Prone to Sea Sickness? Cinnarizine!

[deepsea21]

I was just on Tripadvisor and a fellow diver posted about his trip to Coz and mentioned his extreme susceptibility to sea/motion sickness. I'll cut and paste my reply to him below for anyone else who may not know about Cinnarizine.

I read your review of 3P's and noticed you suffer from seasickness. Let me give you a tip as my wife suffers from it as well. Next time you are in Mexico, purchase some Cinnarizine which is available over-the-counter in Mexico, Canada I believe, and it seems about everywhere else. We were informed of it years ago in Cozumel. It is not available in the US (thanks to our wonderful FDA that thinks $800 for an epi-pen is somehow acceptable) but it is the sea sickness pill of the Royal Navy so you can rest assured it is highly tested and proven.

It has none of those horrific drowsy side effects that our pills have and that can make you feel worse than if you hadn't even taken one. Furthermore, YOU CAN TAKE IT EVEN AFTER SEA SICKNESS EFFECTS START TO SET IN AND IT WILL REMEDY THEM! We have a big bottle we purchased in Mexico for $20 or something and my wife takes one as a precaution whenever the water looks rough. If you are highly susceptible to sea sickness, just take one in the AM before your dives and you can forget about all that worry, sea sickness, and enjoy yourself. Read up on it... It is the best motion sickness preventative and remedy available - You just can't purchase it in the U.S.

 

[BRT]

Cinnarizine is Stugeron. Didn't work for me.

 

[nwflyboy]

I'm skeptical. Personally, I have an iron stomach and never have the slightest motion sickness (I actually like turbulence in airplanes, and the smaller the plane the better). But, my DW is incredibly prone to motion sickness - she gets sick just thinking about getting on a little boat.

But she likes to go diving, on little pangas and on live-aboards. So she has tried everything. Nothing works, at all. Except...

The Scopolamine trans-derm patch. It's VERY effective (as long as she slaps one on a couple hours before the boat). Very few side-effects. It's like a miracle cure.

Cinnarizine? Have not heard of it before. Maybe we will try some on our next trip...but we'll rely on The Patch. It works.

 

[Mary Maryland]

Cinnarizine causes Parkinson's symptoms. I would rather feed the fishes.

 

[JohnN]

I was just on Tripadvisor and a fellow diver posted about his trip to Coz and mentioned his extreme susceptibility to sea/motion sickness. I'll cut and paste my reply to him below for anyone else who may not know about Cinnarizine.

I read your review of 3P's and noticed you suffer from seasickness. Let me give you a tip as my wife suffers from it as well. Next time you are in Mexico, purchase some Cinnarizine which is available over-the-counter in Mexico, Canada I believe, and it seems about everywhere else. We were informed of it years ago in Cozumel. It is not available in the US (thanks to our wonderful FDA that thinks $800 for an epi-pen is somehow acceptable) but it is the sea sickness pill of the Royal Navy so you can rest assured it is highly tested and proven.

It has none of those horrific drowsy side effects that our pills have and that can make you feel worse than if you hadn't even taken one. Furthermore, YOU CAN TAKE IT EVEN AFTER SEA SICKNESS EFFECTS START TO SET IN AND IT WILL REMEDY THEM! We have a big bottle we purchased in Mexico for $20 or something and my wife takes one as a precaution whenever the water looks rough. If you are highly susceptible to sea sickness, just take one in the AM before your dives and you can forget about all that worry, sea sickness, and enjoy yourself. Read up on it... It is the best motion sickness preventative and remedy available - You just can't purchase it in the U.S.

+1 for Scopolamine. I find the Transderm patches make it difficult to meter the dose and unless you have very good health insurance, you may get some sticker shock when you buy them.

Oral Scopolamine is available from the UK/Australia (via eBay) under the trade name Kwells. About $1 a pill shipped.

 

[deepsea21]

Cinnarizine causes Parkinson's symptoms. I would rather feed the fishes.

Mary, for those who use Cinnarizine as a temporary sea sickness remedy there is nothing to fear... Just like eating a burger and french fries... Eat a burger and french fries a few times a month and there's no problem. Make them your primary source of calorie intake for decades and of course some are going to have problems. Feed the fishes if you care to but the risk diving presents by itself is 1000x greater than the risk Cinnarizine poses to those who take it from time to time to avoid sea sickness.

 

[scubadada]

All of the sedating antithistamines. are effective for motion sickness, including diphenhydramine/Benadryl. Though I am not very susceptible to motion sickness, when push comes to shove, I also use transdermal scopolamine

 

[dberry]

Also +1 for transdermal scopolamine, although I have had trouble keeping the patch on during a dive trip. I've also found Meclizine (aka Dramamine II) to be very helpful with sea sickness and makes me much less drowsy than other antihistamines (especially Dramamine.)

 

[scubadada]

Also +1 for transdermal scopolamine, although I have had trouble keeping the patch on during a dive trip. I've also found Meclizine (aka Dramamine II) to be very helpful with sea sickness and makes me much less drowsy than other antihistamines (especially Dramamine.)

The non-sedating antihistamimes appear to be inefficacious for motion sickness. All the sedating antihistammies appear efficacious

 

[morecowbells]

I love diving but dread the effects of seasickness. A few years ago I ordered some Stugeron, it worked about the same as the Bonine; slight relief, but not enough. Dramamine works a little better, but if I am diving an area with rougher seas, I have to use the Scopolamine patch. The down side is 1) keeping the patch in place after multiple days of diving 2) my pupils get dilated to the point of making me look like a total coke head. Not only an aesthetic issue, but it makes reading gauges difficult. 3) Complete cotton mouth which isn't such a big deal, but after diving, it would be nice to enjoy other activities without the parched mouth. However, I will still chose the side effects of the patch over seasickness. The oral version of Scopolamine sounds tempting. At least it would remove concerns over the patch slipping from the equation . Definitely will have to check that out