Motion sickness

[Blastman4444]

Hi,
My wife gets motion sickness I want to know if Cozumel diving from a boat is rough or how flat it is what's the best time of the year to go. We tried the trans-dermal patch and it made her really sleepy too much to dive, and the wrist bands didn't work at all. We are going to try Bonine see if that works before we go on our next trip.
Thanks Kelly

 

[The Mighty Thor]

Bonine works great for me, although I have heard of some people complaining of narcosis like issues on deep dives after using Bonine.

 

[DandyDon]

edited see below

 

[CajunDiva]

I have MAJOR problems with motion sickness. The best invention of the decade is "Scopace". It's the pill form of the scopalamine (sp?) patch, and it works wonders. You can take a whole pill or split it in half or even quarters to fit your needs. I have experienced very mild side effects after several days of use, but definitely worth it.

I have also used a product called "Sturgeron" (75 mg) very successfully - it lasts most of the day. Unfortunately, it's not available in the U.S., but my understanding is that you can get it in Cozumel. I suffer no side effects at all with this one

Good luck...

 

[BrewingDiver]

I was also going to suggest the scopalamine pill (vs. patch) based on my wife's use of both. She now gets the pills before our dive trips and likes it. The main difference is that apparently the effects of the pills wear off during the day and are gone in the afternoon whereas the patch is continuous.

 

[CajunDiva]

I was also going to suggest the scopalamine pill (vs. patch) based on my wife's use of both. She now gets the pills before our dive trips and likes it. The main difference is that apparently the effects of the pills wear off during the day and are gone in the afternoon whereas the patch is continuous.

You might suggest that she take an additional 1/2 pill before the afternoon diving activities just to keep the effect going a little longer. Alternatively, she may want to try taking 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 after the second dive. You can experiment with the doses until you learn your tolerances.

 

[keithdiver]

Hi,
My wife gets motion sickness I want to know if Cozumel diving from a boat is rough or how flat it is what's the best time of the year to go. We tried the trans-dermal patch and it made her really sleepy too much to dive, and the wrist bands didn't work at all. We are going to try Bonine see if that works before we go on our next trip.
Thanks Kelly

SCOPOMIN PATCHES BEHIND THE EAR WORK GREAT.USED IT FOR CAROLINA LOVED IT, DID NOT PUKE MY GUTS OUT:shocked2:

 

[Kevrumbo]

Do this as an anti-motion sickness exercise before you leave for your trip:
drive your wife around to the supermarket, shopping mall, the bank etc. --places and routes she's very familiar with-- and have her close her eyes (or blindfold them). Have her "see" in her mind's eye and from memory tell where you actually are in the route, based only on her feeling the car's motion. Repeat the exercise, with her sitting and perhaps lying down in the back seat for another trial. . .

When you get to Cozumel and you're on the boat:
Have her look not only at the Horizon, but also at the railing of the boat in the foreground --and see how it all moves relative to each other as the boat makes way through the swells. Memorize that movement and have her close her eyes, tell her to feel the boat's rhythm moving through the swells, and "see" that railing/horizon movement in her mind's eye. Teach her to anticipate where that railing/horizon orientation will be when she opens her eyes . . .and finally open her eyes to see it and confirm it. The idea is to convince her mind and inner ear that she is in dynamic motion based on her sense of balance, tactile/kinesthetic feedback, and coordinating-synchronizing it all with the movement pattern of the railing/horizon which she just memorized. . .

Once you get good at this visualization, you can handle the roughest seas even without any medication --but it takes a lot of focus and concentration . . .

 

[Christi]

You'd better book with operators with large, slower boats compared to the smaller, faster 8-packs many of us like.

Actually, people tend to get seasick more often on these boats because they are rolling much more in the waves when there are waves - not to mention the extra time out on the water - up to two hours + longer. The smaller boats cut through the water faster cutting out a lot of that rocking and rolling which is the motion that typically makes people queasy.

To answer the OP's questions:

Ginger is also a natural remedy for sea sickness and works wonders for many people. They sell them in candy like form - crystallized ginger - maybe someone who uses this can chime in on this one.

Cozumel waters are typically very calm 8 to 9 months out of the year - with summer time being the calmest - almost glass like and calmer than many lakes I've been on.

The winter months are definitely the roughest since winds are often out of the north and west.

Hope this helps

 

[DandyDon]

SCOPOMIN PATCHES BEHIND THE EAR WORK GREAT.USED IT FOR CAROLINA LOVED IT, DID NOT PUKE MY GUTS OUT:shocked2:

If you read the post that you quoted, she tried that - hated it. The patch is a chemical pump; some people say they cut them in half but that disrupts their mechanism. It's a low does continuous pump of a drug with a dark side in high doses, not to be taken lightly. I did not know that it was available as a pill in the US until now.

Actually, people tend to get seasick more often on these boats because they are rolling much more in the waves when there are waves - not to mention the extra time out on the water - up to two hours + longer. The smaller boats cut through the water faster cutting out a lot of that rocking and rolling which is the motion that typically makes people queasy.

Yeah, I suppose so. With the smaller faster boats you can concentrate to dealing with it all. On slow rolling boats, harder to deal with sometimes - but then I've only had it once so I'm not well qualified to speak here.