sea-sickness remedy?

[Just another Cinderella]

Puking is the only thing that works for me.
But I like the ice pack idea. Then I have something to vomit in.

 

[mts0628]

Puking is the only thing that works for me.
But I like the ice pack idea. Then I have something to vomit in.

Hey Spartakus:

As you see, there is no such thing as a fix all for everyone. Well, there is one idea and that is to abstain from boat trips but then again, we are talking about the fun stuff of scuba diving.

I will toss in my experiences with Bonine, Dramamine, & ginger. All work for me. I take the Bonine or Dramamine about three hours before departing the dock and all is well. If I took ginger, it would be in the form of either ginger snaps or ginger ale. Those worked for me tool. Of course, I didn't religiously take something before a trip. I listened to the coastal marine forecast because as a mate on a diving boat, I couldn't say I wasn't going out because I thought it sounded bad. That was the customer's and ultimately the Captain's call. If it's occasional 4 foot seas and a group wants to head out and the Captain could go either way, well I'm with the Captain. I did get sick one time because of it and despite my pre-planning, but to my later joy, the Captain admitted he didn't feel good either during the trip. The moral, my remedies will not protect all from no matter what sea sickness.

Another thing you might try is low dose Benadryl (diphenhydramine HCl) in 10 milligrams. Sure a side effect is drowsiness but at this low dose, it may not bother you any more that other commercially available remedies. This dose is approved for motion sickness but better to take it during a non-diving day just to see how you feel with it.

And rgiles mentioned a transdermal patch; I wonder if it's Scopolamine? That works for some, it's a small patch that is placed behind the ear and stays on for days. I used these when I was in the military during long flights before airborne operations. It worked good for flying but I never used them for boating. I thought they weren't available anymore. Hmph!

Experimentation is your best bet but unfortunately it may be at the expense of getting sick a few more times. Working on your sea legs will help a bit too. Good luck with your solutions and whatever you find that helps- stick with it!

With kind regards,
Thomas

 

[teddyg04]

Scubadude, I'd like to try the ginger pills, as a more natural remedy. Where can you get them?

 

[wrecker007]

After doing quite a lot of research on seasick meds, I finally decided that the best stuff for diving is a prescription drug called Scopace. It is the same medication that can be found in the patch but is in a pill form. This allows for better control of the delivery dose for you as opposed to guessing as to dosage delivered when it comes to the patch. You see the patch may deliver just the right dose for you but if your skin is a little thicker than others there is a variance in delivery dose. In addition to that, pressure plays a roll in delivery at depth as well. This means that it is possible to either underdose or overdose using the patch. With the pill, you can experiment at home before the trip to see how you react with it & then adjust your dose to suit your needs. Hope this helps. Mosts docs will prescribe this for you without any grief and the cost is not excessive compared to over the counter meds.

 

[Splash-X]

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.

Quease Ease has worked for me as long as you can spot the issue early. It helps to calm your nerves and the smell helps settle you but if you wait too long it wont help much.

We've let other divers on trips borrow our Quease Ease and it helped them as well.

On rough days I prefer Triptone but I hate the "drugged" feeling it gives you. If I were going on a live aboard I would defiantly go see a doctor and get the patch.

Anything over 3ft seas has me feeling queasy and if I'm not prepared with my Quease Easy it gets quickly out of hand. Triptone is great as long as you take well before you leave the dock.

Like others have said, take the pills the night before and again before you leave the dock.

 

[CamG]

Greetings Spartakus good question that can have many different answers as you have already surmised. Bonine works well for my wife and I. We also eat granola and bananas for breakfast with lots of water. We avoid typical breakfast foods eggs, bacon,sausage gravy, etc. I have had some not so good times on the boat after a normal breakfast. I always take a tablet before getting on the boat about 30 minutes before departure. I try to have my gear ready to go and check it before the boat gets under way. When we arrive at the site I get geared up and in the water ASAP! The longer you have to wait on the boat or surface the more opportunity to feel the effects.
Depending on your buddy sometimes I like to wait on the line at 6- 10 feet, if it is rough out. What ever you choose to do make sure to discuss it with your buddy and both of you are clear on what meds are taken and what the plans for entry are. It is better to enter the water together if possible.
Good luck and I am sure this a obstacle that can be overcome with a little preventative effort.
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[Neda]

but don't they cause drowsiness?

Like everything else it depends on the person. I usually don't get seasick, but I take the pills anyway, one chewable tablet, My husband takes two, since he's more susceptible.
He's never gotten drowsy from them, I tend to nod off about 10 minutes after taking it. But Tylenol or my morning sickness pills (no I'm not diving preggers!) usually knock me out too.

So, yeah, depends on the person, for me the drowsiness only lasts maybe half an hour or so which gives me plenty of time to be alert before the dive


We buy Kwells
Each tablet contains:

Hyoscine Hydrobromide 0.3mg


I tend to have frequent nausea on dryland (hence the morning sickness pill script) and can tell that the Kwells worked on one boat ride that was a little choppier than the others. I've tried ginger candies for my dryland nausea and didn't seem to have it help much, although barley sugar candies did...not sure they'd work for full blown cases of sea sickness.



The Ice bags on the back of the neck that got mentioned explains why when we took a cattle boat out to the GBR the crew kept putting wet towels on the back of the neck of people that got seasick.



Hope you find something that works for you! My brother in law just jumps in the water first chance he gets (I'm guessing the cold Cali waters do the same as the ice pack)

 

[Kevrumbo]

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 get 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. ("Put your head on a gimbal" is a great analogy as someone posted earlier). . .

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!

 

[Rescue8Diver]

Transdermal patch behind the ear and do it the night before the trip. Always worked for me. I am not even sure that I get sea sick but I use it as a precautionary measure.

 

[OceansBlue]

Scopace

You can get a prescription from your doctor. It's what most offshore fisherman will recommend for when Bonine & Dramamine aren't effective.

I've also heard about ginger as a natural remedy.

There is also the "Relief Band". This looks kind of like a watch, but it transmits a small electric current into your wrist which is supposed to help alleviate motion sickness. However, you can only use this topside. The one good feature about this product is that it's supposed to help alleviate motion sickness even after you have already become sick. I personally can't verify this since I haven't had to use it, but I do keep one in my bag if I'm going diving or offshore fishing.