Sea Sickness Thread....Again

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

Isn't there a cure other than lying under an apple tree? Doesn't it exist?

Nope. If what you are looking for is the one, true cure that will work for anyone, anywhere, then it does not exist. Different things work for different people. For some people, nothing seems to work.

I would say that you might console yourself with the fact that Admiral Lord Nelson--generally considered the greatest naval officer in the history of the United Kingdom--suffered constantly and throughout his storied career from it. He's the one who is generally credited with saying that the only sure cure is two hours spent sitting under a tree. If he was able to manage, maybe you can too.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Nope. If what you are looking for is the one, true cure that will work for anyone, anywhere, then it does not exist. Different things work for different people. For some people, nothing seems to work.

I would say that you might console yourself with the fact that Admiral Lord Nelson--generally considered the greatest naval officer in the history of the United Kingdom--suffered constantly and throughout his storied career from it. He's the one who is generally credited with saying that the only sure cure is two hours spent sitting under a tree. If he was able to manage, maybe you can too.

I'll cushion that with *AFTER you have ruled out a physical cause." If you have a subtle inner ear problem, you might not even notice it on land, not enough to alarm you, but get on a boat ...

Been there, done that. I found this link and forgot the names of the two things I've had -- BPPV, (benign paroxysmal (sudden) positional vertigo), and inner ear infections. I think it was labyrinthitis, but I had no hearing loss.

Here's a link on bppv for you:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) - MayoClinic.com

These things can be dangerous. People can take awful falls on land. On the sea it could be quite worse. The last time the bppv surfaced for me (the "top shelf" dizziness) I left the boat for a couple of days for a motel, did the exercises and came home fine.

[captain58sailin]

Meclazine Hydrochloride and ginger, candied or pickled, or ginger chews, taste good too.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by Mary Flower

We carried this combination on our boat for fifteen years. It's called "The Navy Cocktail" or sometimes "The Coast Guard Cocktail".

I love this. Good luck getting your hands on Dex though. That is not an easy drug to get prescribed.

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

You haven't mentioned any methods you have tried to handle it. I know how incapacitating seasickness can be (thank goodness, not personally).

Okay so to answer your question I have tried, Bonine 24 hr, dramamine, dramamine 12 hr, stugeron, ginger, marijuana (don't judge its an antiemetic and I wasn't a captain at the time), the shocker bracelet (worked surprisingly well) and a low oil diet for 48 hrs before the passage.

Of the three meds I have taken stugeron worked the best but was still accompanied by some serious nausea at times. Bonine and Dramamine equaled the nausea in being debilitating. The low oil, no alcohol for 48 hrs diet really helps but I ended up pretty sick any way.

Originally Posted by MarkJ

If its gotten worse in the last 3 years there may be a medical problem with your ears. How is your HEARING? So a trip to an Ear Nose and Throat quack may be an idea.

My other idea, and this is serious although most think I am being stupid when I say it, seasickness is a middle ear problem and I got over it with alcohol. Go out to sea and get plastered! The idea is to make your brain think you are drunk, not seasick.

Mark

This is a fabulous idea. It comes naturally to me! I will make sure I am a passenger though. I am a tour manager/sound engineer by trade so I am often exposed to high SPL. It isn't the first time I have thought my nausea and my job might be tied together.

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

How long are you staying out?? Most people get adapted to the motion after 24-48 hours. I would suggest that you try a 4-5 day trip, and taper the Bonine off after 2 days. If you don't feel fine after 4 days at sea, you'd better give up your dreams of circumnavigating.

So far just single coastal over-nighters - 24 to 36 hrs. I've often thought of just biting the bullet and heading off shore but don't think its prudent to put the rest of the crew through hell if I become incapacitated. Thanks for all of your insightful feedback.

[donradcliffe]

I'd suggest you take a longer passage on another boat, where you are not the captain. If you get very nauseous, my wife suggests Zofran disintegrating tablets, which are the current weapon of choice in the recovery room. She used to use Phenergan suppositories, but they are a bit messy and knock you out for 6-8 hours.

[FSMike]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

---
If what you are looking for is the one, true cure that will work for anyone, anywhere, then it does not exist. Different things work for different people. For some people, nothing seems to work. ---

True. I knew a man who was retired navy, and had spent most of his time at sea aboard destroyers! He liked it, and never once in his entire career got seasick.
By comparison, he told me they once had to medevac a young sailor off the ship in the middle of the Atlantic because the medics could find nothing to alleviate his seasickness, and they were scared he was going to die.

[JPA Cate]

Unbusted 67:

I really like the idea of ruling out or treating a physical problem. Seasickness getting worse over time only happened to me when I took HRT, and returned to "normal" levels when I stopped, so perhaps there is a physical cause for yours getting worse.

To find what helps you is an experimental process, and you are the subject of the experiment. As mentioned above, everyone is a bit different: different bodies react differently to different types of motion. For instance, I tried the acupuncture bands at one point (I've tried most everything). They did keep me from throwing up, but I still felt horrible, extremely nauseous.

