Sea Sickness Drugs ( Stugerone / Stunarone / Cinnarizine ) ... Use Caution

[Albro359]

Stugeron works and you can buy it from amazon uk

Who gives a **** what the FDA or TGA or whoever approves, they are just highly paid bureaucrats administering a corrupt and out of date approvals system that favours the major manufacturers

But pot heads ...hmm...well you're clouding your vision ....seems to me all the claimed medical benefits are just effete justifications for getting stoned !

[jostalli]

Originally Posted by Albro359

Stugeron works and you can buy it from amazon uk

Who gives a **** what the FDA or TGA or whoever approves, they are just highly paid bureaucrats administering a corrupt and out of date approvals system that favours the major manufacturers

But pot heads ...hmm...well you're clouding your vision ....seems to me all the claimed medical benefits are just effete justifications for getting stoned !

I agree with all of the above.

[goboatingnow]

But pot heads ...hmm...well you're clouding your vision ....seems to me all the claimed medical benefits are just effete justifications for getting stoned !

given the widespread use of many opiates in pain relief , this is rather an amusing view.

Dave

[Bill_E]

A few comments from my experience. I usually don't suffer badly but have occasional bouts. I've also found people who claim to have never had problems with seasickness get seasick under some conditions. The important thing is to take the drug before you start throwing up. There are also suppositories that can be used for when you can't keep anything down.

I've used marezine (25 mg) after I start to feel just a little woozy and it works for me. It also doesn't seem to have much of a sedative affect. DeepFrz is right it's andticholergenic and antihistamine. Though his spelling is not the most common one (marazine vs marezine). Here's a link to a space med article comparing it to dramamine. Comparison of marezine and dramamine... [Aviat Space Environ Med. 1997] - PubMed - NCBI The article claims that it's available over the counter. I didn't know that, my bottle was given to me by a good amigo.

I've also use scopolamine patches and really like them. The problem is that they are only available by prescription and are a little expensive. If I recall, I paid $20 (copay??) for three of them. But I noticed almost no side effects and it is sure easy to stick that patch behind your ear and go.

We keep ginger ale around and it seems to help with very mild seasickness. I've also got one of those electric, shocking wrist bands and it works for mild seasickness as well. It's time to replace my battery! But you really need the conducting gel to get good skin contact.

I've also known several people who used weed, smoked and eaten, for nausea and it seemed to work well for them.

I really appreciated Andrewsc's (post23) discussion. It clarified a lot for me. Testing the effects before going out seems like a good idea because the variations from person to person seem significant. Also, don't mix them!! These drugs all affect the central nervous system and combining them could have unpleasant effects.

Just my $0.02
Bill

[goboatingnow]

Also, don't mix them!! These drugs all affect the central nervous system and combining them could have unpleasant effects.

Thats good advice, several years ago , i was using Stugureon ( I always take one the first 24 hours of a passage when not sailing regularly), I noticed someone using scolapmine (sic) patches and I asked to try one. My balance went straight out the window, I could hardly walk around the deck
Dave

[Teknav]

It works for many sailors that if you reduce you fatty food intake, you will less likely to suffer motion sickness; no doughnuts, butter-soaked stuff, fatty meats for a couple of days prior to sailing. Give it a try! I become vegetarian when sailing; I have yet to suffer any motion sickness. (It could be psychological, but it works!) Mauritz

[rover88]

My doctor related a humorous story of his receptionist, who was going to Hawaii on a cruise ship and dreaded seasickness. He gave her scopalamine patches and told her to follow the instructions. What he did not tell her was that scopalamine in higher doses has several side effects such as constricting the pupils and loss of short term memory.

Once on board the woman figured that if one patch was good, two would be better so she stuck a patch behind each ear.

When she returned Dr. B asked how her vacation went. She replied that that the patches worked great, but she honestly couldn't remember much of the trip - other that Hawaii was awfully dark.

[hellosailor]

NASA have probably done the most definitive work on motion sickness since their entire mission is "motion" and pretty much all the astronauts have had problems with motion sickness. Their bottom line is that something works for almost everyone--but nothing works for everyone. You need to try different meds because each person reacts a bit differently to each med.

And having tried them all, I'd agree that wristbands work, somewhat. Ginger works, somewhat. Neither is really heavy-duty but heavy duty meds all have side effects. Anything you can buy OTC will probably make you drowsy. Strugeron did nothing for me, nothing at all. And Scopalomine...what can I say, the list of contraindications is long and serious and we joke that it may turn me into a psychotic axe-murderer but that's still better than being truly seasick.

