sea-sickness remedy?

[Spartakus]

I have read that it's difficult to find someone admitting to he/she is prone to sea-sickness on land, but on a boat it's a different matter. I haven't been on a boat for 1 year, but still remember that I am prone. Any suggestions what to take? I heard Bonine and Dramamine, but don't they cause drowsiness? And ginger tea sounds like a weak remedy. What else?

 

[ligersandtions]

I get seasick too....the last couple times I've gone out, I've taken Bonine, but it's hard to say if it really helped or not as the ocean was pretty calm when I was out. However, what I did was took a Bonine the morning before I was going out, that night right before I went to bed, and then in the morning right before I left for the dive site.

I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to make me drowsy, so I took one on a non-crucial day to see how it affected me - I didn't feel drowsy or anything, so I was good to go. I've read that taking it the night before and then the morning of the dive helps, so I went one step further and took it the morning before as well.

I've also bought some ginger candy to chew on when I'm on the boat, but it's candy and makes my stomach feel bad (almost like being seasick), so I gave up on the ginger idea.

I'd be curious what others have to say....hopefully you find something that works for you!

 

[teddyg04]

Have pills such as Dramamine worked for you in the past? If so, you can get generic Bonine at Target (possibly other places) for much lower prices than namebrand. Just ask at the pharmacy, no prescription needed. I'm not usually prone, but take it anyway. On rare occasions, when I've felt a bit queasy, it works quickly and doesn't cause drowsiness.

I've seen wristbands advertised, but don't know how well they actually work. And lots of folks her on SB swear by ginger tea, so it must work as well.

Good luck.

 

[rgiles]

I hear you.... In my opinion the worst thing about any dive trip is the boat ride. Here is what works for me.

TRANSDERMAL PATCH!!! I have tried Bonine, Dramamine and Ginger. The biggest problem with those is that you have to keep it up every few hours, which I forget to do because, guess what, you are diving. The patch is available from you Dr. and one patch lasts for 3-days and you can use one after the other. There is one side effect that I don't like and that is DRY MOUTH big time. So drink water which doesn't help much but that is better than being seasick. I have converted several dive buddies from the pills. Make sure you put it on a couple hours before the boat leaves. I have waited until we were underway but it takes about 40 minutes to kick in and the anxiety sets in and you wonder - oh no is this it?? Take it early.

Also - I never believed it but crawl down in a bunk and get some sleep. The secret herr is - Get into your bunk and CLOSE YOUR EYES do everything by feel. I opened my eyes to change one time and that ended it for a couple hours. Closing my eyes and trying to rest even if you don't sleep is the best way to go. Take it from a guy who use to sit up in the galley all night long - seal your eyes shut and rest. You will feel much better and have a much better boat trip.

Rich

 

[Scubakevdm]

An age old remedy is at the onset of symptoms, to wrap your arms tightly around an oak tree.

There are two types of sea seasickness.

Type 1: "Oh my God, I'm gonna die."
Type 2: "Oh my God I'm not gonna die."

Really though, Bonine has a fairly good success rate, but everybody is different. You may also want to try Triptone, also an over the counter remedy. With either of these, it seems to help to take a dose the night before when you go to bed, and then again in the morning about an hour before the trip. For hard cases Scopalamine patches seem to work well, but you'll need a scrip. There's also a remedy that the sailboat racers seem to think is best, but I don't recall the name of it. Anyway, whatever it is called, I think it's not available in the US, you have to get a scrip in Canada or something and then bring it back.

If you can learn to gimbal your head with the rest of your body and allow the boat to move underneath you, you may become less prone, but this takes practice.

 

[vadnad]

I've never tried it but I've heard good things about Quease Ease. It's an inhaler that is suppose to act immediately with no side effects.

 

[DiverLS]

I don't use the meds. A long time ago I found out that it was protein that made me sick. That means the egg mcmuffin you picked up on the trip to the dive boat and the cream in your coffee.

Before I go out I only eat plain carbs. Dry toast, plain tea (sorry - don't like coffee ) or dry cereal. After the first dive I can eat anything.

And my diving is mostly in the Pacific Ocean. Never calm seas there.

Hope it helps.

 

[elan]

I have read that it's difficult to find someone admitting to he/she is prone to sea-sickness on land, but on a boat it's a different matter. I haven't been on a boat for 1 year, but still remember that I am prone. Any suggestions what to take? I heard Bonine and Dramamine, but don't they cause drowsiness? And ginger tea sounds like a weak remedy. What else?

Not a tea, but just ginger pills or just eating ginger from Japanese or Chinese restaurant at least one hour before the boarding, worked perfect for me and my wife many times. Before we figured that out Dramamine was putting us asleep

 

[lmorin]

I get seasick. Bonine works for me. Meclizine is the generic form of the same stuff. They are non-drowsy. Dramamine works too, but makes be very sleepy. Triptone has the same active ingredient (dimenhydrinate) as Dramamine.

For what it's worth, last winter I got caught on a dive boat without taking prophylactic medication. The dive boat was big and anchored 80 ft over a reef. But the swells were really big and rock and roll during the 45 min surface interval just about did me in. Then, just as I was turning a wonderful shade of green, a DM came along and said, "Try this on the back of your neck," handing me a ziplock bag of ice cubes. Amazing! The nausea disappeared virtually instantaneously. I was totally impressed. The nausea stayed away as long as the ice stayed on my neck. Needless to say, I am not exactly dying to try the method again, but maybe someone else will do so and report the results here.

There is a rationale that explains why neck ice might really work (as opposed to being a placebo effect) to curtail nausea. Sensory nerves in the neck provide information about head position to the vestibular and oculomotor systems. Nausea results from a neural mismatch between vestibular system activity and oculomotor system activity. Conceivably, the ice deadens neural sensation in the upper neck, reducing the level of mismatch.

 

[scubadude79]

I took a day cruise in Hawaii, and there was a woman on the trip that was very seasick (painting the side of the boat and all). The crew gave her 2 ginger tablets and told her that it would help her and it did. Before that, I had never heard of that remedy but it must have because she was fine in about 30 minutes.
I am not very prone to seasickness, but after that I always carry about 6 of those tablets in my first aid kit just in case.