Ginger helped a little, not enough. Cutting to the chase, what works best for me, is Stugeron, manufactured in Belgium, which is cinnarizine HCl, and is available in England, Mexico, Vanuatu and Thailand, among other places. Hard to get in the US, or used to be. It works best for me if taken a few hours before leaving port, but I know some people who have to start taking it 24 hrs. before leaving, and one guy who starts taking it 3 days before. It isn't perfect for me, but it is by far and away the most effective, and usually I'll only need it later on during a passage if it gets jerky rough (which is the motion my body is most unhappy with), and again, I'll need it for only 3 days, if the gales last that long. YMMV

I have also tried the ear patches, which were originally developed for the astronauts. I did not like the side effects, but again, I didn't throw up using it, and was able to do chart work. I have had medium luck with Marezine (OTC), which is (I believe) meclizine HCl, dramamine makes me too sleepy. Did not much like the Phenergan/pseudephedrine combo, but it, too, helped some. I have had a tendency to motion sickness all my life.

I wish you good luck with your search, but do rule out a medical cause for the worsening of your seasickness first. There is hope! And, at least, when seasickness is over it's over--you remember that you were, but you don't re-experience it!

Ann

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Meclazine Hydrochloride and ginger, candied or pickled, or ginger chews, taste good too.

I tried ginger and those pressure bracelets too (for car sickness) but they never worked for me.

Now that I've been on the boat full time close to 3 years I don't get motion sickness in the car any more.

I still don't try to read, or read a map. Why tempt fate? But I have no problem with that sort of thing, even when the water is rough.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I'd suggest you take a longer passage on another boat, where you are not the captain. If you get very nauseous, my wife suggests Zofran disintegrating tablets, which are the current weapon of choice in the recovery room. She used to use Phenergan suppositories, but they are a bit messy and knock you out for 6-8 hours.

Yes, but before I took any long cruise I would have my doctor get me some in case someone did get severely seasick. It can lead to dehydration and even a worse medical situation.

[nautical62]

I've also had very good luck with the bulk chewable meclazine, including a recent 1 month trip from the Caribbean back to the U.S. I find it makes me fairly drowsy when I first take it and only occasionally very slightly drowsy after that.

[sabray]

Bonine works for my kid that sometimes gets sick.doesnt get drowsy when he takes it. He will ask before he gets real sick. I give him half a tab when asks for it. Then I monitor usually he is fine after 1/2 tab of bonine.

[captain58sailin]

Meclazine has never made me sleepy. A cold can of soda behind your ear can help temporarily. When I get woozy, my first option is horizon gazing with the wind in my face. It has been a few years since I got sea sick, but I sure remember how it feels. I find being cooler helps. Weed works too, so I hear. When I used to get seasick often, as soon as I started setting gear it was over, seems like when I wasn't busy is when it affected me the most.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Meclazine has never made me sleepy. A cold can of soda behind your ear can help temporarily. When I get woozy, my first option is horizon gazing with the wind in my face.It has been a few years since I got sea sick, but I sure remember how it feels. I find being cooler helps. Weed works too, so I hear. When I used to get seasick often, as soon as I started setting gear it was over, seems like when I wasn't busy is when it affected me the most.

Unbusted67:

It seems to me that Captain58sailin has hit on two "tricks" that work for me. Again, since the origin of seasickness usually is in the inner ears, whatever you do to reduce "sloshing" will help. I thought Rakuflames' exposition of the details of that phenomenon was quite elucidating.

There are a number of conditions in which balance may be affected, from Miniere's through neurological things, however, so getting a medical evaluation from a good ENT doc may turn out to be important for you.

Ann

Ann

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

[/B]

Unbusted67:

It seems to me that Captain58sailin has hit on two "tricks" that work for me. Again, since the origin of seasickness usually is in the inner ears, whatever you do to reduce "sloshing" will help. I thought Rakuflames' exposition of the details of that phenomenon was quite elucidating.

There are a number of conditions in which balance may be affected, from Miniere's through neurological things, however, so getting a medical evaluation from a good ENT doc may turn out to be important for you.

Ann

Ann

Unfortunately I had good reason to know all that stuff.

I have to avoid that tilting the head back, but ... last November I was invited to go sailing on a boat with a 63' mast. Couldn't turn that down!

So of course I tipped my head back to look at the mast ... dumb, dumb, dumb! That's what put me off the boat for a couple of days.

That's OK. the first time I had it, it was either wholly or partially incapacitating for three months.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

Unfortunately I had good reason to know all that stuff.

I have to avoid that tilting the head back, but ... last November I was invited to go sailing on a boat with a 63' mast. Couldn't turn that down!

So of course I tipped my head back to look at the mast ... dumb, dumb, dumb! That's what put me off the boat for a couple of days.

That's OK. the first time I had it, it was either wholly or partially incapacitating for three months.

Yup the thing that killed me this last trip was putting up a radar reflector as we were leaving Boston harbor. It was a wakey sloshy mess and I was looking straight up trying to get the godamned thing hoisted. Barf! I was done for the day pretty much. I had taken dramamine the night before but it actually prevented me from sleeping. I just kind of tossed and turned.