Seems like everyone has skipped one VERY effective item though, that's the electric relief band. It acts on the same accupressure point on the wrist but passes an electric current. On full power, it feels something like a damned annoying rat chewing at your wrist. Not painful, just damned annoying. But I find it works almost as well as scop IF you have it positioned exactly right, and you need to check that position as it wiggles around. These are FDA approved for use against morning sickness and considered very effective for that. And if you don't like it or don't need it--you just take it off. No drugs to build up or wear off.

Scop is also available under the brand name "Scopace" as TABLETS. If you are taking scop, your doctor probably doesn't know these exist, but they allow you to take a tablet and then keep taking it if the problem continues, or stop taking it without needing to throw away a 3-day dose. They can be absorbed sublingually (under the tongue) in case you are already sick when you start.

I don't recall [no pun intended] scop ever constricting my pupils, usually it dilates them and makes the sunlight too bright and harsh unless I'm wearing dark glasses. It is also known to create higher pressure in the eye and glaucoma sufferers probably should stay away from it entirely.

[nhschneider]

My family and I are prone to seasickness, especially after a long period at anchor or calm weather. For many years we successfully took Stugeron and we know that it eliminated many periods of discomfort. However, we have switched now to Zofran, the generic form is called Ondansetron, and it is even more effective with even less side effects. Contrary to what Andrewsc says, it works remarkably well for us to control motion sickness. At one time it was expensive - around US$10.00 per dose - but now its available in the US markets for a tenth of that.

I have almost zero medical training but it seems to me that different drugs affect people differently and I have seen highly-trained medical professionals suggest one medication and when the results weren't achieved, suggest a different one. I think that the sufferer of seasickness needs to find what works best for her or him.

By the way, a drug-free method of curing seasickness is to lie down on flat, dry ground!

[rover88]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

I don't recall [no pun intended] scop ever constricting my pupils, usually it dilates them and makes the sunlight too bright and harsh unless I'm wearing dark glasses. It is also known to create higher pressure in the eye and glaucoma sufferers probably should stay away from it entirely.

Hmmm, maybe I got the story backwards and Hawaii was really bright. Anyway, I can't blame scopalomine for my memory loss. Old age is doing that for me just fine.

What were we talking about again?

[zboss]

If I am barfing my brains out I am going to use whatever method is available to feel better and return to duty. Especially if the drug is approved by any first world country for over the counter use.

I have heard that this drug is used extensively by the Royal Navy as the primary treatment for seasickness. This is a huge sample population. If the risk was significant and the drug was dangerous then it would have been removed from the market.

[Jim Cate]

A cautionary story:

Many years ago I was involved in single hand ocean racing out of San Francisco bay. I'm not terribly susceptible to M de M, but had found that a dose of Marazine before the start would guarantee a good race. At the start of a race to Drakes Bay, we encountered rough conditions crossing the Potato Patch shoal outside the Gate and I began to feel a bit off color. Without thinking, I took another Marazine. Within about 15 minutes I was struggling to stay awake. The struggle became a loosing battle and I was nodding off in the cockpit. Scared the hell out of me. Dropped out of the race and turned around, fear battling narcolepsy with the latter winning too often. By the time I'd passed under the Bridge and started the leg back to the Emeryville marina I just couldn't stay awake, so I got behind Angel Island, dropped my silly little racer's anchor and passed out for six hours. I'm sure that there had been periods where there was no watchkeeping going on, and I was lucky to avoid a tragic outcome.

I subsequently tried the Scopalamine patches which worked very well, but I developed a reaction to the stickum on the patch itself and had to stop that usage *. When we took off cruising I had developed more resistance to M de M, but still had troubles the first few days at sea if conditions were rough. Then in Mexico I found Stugeron! A small dose taken just before departure has worked for the past 25 years, and I love the stuff. No noticeable side effects for me (or Ann). When we arrive in a country where it is available we stock up and no entry inspection has ever tried to take it off us, even in countries where it isn't approved. Incidentally, In both NZed and Oz it isn't sold, but I've been told by naval officers from both countries that it is used on board their ships. Go figger!

* Interesting side effects for me: extremely lurid dreams when off watch and asleep, and Ann says that I talked a lot during those dreams. Considering the subject matter of some of them, I hope that I didn't "tell it all"!

Cheers,

Jim