Seasickness

[doctormike]

doctormike submitted a new resource:

Seasickness - If you are a boat diver, you likely have had this problem. Here is some advice on management.

About Seasickness

Seasickness - more generally known as motion sickness - has plagued seafaring people for thousands of years. We have detailed accounts of seasickness in Greek and Roman texts. Admiral Nelson even suffered from this malady! While he first went out to sea at a very young age, he was miserably sick on every one of his voyages. And if you start doing boat dives, you may find that you too have this (very manageable) problem.

The most common explanation for seasickness...

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[tursiops]

doctormike submitted a new resource:

Seasickness - If you are a boat diver, you likely have had this problem. Here is some advice on management.



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Excellent. Well-worth reading, if only for this quote:
"Dramamine Non Drowsy Naturals. This is Dramamine’s version of ginger. Also known as “non-effective Dramamine”. The advantage is that you will be brutally sick and fully awake."

 

[Sawdust82]

Thank you for that, ive never read such a well written piece about sea sickness. Obviously from the seasick point of view, and i can appreciate that. There are a few things in there that i will definitely try.

Im usually not too bad, but one time i was on a small, enclosed, high speed cat ferry in greece for a couple hours in fairly rough seas… puked till i broke blood vessels in my eyes. Soaked my clothes in sweat, i was a total write off for the rest of the day. Another time i was on the ferry to newfoundland just after they downgraded from a hurricane to a gale, sitting up front watching huge seas plow over the bow and hammer the window glass, and i was perfectly fine. Beats the hell out of me….

 

[doctormike]

Thank you for that, ive never read such a well written piece about sea sickness.

Thanks so much!

Im usually not too bad, but one time i was on a small, enclosed, high speed cat ferry in greece for a couple hours in fairly rough seas… puked till i broke blood vessels in my eyes. Soaked my clothes in sweat, i was a total write off for the rest of the day. Another time i was on the ferry to newfoundland just after they downgraded from a hurricane to a gale, sitting up front watching huge seas plow over the bow and hammer the window glass, and i was perfectly fine. Beats the hell out of me….

The most important sentence in medical school is "there's a bell curve for everything"

 

[nolatom]

That was really informative.

When occasionally teaching sailing, I have noticed a couple of things that seemed to help:

Change course and head towards home. It gives them hope.

Put queasy student at the helm, with a reference point on the horizon (rather than compass) to steer for. It gives them something constructive to do, and distracts them from how queasy they feel.

And a little ginger ale seemed to help some, though I don't know why. I happen to like ginger ale, so maybe I'm biased.

It wasn't unusual for such a student to recover before we got home, and be willing keep on sailing. Though I made it clear that we were willing to head in and drop them off at any time, just ask, and we can make docking and undocking part of the lesson.

 

[johndiver999]

Thank you for that, ive never read such a well written piece about sea sickness. Obviously from the seasick point of view, and i can appreciate that. There are a few things in there that i will definitely try.

Im usually not too bad, but one time i was on a small, enclosed, high speed cat ferry in greece for a couple hours in fairly rough seas… puked till i broke blood vessels in my eyes. Soaked my clothes in sweat, i was a total write off for the rest of the day. Another time i was on the ferry to newfoundland just after they downgraded from a hurricane to a gale, sitting up front watching huge seas plow over the bow and hammer the window glass, and i was perfectly fine. Beats the hell out of me….

This is really not surprising at all. As described in the article, the source of the problem is mixed signals from the eyes and the ears. If you are looking out at big seas and paying attention and seeing what is going on and actively "riding the waves" and moving your head and body to maintain stability, you probably will not get sick. Another reason why a car driver rarely gets sick, but it is the back seat passengers who suffer.

When you stop being "actively engaged with the motion", and/or you start looking down or are inside where you have no moving reference to look at (or at night on a boat - that can really suck), then getting sick is much more likely.

Only advice I can add is to carry antacids and when you seem to be done puking, try to drink some water and take a few roll aides to counteract all the excess acid you churned up and any protective mucus you threw to the wind.

 

[Sawdust82]

Yeah that makes sense, but it also seems to be kinda random for me. Riding backwards in the back seat of a fire truck, going fast over bumpy roads, is another one that gets me sometimes but not others. Small boats are hit and miss as well, and ive also been mildly sick on small boats, vomited a bit, and recovered completely ten minutes later. One thing i know is i cant look at my cell phone for more than about ten seconds usually ha ha

 

[BRT]

This is really not surprising at all. As described in the article, the source of the problem is mixed signals from the eyes and the ears. If you are looking out at big seas and paying attention and seeing what is going on and actively "riding the waves" and moving your head and body to maintain stability, you probably will not get sick. Another reason why a car driver rarely gets sick, but it is the back seat passengers who suffer.

When you stop being "actively engaged with the motion", and/or you start looking down or are inside where you have no moving reference to look at (or at night on a boat - that can really suck), then getting sick is much more likely.

Only advice I can add is to carry antacids and when you seem to be done puking, try to drink some water and take a few roll aides to counteract all the excess acid you churned up and any protective mucus you threw to the wind.

Doesn't work that way for everybody. Certainly doesn't for me. And when I get really sick the only relief I get is to lay down and close my eyes.

 

[johndiver999]

Yes I've seen several people be so miserable that they are laying on the deck with waves splashing them and they don't want to move. Closing the eyes stops the conflicting information from the eyes and the ears.

 

[DelmarSamil]

I would like to add my two cents in on this but not because of my experience in diving or having a degree, but as a gamer.(laugh all you want but hear me out)

A bit of context...

A few years ago, a new device was emerging that would be a game changer for the world. It promised not only a new gaming experience but a new way of learning and communicating with others. This device was called, the Oculus Rift. It was the first of true real time virtual reality at home.

Fast forward to right after I got mine and a few months later when I got the motion controls. There was a problem when you did certain movements where your sensory input did not match what your vestibular system (balance and weight distribution) was telling your brain. This, in the gaming community, was known as hurling because it was so strong in some people that they would literally vomit the moment they realized something was off.

The term "getting your VR legs" came about because if you pushed through it slowly and worked on it,just like aiming a virtual sword to hit a virtual enemy, it got better. The main source of sickness was strafing (moving left or right while facing forward). In gaming,this is necessary but in real life,you just don't move like that.

In other things,like a rollercoaster, you can feel your stomach drop even though you are sitting in a motionless chair, so VR was fully tricking the vestibular system, including your sense of gravity.

After I got my VR legs, I have never been seasick again, with one caveat, I have to have food in my stomach before. How did I get over the sickness? Ginger gum or a peppermint candy. I tried other gums and other candies,but ginger gum or peppermint candy worked to settle my stomach until I was able to push through it.

Now, when I know I am going to be on a boat or in a situation that I would normally have gotten queasy, I remember to "disconnect" and while I have not been through any scientific studies or specific tests, I know that I won't have that issue, at least for the situations I have been in this far.

I know it's all conjecture and circumstantial evidence, but I really do believe that we can train our brain to allow for mismatched inputs.