The five stages of sea sickness

[SueMermaid]

I have done a lot of musing about this subject.
To me, barfing has become almost an art. I have the ability to carry on conversations with people and politely excuse myself to demurely vomit over the side, and continue the thought. It's not pleasant, but there is something easier about it when your body's reaction is a known. You know exactly what to expect, what will happen, and how you will feel afterward. The only exception to this is when I am stuck for 6 or 7 hours in 5 foot seas, as is often the case in NJ. Then I simply pass out and wake up only to puke.

It's all worth it if I get to dive though.

Edit: Unless some jerk, and there us usually one on every boat, insists that it's funny to shove their ham and cheese hoagie in your face and/or talk about greasy pork chops and burning flesh. I generally threaten (and mean it!) to throw their most expensive piece of gear overboard.

 

[cmalinowski]

The closest I have come (KOW) is after a night of heavy drinking and two hours of sleep. We went fishing and someone didn't drain and clean out the live well of this bloody water that was in it. Someone opened it up and the smell hit me. I didn't puke, but came darn close. Another time out of Hatteras, NC for a fishing trip on a 25' grady in 6'-10' seas. Couldn't turn the boat without really being scared. I was recovering from a 103-degree temp with cold symptoms. Didn't get sick, but fealt miserable.

I've been on boats with people that are sick and feel deeply for them... just thanking the good lord that it isn't me.

 

[Charlie99]

The closest I have come is after a night of heavy drinking and two hours of sleep.

I did that once; getting back to a 600' US Navy cruiser at about 6AM for an 8AM departure from Bremerhaven to Oslo fijord. I wasn't sked to stand watch during the short transit, so I had closed down the bars in Bremerhaven. A couple hours later I woke up still a bit drunk and everthing felt like it was moving around.

About the time I figured out that we really were rocking and rolling that bad, the phone rang. It was Captain wanting me to come up on the bridge to relieve the deck watch since the Officer-of-the-Deck and JOOD were puking their guts out. In spite of my protestations that I was still drunk I ended up relieving both. The Captain figured that one slightly drunk and seasick guy was better than two with their heads in a bucket. Driving a 11,000 ton ship is definitely my biggest driving-under-the-influence offense.

The North Sea is amazing when it gets nasty. Short period, sharp-faced waves that ripped off lifelines and bent both a bulkhead and dented a gunmount. It didn't help that we chose to go ahead and punch through the waves at 22kts. It's strange to be looking up to waves when you're on a bridge 36' above sea level. It's the only time we ever took green water over the bridge.

If you haven't been seasick, you just haven't been in big enough seas

 

[Ishie]

I have done a lot of musing about this subject.
To me, barfing has become almost an art. I have the ability to carry on conversations with people and politely excuse myself to demurely vomit over the side, and continue the thought.

Edit: Unless some jerk, and there us usually one on every boat, insists that it's funny to shove their ham and cheese hoagie in your face and/or talk about greasy pork chops and burning flesh. I generally threaten (and mean it!) to throw their most expensive piece of gear overboard.

Oh, screw that! Fortunately I haven't run into that jerk yet; just been lucky. I felt bad because on a lobster trip, I was the ONLY non-crew female and one of the only ones (it seemed) sick, and despite that, the twenty men on board just occasionally asked if I was all right and sometimes offered me some sort of dry carb (toast, bagel, pasta, etc). No jerks. I think I'd offer to vomit into their most expensive piece of gear.

 

[2TH DIVR]

Never been sea sick in 50 years and hope to make it another 50 after seeing what some people go through.

 

[kulot]

I love chocolate, but even thinking about it while seasick made things worse

of course maybe I should actually try eating it

I don't know about chocolate but candy helps particularly if it's menthol flavored. I'm not sure why but it really helps. I've only gotten to stage 4 once but I find that if I start popping menthol candies early enough, keep my eyes open (most people just close their eyes and curl up into a ball), and take slow deep breaths (just like in scuba) then I'll be fine. And as soon as I hit the water I'm cured.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I've been to Defcon 5 myself...got in the water pre-dive to keep from getting sick, got better, got out of water for dive briefing, got just as sick in seconds, jumped back in, hurled.

Now I use the Scop patch, and I'm fine even in pretty rough seas.

 

[paolov]

i got sea sick last weekend.

as soon as i started the descent i felt very queasy .....

then i realized, i just had a buffet lunch some 30 mins ago ......

i knew it , i shouldn't have been eating if i wanted to dive .....

 

[ranger]

I could be the poster child for seasick meds. The only thing that works consistently for me is the patch, even then I have to cut it in half or I overdose. I get the worst drymouth and even feel crappy, but I can dive, but when cutting it in half I'm fine. I've been to 5 numerous times and even tried the chocolate candy trick once. I had a fellow diver offer me her Snickers bar, as she swore it worked for her. That's when I discovered that Sergeant Major's really love Snicker soup. Even after all these years I still hold the record on The Dixie Diver for distance and volume. With my military background and the things I've consumed I find it strange that I get seasick. I've eaten wood grubs and green bananas and immediately flown on helicopters that you swore the pilots were trying to throw you out, just so they wouldn't have to land, and never got sick. Oh well, I guess I'll just chalk it up to age.

 

[JulesVerne]

For those who are prone to motion sickness, stage 1 denial doesn't exist. You know exactly what's happening and you almost want it to happen to be done faster. If anything, sometimes there's futile resistance & hope.

I get sick while the boat is still at the dock and have reached the "take me out now or I take everyone out and drive the boat back to the dock stage" a few times. I now have a 10-day supply of dramamine in my pelican box. I wish I could get it in IV. It does the trick for me if I take one before going to bed and one in the morning. Still, I am always first in the water and last out when there's some sea.

Once in France, i picked up an OTC drug called "mercalm" (calm sea). It's essentially caffeine + dramamine and worked even better (less sleepy, easier to rebound). I still have a few pills left and am saving them for a long crossing.