Ginger for Motion Sickness Prevention...

[Steve Egner]

I've been prone to motion sickness on lumpy seas in the past, not a happy feeling.

The Transderm Scop patch worked to prevent nausea, but always left me feeling foggy, never fully alert. I had experienced a similar dulling effect from Dramamine and Bonine, which never even completely squelched the nausea.

I decided to take a chance on the Ginger therapy, and was thrilled with the results. I felt completely alert, not the least bit nauseous, on any of my boat dives. I watched people in various stages of discomfort... One guy even said, "Excuse me, Steve..." and then hurled over my right shoulder while I sat strapped into my BCD and tank.

I used a GNC product, called Ginger Root, in 550 mg capsules. I took six caps the night before a dive, and six first thing in the morning with a light breakfast, roughly three hours before the first dive.

I never had a lick of trouble, even on long surface intervals with those delightful deisel fumes all around.

It felt great to be able to enjoy the dive with 100% of my faculties, and no more foggy feeling.

Steve

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I never had problems when I did the flying, even during fairly aggressive aerobatics, but the first time I had a student at the controls (with no clue what rudder pedals were for) I was ready to hurl in about 5 minutes. Dramamine, etc was not an option but I tried ginger root and it worked very well for me too.

 

[500 PSI]

Steve & Aquamaster, I and other will likely appreciate this good tip. Ginger Root is all natural and it will be in my dive bag from now on. Thanks for the Great Post !!!!

 

[Charlie99]

The Mythbusters program had a segment on motion sickness drugs and devices a few weeks ago. They had the subject/victim sit blindfolded on a chair that was rotating and timed how long it was before he was overcome with nausea.

Wristbands didn't seem to have any effect. Electrostimulation didn't work. Over the counter drugs worked but left some of the testers drowsy or woozy. A placebo worked for one, but not the other tester. Ginger worked for both testers.

Just 2 testers and 1 trial each of each method each, so take it for what it's worth.

Luckily, so far just keeping a stable visual reference like a horizon in sight has always worked for me.

edit: add link. scroll down a bit to find the details

 

[Steve Egner]

The Mythbusters program had a segment on motion sickness drugs and devices a few weeks ago.

That's what motivated me to give it a try... And, for myself, the results were terrific.

Anyone who has been through the green death feeling of motion sickness knows what is at risk here... The fog of Scopalamine, Dramamine, Bonine, etc., is preferable to nausea.

I was anxious about it, but all reservations were gone halfway through my first surface interval. The boat was rolling big time, the fumes were thick, and some were too ill for the second dive... I was munching fruit slices, something I couldn't do before.

I felt a little guilty feeling so good.

Steve

 

[crpntr133]

On my last cruise I got sea sick the first night. The woman at the front desk sent down ginger tea and granny smith apples. She said that is what they always use.

If you want a candy that you can take along with you, my GF got me some when she was in Hawaii. The brand is Chimes...Chimes ginger chews. They come individually packaged so I think they would last for some time.

 

[double80s]

I'm not prone to sea sickness, but if I know there might be a sizeable swell I pop a few ginger tablets the night/morning before the dive.

2 friends who are very prone to sickness, even on calm days, feel that ginger saved their diving. One guy takes a ginger daily, even if he doesn't plan on diving.

For the cost, ginger is worth adding to the medicine cabnet.

 

[DivingDoc]

That's what motivated me to give it a try... And, for myself, the results were terrific.

Anyone who has been through the green death feeling of motion sickness knows what is at risk here... The fog of Scopalamine, Dramamine, Bonine, etc., is preferable to nausea.

Steve

I saw the mythbusters show too. I am going to give it a try. I have a bag of crystalized ginger that I got in Hawaii. Tried it for nausea that I get after taking pain medicine when I had a knee replacement recently. Doesn't work completely for that, but will give it a try next time I'm on a boat!

 

[Bob3]

... I have a bag of crystallized ginger ...

Candied ginger is some good stuff, available in most Asian food markets & health food stores. It's the only remedy I know of that will work after the motion sickness has set in.
It'll probably wind up being way cheaper than tablets or caps of the stuff.

 

[Mrs.Prages]

You can also find the ginger pills at Wal-mart now. I bought a bottle of 100 550mg pills for less than 3 dollars last month. So look around, it is starting to be a little more common on the shelves and a little cheaper.