Motion sickness

[SoCalSwami]

Having never been sea-sick in the past, two years ago (at age 38) I started to feel nauseous on local boat trips.

Long story short, my doctor suggested I give Zantac150 a try to help curb stomach acid production. I wasn't diagnosed with acid reflux, but once I started on the medicine, my sea-sickness problems went away.

I know this isn't a classic solution for sea-sickness, but it is worth mentioning because it helped solve my sea-sickness problem.

 

[Kevrumbo]

People . . .it's all in your mind, and one of the prime examples of how to control a physical reaction with just your mind power. (This is NOT as severe like the nausea/vomiting you would get undergoing chemo & radiation treatments for example --you've defeated yourself & psyched yourself out already if you think you need and are dependent on such anti-nausea medication for a relatively simple condition such as sea sickness.

Most people don't get motion sickness while driving a car or piloting a boat/plane; the reason being 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, your vestibular senses unconfounded, and you don't develop the nausea associated with motion sickness.

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.

Again --All you gotta do is look at the horizon, see how it moves relative to the boat's motion and memorize that pattern, and then get a feeling for the rhythm of the swells and synchronize it with horizon's motion. Now when you go down belowdecks, just play it all back in your "mind's eye" as you begin to feel & anticipate the boat's apparent motion --or even imagine the boat belowdecks is transparent and you can actually see the horizon & swells in sync with the boat's apparent motion-- it's all just visualization without medication and it works!

That's the visualization technique you gotta practice, and unfortunately it's difficult to do if you're concentrating on something else like setting up your gear, reading a book, watching a video, worrying about running out of ginger pills/dramamine/bonine etc. But once you get good at it, you can hold the malaise to a reasonable level even in stormy seas --a "four" for instance on a scale from 1 to 10, with "ten" being projectile vomiting, extreme nausea, hugging the rail and begging for someone to shoot you:shocked2: . . . (In my thirty hour passage from mainland Costa Rica to Cocos Island, I was cognitively exhausted performing the technique over an extended period, and just simply fell asleep naturally). . .

 

[DandyDon]

Excerpting but both of Kev's post are worth printing out really - reread until you buy the truth...

People . . .it's all in your mind...

It really is, and usually optional.

Most people don't get motion sickness while driving a car or piloting a boat/plane; the reason being 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, your vestibular senses unconfounded, and you don't develop the nausea associated with motion sickness.

Yep, my daughter got car sick in the back seat on a trip last summer, so we let her drive - instantly fixed. Also works on private boats where the captain will let an amateur pilot, but not suggested for planes...! ilot:

Still, great posts - hope people take them seriously.

 

[Blastman4444]

I agree with what your saying but it's easy for all of us to say this since we don't get sick that easy. She tries a lot of things I think she will be fine as long as the boat isn't really rough 6' rolling swells is on the rough side. I just wanted to know what the conditions were in Cozumel from your experiences on a boat there.

 

[robint]

I agree with what your saying but it's easy for all of us to say this since we don't get sick that easy. She tries a lot of things I think she will be fine as long as the boat isn't really rough 6' rolling swells is on the rough side. I just wanted to know what the conditions were in Cozumel from your experiences on a boat there.

ROFLMAO,... 6' seas in Cozumel??? They close the harbor if seas are rough at all, probably half that. If all she has problems with is rough seas like that, then she will be FINE in Cozumel.
Worst seas I have ever been out in Coz was a year ago, on the big boat at SCC, and the waves were maybe 2-3' in March (windy season). It was a bit hard getting back on boat, but the boat handled the waves really well once moving. I wouldn't have wanted to be on a small 6-pack though as it would have been a very bumpy ride out to reefs and back.

robin

 

[mstevens]

People . . .it's all in your mind

It's partially in your mind. It's absolutely not all in your mind. Sometimes, it's all over the deck.

Here's where I'm coming from on this: I'm board-certified in psychosomatic medicine. A big part of my work used to involve nausea control in seriously-ill patients. I've also worked with people with disabling motion sickness and disagree with the assertion that either one is necessarily worse than the other. Even if you have yourself both gone through chemotherapy nausea and had severe motion sickness, you only have your own experience to go by, which differs from that of others.

