How to anticipate (possible) seasickness?

[CELTIC]

I don't suffer any type of motion sickness until I'm on a boat and it stops. While it's moving I'm fine, but once it stops and is bobbing in the waves I get sick. Generic Meclizine works great for me. I take it at least an hour before going out and take the max dosage. And I definetly agree with keeping the reg in your mouth during eruption, been there, done that (only once).

 

[coachpill]

"MAY" be cheaper?

You can buy 8 tablets of Bonine (25mg meclizine) OTC at the dive shop for $7

or

You can fill a prescription for 90 tablets of 25mg generic meclizine at Walmart pharmacy for $4 cash (With their $4 generic program there's no need to go through health insurance.)

Hmmmm...didn't think of that. But you know what, my bottle has 40 tablets in it as well...still better than 8 for $7...even if my copay is $15.

Alrighty then...it looks like a Ginger Ale/ginger tablet/meclizine coctail for the next go around, huh?

 

[Diver Lori]

so I could eat sushi w/ginger & wasabi for breakfast and call it meds?
(if i could just get blue cross to pay for it)

Hmmm.....I work for Wellpoint/Anthem/BCBSCA......got my eye on you!!

 

[Gary D.]

Incidentally, after I finished my SCUBARFI underwater, I put the reg back in my mouth. Does anyone know whether it's better to keep the reg in or have it out when suffering from a case of SCUBARFI?

"IN"

Gary D.

 

[goldenbear01]

My standing instruction to new divers is to *never* take the reg out when Ralph becomes their dive buddy. If you really start heaving, there is an almost unstoppable urge to *gasp* immediately after. Without a reg in your mouth, you're much more likely to gasp a big draw of water, which would be a very bad thing indeed.

I guess i just got lucky since I didn't really heave, just kind of unblocked by opening my mouth and then I was done. But for future reference, I'll keep the reg in my mouth. :happyjaz:

Thanks!

 

[Aussie scuba chick]

In Australia, you can buy ginger tablets, which means you don't need to drink a bottle of ginger ale and burp continuously underwater.

 

[MeiLing]

One thing is certain, if you think your are going to get sick, it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.

That's my theory on it and why I don't do the meds, at least not the legal ones. Which was probably the reason why I never got seasick in my early days of sailing. Personally, I think that was the best prevention, but I wouldn't mix it with diving! And since the advent of Homeland Security, I wouldn't risk my boat or my neck, at least not on the high seas!

I can be prone to it in a car, but generally, if I am on a boat, not a problem if I do what I previously advised to do. Being on a boat sailing or diving is not something I am going to miss out on! When I am seasick too, I don't get miserably so. And once I shake hands with Ralph, I am fine!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Hmmm, never heard of a prescription for Meclizine. Our local pharmacy (Mom-n-Pop place) has generic Meclizine on the shelf, 100 tablets for $3.27. It's also the only place that actually stocks my altitude sickness med, the big box pharmacies have told me they can't even order that in the dosage I use

A brief note on vomiting through a regulator. Make sure you THOROUGHLY rinse the reg after you get done diving, swishing it may not get all the barf matter out of it. One of my students vomited through her reg and swished it around underwater when she was done. She rinsed the reg after the dives but apparently not good enough. The event happened in May, that regulator was not used the rest of the summer and went in for its annual service the end of August. What did the tech find in the reg when he opened it? You guessed it, 3-month-old barf...said it nearly made HIM toss his cookies.

Personally I like to stand on the center of gravity of the boat if the waves are really bad, sitting down doesn't work for me. I also find rocking the opposite direction of the boat's movement to be helpful. We were on a long ride to a site at Tobermory and the waves were 3-4 feet. I'm standing on the boat's center of gravity rocking my body from port to starboard while the boat is rocking mostly from bow to stern. That trip I had taken my Meclizine and consumed a bunch of crackers, candied ginger and peppermints but I never got more than a tiny bit queasy.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Kevrumbo]

Most people don't get motion sickness while driving a car or piloting a boat/plane; that's because you're directly effecting the action of the vessel, you see what actions you have to take to steer a clear passage, you anticipate and react to the dynamic forces that result from such actions. Your mind/body kinesthetics are synchronized and you don't get motion sickness, because you're mostly in control and can see the dynamic environment in front of you.

Now short of going up to the wheelhouse and actually taking control of the boat, try sitting with the Captain at the Wheel, let him talk to you about how he's steering the boat and actually see/anticipate the resultant boat motion in response to his actions.

In other words . . .don't anticipate being seasick --anticipate being in control, knowing & feeling what the boat's motion is going to be. With practice of this simple visualization, you can even "quell the queasiness" in the roughest sea conditions --all without any medication of any kind.

 

[Teamcasa]

Most people don't get motion sickness while driving a car or piloting a boat/plane; that's because you're directly effecting the action of the vessel, you see what actions you have to take to steer a clear passage, you anticipate and react to the dynamic forces that result from such actions. Your mind/body kinesthetics are synchronized and you don't get motion sickness, because you're mostly in control and can see the dynamic environment in front of you.

Now short of going up to the wheelhouse and actually taking control of the boat, try sitting with the Captain at the Wheel, let him talk to you about how he's steering the boat and actually see/anticipate the resultant boat motion in response to his actions.

In other words . . .don't anticipate being seasick --anticipate being in control, knowing & feeling what the boat's motion is going to be. With practice of this simple visualization, you can even "quell the queasiness" in the roughest sea conditions --all without any medication of any kind.

Exactly right.