KevinNM
Contributor
Scopolamine is an anticholinergic, it works completely differently than an antihistamine.
Sea sickness patch
- Thread starter lbussell
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Doctor's point of view:
Scopolamine is an anticholinergic medication that can be used to treat motion sickness in its patch form. Because it is an anticholinergic medication, it has some very well known and well described side effects. The phrase that med students learn is that these medications can cause people to be:
Blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, dry as a bone, hot as a hare, full as a flask, red as a beet...
Meaning these medications are known to cause dilated pupils/vision changes (sometimes related to people just touching their face after putting on the patch), confusion, severe dry mouth and dry skin (lack of perspiration), hyperthermia, inability to urinate, red/flushing skin, and palpitations/tachycardia.
Normally these severe symptoms are from toxic doses/overdoses, but the milder form of these symptoms can appear as side effects. The symptoms that people are describing throughout the thread of dry mouth and vision changes are known side effects. The dry mouth is usually annoying but manageable. Some people will get vision changes from dilated pupils however the majority of these people tend to get them because they do not thoroughly was their hands after applying the patch and then touch their face, causing the medication to get directly into the eye (you won't feel a burning or anything to let you know this happens. It happens without you knowing). However it is possible to get pupil changes even without getting the med into your eye.
Try out the medication before going on your trip if you want to make sure you can tolerate the side effects. It should be noted that the majority of people do not get severe side effects. You're getting a biased reply here of people that have had issues with this. This is a commonly used medication on cruise ships everywhere and the ships aren't full of people running into walls from their vision changes. Most people will get extremely mild to no side effects.
It should also be noted to not cut the patch or deform it in any way to attempt to reduce the dose. The patch is designed to deliver a set medication rate transdermally. You would think that by cutting the patch you are reducing the dose, which is true to an extent. The total amount of med you are now putting on your skin is less. However by cutting/manipulating the patch you also can effect the rate that the medication is delivered/released from the patch which would mean although you have less total on your skin, you may be receiving more medication per hour which could potentially set you up for severe side effects.
There are also no permanent side effects (assuming you do not have underlying glaucoma and take this medication - your doctor shouldn't of prescribed it to you in the first place if this is the case though). When the medication wears off, the side effects will go away. You're not going to permanently hurt yourself by using this. Talk to your doctor to make sure you don't have any contraindications to using it like glaucoma, cardiac disease/arrhythmias, intestinal motility issues, or other contraindications.
Overall, this is a safe, commonly used medication that is worth trying in general. All the information above applies to a very small proportion of people that use the medication.
Scopolamine is an anticholinergic medication that can be used to treat motion sickness in its patch form. Because it is an anticholinergic medication, it has some very well known and well described side effects. The phrase that med students learn is that these medications can cause people to be:
Blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, dry as a bone, hot as a hare, full as a flask, red as a beet...
Meaning these medications are known to cause dilated pupils/vision changes (sometimes related to people just touching their face after putting on the patch), confusion, severe dry mouth and dry skin (lack of perspiration), hyperthermia, inability to urinate, red/flushing skin, and palpitations/tachycardia.
Normally these severe symptoms are from toxic doses/overdoses, but the milder form of these symptoms can appear as side effects. The symptoms that people are describing throughout the thread of dry mouth and vision changes are known side effects. The dry mouth is usually annoying but manageable. Some people will get vision changes from dilated pupils however the majority of these people tend to get them because they do not thoroughly was their hands after applying the patch and then touch their face, causing the medication to get directly into the eye (you won't feel a burning or anything to let you know this happens. It happens without you knowing). However it is possible to get pupil changes even without getting the med into your eye.
Try out the medication before going on your trip if you want to make sure you can tolerate the side effects. It should be noted that the majority of people do not get severe side effects. You're getting a biased reply here of people that have had issues with this. This is a commonly used medication on cruise ships everywhere and the ships aren't full of people running into walls from their vision changes. Most people will get extremely mild to no side effects.
