Motion Sickness

[Mairiiv]

Good day

I hope this is the best place for this....

I have a friend whom loves recreational diving but she has quite a problem with motion sickness and thus the pre-dive, safety stop and aftermath of the dive is a problem for her though through the actual dive she is fine. Do any of you guys and gals out there have any advice of something that might work? In regards to medication you can mention names however, since we are in not in the States or Europe we might not get name brands so a bit of a description on what it might be might help. Further on medication the ones she has tried here had a tendancy to make her sleepy which is not a good idea 15 - 20 meters underwater...

Thanks
Mairiiv

 

[DivingPrincessE]

If you try running a search for "seasick" "seasickness" or "motion sickness" You will get TONS of hits as this has been discussed many, many times on SB.

Here is one thread that took me about 5 seconds to find.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-divers-those-considering-diving/4667-seasick.html

 

[DiveMaven]

Quick answer would be to try the scopolomine patch. In Canada it's call the Transderm V patch, but I believe scopolomine is the name of the medication. In the United States you can also get the same medication in pill form, called Scopace. The patch version works for 3 days, the pill for 6-8 hours.

Asking a pharmacist or doctor about a "sea sickness patch" usually describes it perfectly.

 

[Gene_Hobbs]

There is not much work on drug interactions in a hyperbaric environment but there is some:

Transdermal Scopolamine in the Hyperbaric Environment.
Schwartz and Curley, 1986
RRR ID: 3528

Hyperbaric oxygen and scopolamine.
Bitterman et. al. 1991
RRR ID: 2573

Effects of transcutaneous scopolamine and depth on diver performance.
Williams et. al. 1988
RRR ID: 2495

Effect of the anti-motion-sickness medication cinnarizine on central nervous system oxygen toxicity.
Arieli et. al. 1999
RRR ID: 2307

The fatigue she is experiencing may happen with any of them so she might need to try a few. Just try to be aware of the risk with any drug and diving.