Any tips for sea sickness?

[Regulatrix]

Nobody has worse seasick problems than I do. Now I take meclazine the night before, hyoscine an hour before I get on the boat and have no problems unless the weather is so bad the local fishermen I am with are queasy. Even then it is not terrible. Nothing else worked effectively for 40 years. This does.

I had to look up "hyoscine" and learned that it's another name for scopolamine. Thanks for the educational component! I agree; scopolamine has been a great thing for this camper.

 

[Snoweman]

Nobody has worse seasick problems than I do. Now I take meclazine the night before, hyoscine an hour before I get on the boat and have no problems unless the weather is so bad the local fishermen I am with are queasy. Even then it is not terrible. Nothing else worked effectively for 40 years. This does.

Got to ask.... Have you puked at a safety stop due to wave action? If not, a buddy of mine has you beat.

 

[BRT]

Got to ask.... Have you puked at a safety stop due to wave action? If not, a buddy of mine has you beat.

I've puked at 60' when there was surge. I've puked dive after dive on safety stop. I puked on the surface. I got sick while snorkeling. I puked every boat ride I took for years. Between dives I would lay on the bottom of the boat . When I lay down and shut my eyes I feel slightly better. I have spent 8 hour days out with the fishermen laying across the panga on a seat, almost unable to respond to questions. I have had a divemaster insist on giving me oxygen because he thought I was bent, I was so bad. With the meclazine/ hyoscine pill combo I don't get queasy unless the Mexican fishermen are also queasy.

 

[Snoweman]

I've puked at 60' when there was surge. I've puked dive after dive on safety stop. I puked on the surface. I got sick while snorkeling. I puked every boat ride I took for years. Between dives I would lay on the bottom of the boat . When I lay down and shut my eyes I feel slightly better. I have spent 8 hour days out with the fishermen laying across the panga on a seat, almost unable to respond to questions. I have had a divemaster insist on giving me oxygen because he thought I was bent, I was so bad. With the meclazine/ hyoscine pill combo I don't get queasy unless the Mexican fishermen are also queasy.

You win....

 

[Rukkian]

I have never met anyone that has puked their guts out and felt better afterwards with seasickness. My wife has a problem for at least 24 hours after getting on dry land.

I get sick at times, but don't normally have issues. Was on a dive boat in Destin florida a couple of weeks ago, and was inside trying to not get too much sun, and felt sick between the 2 dives during the trip over to the second. shortly before we arrive, I went ahead and fed the fish, and then was perfectly fine the rest of the day.

 

[CaptainPanda]

For the boat, Sea Bands have worked surprisingly well. They're wristbands that have a small plastic bead on them, and they act on pressure points in your forearms/wrists to help prevent nausea.

 

[poifromthebag]

On top of what everyone else is saying (I use meclizine), I found that "predicting the movement of the vehicle" and then actively balancing yourself; plays a big part in making me avoid motion sickness.

Besides scuba, I also participate in performance driving including off road. I found that when I predict the movement that the vehicle (car/boat/ship/whatever) is going to do, and then minimize my personal movement relative to stable earth, then I don't get nearly motion sick or at all. This is my theory, and it jives with strategies like "look at the horizon" and "find the most stable part of the boat".

So rather than being "along for the ride", one should actively "surf the vehicle" instead.

 

[explore_DMC]

I've puked at 60' when there was surge. I've puked dive after dive on safety stop. I puked on the surface. I got sick while snorkeling. I puked every boat ride I took for years. Between dives I would lay on the bottom of the boat . When I lay down and shut my eyes I feel slightly better. I have spent 8 hour days out with the fishermen laying across the panga on a seat, almost unable to respond to questions. I have had a divemaster insist on giving me oxygen because he thought I was bent, I was so bad. With the meclazine/ hyoscine pill combo I don't get queasy unless the Mexican fishermen are also queasy.

My gf puked in the pool in her OW class and had to retake it with no one else causing water movement in the pool. She used to regularly puke mid-dive and obviously also safety stop, on surface and boat. We tried dimenhydrinate (dramamine), mezclizine (Bonnie), promethezine (phenergan), and cinnarizine (sturgeron). None of these worked and most made her terribly tired.

She eventually found success with the scopolamine patch, but quickly developed a persistent rash from the adhesive. She now regularly uses hyoscine (kwells) with great success. This is paired with other good strategies- simple carbs, no greasy or acidic food, focus on horizon, sit center of boat and away from fumes.

She will still get sick, but it’s far less frequent…I think her non-puke streak is around 25 boat dives and another dozen boat/ferry rides (Philippines). Prior to patch/kwells, with other meds, puking was around 90% of dives regardless of conditions.

 

[BRT]

My gf puked in the pool in her OW class and had to retake it with no one else causing water movement in the pool. She used to regularly puke mid-dive and obviously also safety stop, on surface and boat. We tried dimenhydrinate (dramamine), mezclizine (Bonnie), promethezine (phenergan), and cinnarizine (sturgeron). None of these worked and most made her terribly tired.

She eventually found success with the scopolamine patch, but quickly developed a persistent rash from the adhesive. She now regularly uses hyoscine (kwells) with great success. This is paired with other good strategies- simple carbs, no greasy or acidic food, focus on horizon, sit center of boat and away from fumes.

She will still get sick, but it’s far less frequent…I think her non-puke streak is around 25 boat dives and another dozen boat/ferry rides (Philippines). Prior to patch/kwells, with other meds, puking was around 90% of dives regardless of conditions.

This is the trick if you really have problems with seasickness.

 

[Nitrox_DiverNY]

stay away from scopolamine, it can have nasty psychiatric side effects!