I have personally become seriously airsick while flying a plane (there was nobody else present to take over, so things got unpleasant). I've also worked with military pilots and NASA astronauts, who are typically highly-motivated, highly-trained, and still at times subject to motion sickness.

Motion sickness is complex and poorly understood and involves an interplay among a number of factors, only some of which are psychological. It almost certainly involves 5HT3A receptors in both the gut and brain, and as I mentioned before muscarinic acetylcholine receptors as well.

Some people are much more prone to motion sickness than others. Those who practically never become motion sick obviously have a much easier time of it. Their "tips and tricks" may still help some, but work much better for them than they do for people who are highly prone to motion sickness. Once someone is nauseated, it's usually too late for any of those things to work at all.

It's presumptuous, unhelpful, and irresponsible to presume that because one hasn't personally experienced something that this means it's "all in the mind" or that what works for one person will work for all. It's equally unhelpful and irresponsible to presume that something that really is "all in the mind" is somehow easily overcome. Pain, for example, is "in the mind" yet most people still experience it to some degree under certain circumstances.

Believe me, I've got nothing against using Jedi Mind Tricks to overcome various medical problems - that's my schtick. To claim that's all that's ever needed is highly bogus.

 

[Blastman4444]

ROFLMAO,... 6' seas in Cozumel??? They close the harbor if seas are rough at all, probably half that. If all she has problems with is rough seas like that, then she will be FINE in Cozumel.
Worst seas I have ever been out in Coz was a year ago, on the big boat at SCC, and the waves were maybe 2-3' in March (windy season). It was a bit hard getting back on boat, but the boat handled the waves really well once moving. I wouldn't have wanted to be on a small 6-pack though as it would have been a very bumpy ride out to reefs and back.

robin

We were in the grand caymans last week east side the swells looked about 6' maybe I'm wrong could have been smaller but I doubt it. I have never been to Cozumel so I have no idea where they dive or what the swells are like. Most harbors are protected from sea swells so not sure what you mean about closing it.

It's partially in your mind. It's absolutely not all in your mind. Sometimes, it's all over the deck.

Here's where I'm coming from on this: I'm board-certified in psychosomatic medicine. A big part of my work used to involve nausea control in seriously-ill patients. I've also worked with people with disabling motion sickness and disagree with the assertion that either one is necessarily worse than the other. Even if you have yourself both gone through chemotherapy nausea and had severe motion sickness, you only have your own experience to go by, which differs from that of others.

I have personally become seriously airsick while flying a plane (there was nobody else present to take over, so things got unpleasant). I've also worked with military pilots and NASA astronauts, who are typically highly-motivated, highly-trained, and still at times subject to motion sickness.

Motion sickness is complex and poorly understood and involves an interplay among a number of factors, only some of which are psychological. It almost certainly involves 5HT3A receptors in both the gut and brain, and as I mentioned before muscarinic acetylcholine receptors as well.

Some people are much more prone to motion sickness than others. Those who practically never become motion sick obviously have a much easier time of it. Their "tips and tricks" may still help some, but work much better for them than they do for people who are highly prone to motion sickness. Once someone is nauseated, it's usually too late for any of those things to work at all.

It's presumptuous, unhelpful, and irresponsible to presume that because one hasn't personally experienced something that this means it's "all in the mind" or that what works for one person will work for all. It's equally unhelpful and irresponsible to presume that something that really is "all in the mind" is somehow easily overcome. Pain, for example, is "in the mind" yet most people still experience it to some degree under certain circumstances.

Believe me, I've got nothing against using Jedi Mind Tricks to overcome various medical problems - that's my schtick. To claim that's all that's ever needed is highly bogus.

