychosomatic.......but sea sickness could very well be.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/883927

A forty year old study suggests:

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certain personality characteristics are associated with a high degree of susceptibility to motion sickness.

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by Koolau Those who have mentioned feeling strange back on land - noticing yourself rock back and forth for no apparent reason - this is considered "normal" and should usually not cause sea sickness.

Often referred to as mal de debarquement.

[kitesurfer2]

my dr subscribed meclizine for me yesterday.

Wednesday, I opened the back door to my van, reached up to the roof to take a measurement and fell d own (vertigo). Thursday morning, I crawled under my van , rolled over on my back, looked up at the oil filter and vertigo hit me like a brick. I was able to roll out and over, and start pukin my guts up!

I spent many years in the navy and got see sick once--and it lasted for 3 days. But so did most of the crew .we had major damage topside.

I thought I wanted to fly early in my naval career, but acrobatic maneuvers caused issues. It seemed after each flight, I was med down for 3 days. I got behind in my schedule..log story short, I quit flying.


so vertigo is not new to me. I hope the meclizine cures me.

[REWahoo]

kitesurfer2, Google the Epley maneuver. I've heard a lot of success stories about the technique.

Also, I learned to never sleep without my head elevated by a couple of pillows.

[Nemo2]

One approach to minimizing seasickness, that I have recommended to people feeling queasy, with a modicum of success, is to go outside to the highest accessible deck, sit midships, (between port & starboard), and face the stern.....look at the horizon.

[omni550]

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Originally Posted by kitesurfer2 my dr subscribed meclizine for me yesterday. Wednesday, I opened the back door to my van, reached up to the roof to take a measurement and fell d own (vertigo). Thursday morning, I crawled under my van , rolled over on my back, looked up at the oil filter and vertigo hit me like a brick. I was able to roll out and over, and start pukin my guts up! I spent many years in the navy and got see sick once--and it lasted for 3 days. But so did most of the crew .we had major damage topside. I thought I wanted to fly early in my naval career, but acrobatic maneuvers caused issues. It seemed after each flight, I was med down for 3 days. I got behind in my schedule..log story short, I quit flying. so vertigo is not new to me. I hope the meclizine cures me.

kitesurfer2,

Yikes, sounds awful.

Hope the meclinzine and/or the Epley procedure helps!

omni