It should also be noted to not cut the patch or deform it in any way to attempt to reduce the dose. The patch is designed to deliver a set medication rate transdermally. You would think that by cutting the patch you are reducing the dose, which is true to an extent. The total amount of med you are now putting on your skin is less. However by cutting/manipulating the patch you also can effect the rate that the medication is delivered/released from the patch which would mean although you have less total on your skin, you may be receiving more medication per hour which could potentially set you up for severe side effects.
There are also no permanent side effects (assuming you do not have underlying glaucoma and take this medication - your doctor shouldn't of prescribed it to you in the first place if this is the case though). When the medication wears off, the side effects will go away. You're not going to permanently hurt yourself by using this. Talk to your doctor to make sure you don't have any contraindications to using it like glaucoma, cardiac disease/arrhythmias, intestinal motility issues, or other contraindications.
Overall, this is a safe, commonly used medication that is worth trying in general. All the information above applies to a very small proportion of people that use the medication.
Here (in Switzerland), you don't find scopolamine patch but pills call buscopan that you can buy without a prescription.
I never used it for seasickness, but it's fabulous for menstrual pain. It reduces the spasms, so it's great.
However, before taking a serious medication for seasickness, have you tried natural oils ? It's not a real agressiv treatment, but for me it works, I can make my own mix and it's cheap.
I never used it for seasickness, but it's fabulous for menstrual pain. It reduces the spasms, so it's great.
However, before taking a serious medication for seasickness, have you tried natural oils ? It's not a real agressiv treatment, but for me it works, I can make my own mix and it's cheap.
Rocketman3
Registered
I LOVE the patch, because I HATE feeding the fish my breakfast or lunch. Dry mouth and feeling kinda narked (slightly loopy) are the only side effects I have noticed.
I kept losing the patch during the dive, it would just come off and float away. So now I put a bit of white (athletic/medical) tape over it, and it stays until I want it to come off.
If the seas are a bit bad, I also take bonine as well.
I kept losing the patch during the dive, it would just come off and float away. So now I put a bit of white (athletic/medical) tape over it, and it stays until I want it to come off.
If the seas are a bit bad, I also take bonine as well.
KevinNM
Contributor
If you clean the skin with an alcohol patch first and let it dry it will stick a lot better. But the tape will also work.
Shannon Markusen
Registered
The solution is oral scopolamine!!!
It comes in 3 microgram doses and I often take half or a quarter of the pill. It is chewable- I usually chew it a bit and put it under my tongue. I was introduced to it on a Mike Ball liveaboard in Australia and have never looked back- the patch doesn't control the dose, and I don't feel comfortable diving (I'm usually guiding or instructing) with how Dramamine makes me feel.
The oral scopolamine has made me feel better when I'm already sick.
It used to be available by prescription in the US, but big pharma has done away with that. It's available over the counter (and quite cheap) in the UK and Australia. Not sure about Canada or Europe.
Everyone with whom I share it has agreed- it's a miracle! If you get the chance, please try.
It comes in 3 microgram doses and I often take half or a quarter of the pill. It is chewable- I usually chew it a bit and put it under my tongue. I was introduced to it on a Mike Ball liveaboard in Australia and have never looked back- the patch doesn't control the dose, and I don't feel comfortable diving (I'm usually guiding or instructing) with how Dramamine makes me feel.
The oral scopolamine has made me feel better when I'm already sick.
It used to be available by prescription in the US, but big pharma has done away with that. It's available over the counter (and quite cheap) in the UK and Australia. Not sure about Canada or Europe.
Everyone with whom I share it has agreed- it's a miracle! If you get the chance, please try.
I checked into oral scopalomine when I got the patch. My doc said he was disinclined to write the script, and that it isn't manufactured so it would have to be compounded at a compounding pharmacy. He wanted me to try the patch first.
I was under the impression that a patch provided better dose control than a pill. Any MD's or PharmD's that could weigh in on that?
Shannon Markusen
Registered
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