Well said I'm not sure if you guys are married because when my wife has an issue where she is not happy she makes sure I suffer as much or more then she does. I had no idea the east side of grand caymans is rougher then the west. I should have looked into that more. She doesn't seem to get sick when we go out on the lake we had a lake boat for 10 years. The other strange thing is if she drinks any alcohol she doesn't get sick even on roller coasters. Since we were diving she didn't have any alcohol. I'm assuming the effects also dampen the motion sickness like the patch or other drugs. The worst part is now because it was her first time diving after getting certified she isn't too keen on diving again. We did a shore dive on the west side of grand cayman the last day I was hoping she would feel better which she did. She is just getting used to equalizing and that doesn't help either. I noticed it took me about 3 deeper 60' dives to get the hang of it where my head doesn't feel strange after diving. When we started the 2nd tank dive that first day on the boat they told her to just get into the water and vomit though her regulator I thought that was a bad idea being so new to diving she might not been able to do that or starting choking on the vomit and panic at 60' down. She opted to stay on deck and make a mess and feel terrible I think it was the safest thing to do.

 

[DandyDon]

We were in the grand caymans last week east side the swells looked about 6' maybe I'm wrong could have been smaller but I doubt it. I have never been to Cozumel so I have no idea where they dive or what the swells are like. Most harbors are protected from sea swells so not sure what you mean about closing it.

Yeah, that term confused me on my first trip. It was January, a norther had blown thru, and the harbor master "closed the harbor." I was at a southern resort wondering what that had to do with the boat at our dock, but it means that either no small boats or no boats are allowed to go, depending on the call, in the marine park where most of the diving is done. Fortunately the winds laid down and we were able to dive that afternoon and the next day.

Well said I'm not sure if you guys are married because when my wife has an issue where she is not happy she makes sure I suffer as much or more then she does. I had no idea the east side of grand caymans is rougher then the west. I should have looked into that more. She doesn't seem to get sick when we go out on the lake we had a lake boat for 10 years. The other strange thing is if she drinks any alcohol she doesn't get sick even on roller coasters. Since we were diving she didn't have any alcohol. I'm assuming the effects also dampen the motion sickness like the patch or other drugs. The worst part is now because it was her first time diving after getting certified she isn't too keen on diving again. We did a shore dive on the west side of grand cayman the last day I was hoping she would feel better which she did. She is just getting used to equalizing and that doesn't help either. I noticed it took me about 3 deeper 60' dives to get the hang of it where my head doesn't feel strange after diving. When we started the 2nd tank dive that first day on the boat they told her to just get into the water and vomit though her regulator I thought that was a bad idea being so new to diving she might not been able to do that or starting choking on the vomit and panic at 60' down. She opted to stay on deck and make a mess and feel terrible I think it was the safest thing to do.

Hehe, misery loves company. I'm sure that it is an awful feeling and I certainly hope she doesn't have any problems. You might assure her that if the seas are rough, it'll be fine to skip that day, do some shore diving if you're just south of town or at the Chankanaab Park, or maybe something else. I can understand her reluctance and hope she has better experiences soon.

Seasick divers or passengers usually do feel a lot better in the water, preferably below it - and it's important to keep the reg in your mouth regardless, always! Yes you can puke thru the reg, purge, then breath if it comes to that.

Equalizing early and often helps a lot with diving, and might help with this problem as well. This 45 minute video can help a lot.
Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page

 

[pedo]

Too bad about the patch, I find that it works great. Only side affect is dry mouth. I usually remove it after the first dive. I like ginger with my sushi and I like ginger snaps but found ginger useless for motion sickness.

 

[robint]

kell490 - as DandyDon said, the "harbor is closed" means that the island controller Harbor Master has said that no boats can go out. Almost all dive boats on the island are kept in one of two harbors overnight, not at the piers of the dive ops/hotels like in many destinations. I wasn't being mean to you when I said ROFLMAO. I was laughing at how they handle the rough seas in Cozumel. There are a few dive ops that have big boats, and those are sometimes allowed to go out diving in rough weather, but 6' seas would mean that no diving is allowed. It is not a decision that each individual dive op can make... what the Harbor Master for the island says is Law. I really don't know why it is done that way there, but it is.

I have been several destinations where the boats go out in 3-6' seas (California is one). I have even tried to get back on a rocking boat where the ladder was coming completely out of the water every roll. Not fun at all. Cozumel in summer has the flattest seas I have seen anywhere... sometimes so flat that you can see 100' down to the reef.

I have never known anyone who needed seasick meds in Cozumel. Maybe they are out there, but I haven't seen it.

robin