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Best sea sick prevention


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Our regular cruise family is having a newbie come along with us on our next cruise. He tends to get sea sick but wants to give the cruise life a chance. Anyone have some good preventions for him to try so he can make sure the sickness won’t interfere with the vacation? Thanks for any and all advice :cool:

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Our regular cruise family is having a newbie come along with us on our next cruise. He tends to get sea sick but wants to give the cruise life a chance. Anyone have some good preventions for him to try so he can make sure the sickness won’t interfere with the vacation? Thanks for any and all advice :cool:

 

Best for your family member to seek professional medical advice.

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Sea Bands! I SWEAR by these. No medication involved, and you can put them on only when you need them and they work fast where as medication you either have to stay on it all the time, or you risk not getting it in your system fast enough for it to work before you become physically ill.

 

I am the kind of person that gets motion sickness in the back seat of a car, and I used to have to live on motion sickness meds till Hubby found these for me! I can cruise in the worst weather, rock around on small boats, take 12 hour long international flights and I don't get the least bit sick at all with them. Under $10 in just about any drug store or get on line.

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Our regular cruise family is having a newbie come along with us on our next cruise. He tends to get sea sick but wants to give the cruise life a chance. Anyone have some good preventions for him to try so he can make sure the sickness won’t interfere with the vacation? Thanks for any and all advice :cool:

 

I brought some ginger candy which helped a friend on her first cruise. I had a little queasiness on my last cruise, which was totally unexpected. I got some stuff at the gift shop, it totally did not work. I had some ginger ale and it fixed me up right away.

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Another vote for Bonine/Meclazine

 

 

Meclazine - My DW gets it at the pharmacy, I think it is a little stronger than over the counter. Anyway, We take it every 12 hours while we are at sea. Never get Seasick...or feel drowsy.

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Meclazine - My DW gets it at the pharmacy, I think it is a little stronger than over the counter. Anyway, We take it every 12 hours while we are at sea. Never get Seasick...or feel drowsy.

 

Mine is OTC, I order it on Amazon. I wonder how many MG the RX is? It's 25mg OTC.

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There is really no reason to get seasick unless the seas are rough due to weather. Calm seas don't make people seasick.

Ginger products are good tummy settlers...ginger ale, ginger tablets, ginger chews... all work very well.

Fresh air also helps, if someone does feel queasy. Going inside and laying down is the worst thing you can do.

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I brought some ginger candy which helped a friend on her first cruise. I had a little queasiness on my last cruise, which was totally unexpected. I got some stuff at the gift shop, it totally did not work. I had some ginger ale and it fixed me up right away.

 

Ginger, my recommendation too.

 

Doctor recommended, FYI.

 

Start drinking a little ginger ale every day a week before cruising, or ginger tea, whatever. Just make sure it's real ginger. Canada Dry contains real ginger, most of the other name brands don't. Check the labels.

 

I've also used prescription Meclazine for chronic vertigo, but it dries me out. I haven't used it in years.

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Sea Bands! I SWEAR by these. No medication involved, and you can put them on only when you need them and they work fast where as medication you either have to stay on it all the time, or you risk not getting it in your system fast enough for it to work before you become physically ill.

 

I am the kind of person that gets motion sickness in the back seat of a car, and I used to have to live on motion sickness meds till Hubby found these for me! I can cruise in the worst weather, rock around on small boats, take 12 hour long international flights and I don't get the least bit sick at all with them. Under $10 in just about any drug store or get on line.

 

I agree with the Sea Bands. I've been wearing them when I travel for years, and not had a problem. On cruises, I generally only need them the first night, because I find it to be a bit rocky leaving the port. I would perhaps be fine without them, but would rather not take a chance. On our last cruise, the last night, we must have been going through a storm because the ocean was rough! Lots of people missed dinner, threw up in the hallways, etc. I wore my Sea Bands that night and was fine.

 

I also often take ginger capsules when I travel too.

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Best for your family member to seek professional medical advice.

 

I forgot to endorse this too. I have small abnormalities in my vestibular chamber and right middle ear. Long story short, what I eventually found out was that any kind of sedative (e.g. Dramamine, Bronine) can increase the risk of vertigo. Stimulants (like caffeine) help; sedatives worsen.

 

Ginger has properties beyond immediately settling the stomach: Antioxidant, helps detoxify the G.I tract, can help regulate blood sugar, etc.

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Best remedy I’ve found is the prescription patch. Worst side effect is dry mouth but that’s much better than nausea.

 

You think that's the worst side effect? Here's a partial list (that doesn't include adverse interactions with other medications you might also be taking):

  • eye pain or redness, seeing halos around lights;
  • blurred vision and increased sensitivity to light;
  • confusion, agitation, extreme fear, hallucinations, unusual thoughts or behavior; or
  • urinating less than usual or not at all.

Less serious side effects may include:

  • drowsiness, dizziness;
  • dry mouth;
  • dry or itchy eyes;
  • feeling restless;
  • memory problems; or
  • mild itching or skin rash.

Most physicians will only prescribe the scopolamine patch as a last resort, if all other measures fail.

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... Less serious side effects may include:

 

 

 

  • drowsiness, dizziness;
  • dry mouth;
  • dry or itchy eyes;
  • feeling restless;
  • memory problems; or
  • mild itching or skin rash.

Most physicians will only prescribe the scopolamine patch as a last resort, if all other measures fail.

 

Scopolamine? Not at all familiar with that as a treatment for motion sickness. Does it work for anything besides "esophageal spasms"? (I just took quick peek at a wiki article, no idea, this is all a question.)

 

The following might only be meaningful for some people who are prone to motion sickness. It's a sum of what I've learned from several ENT specialists/clinics and one sports therapist (concussions/TBI, etc):

 

First a definition, again from wiki: "Motion sickness is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement." My emphasis. The "vestibular system" is part of the auditory system.

 

I will add (as the experts say) that the brain is the third part of maintaining balance -- as motion relates to balance, i.e., maintaining a sense of balance while you're in motion. (Edit to add: The brain processes signals from the eyes and from the vestibular system. So balance is a combination of vestibular, visual, and brain function.)

 

Thus, anything that suppresses the brain's alertness might actually contribute to motion sickness instead of preventing it. For some people at least, including me. I stopped taking motion sickness meds on the advice of the sports therapist, and it helped.

 

And therefore -- long story short -- this is why stimulants are better for me specifically than anything that suppresses (sedates) my brain activity. Any sort of mild or not-so-mild problem with the vestibular/auditory system, or visual system, or brain function -- and I don't mean to accuse anybody of being "brain damaged", I'm just saying ;) -- can lead to chronic or frequent motion sickness. This is why it might be important for some or many chronic motion-sickness sufferers to see a doctor. Or even better, an ENT specialist.

 

Congestion in sinus passages, which might also occur alongside congestion in the auditory canals (as it can for me), can also possibly affect the sense of balance.

 

For whatever it might be worth to anybody who reads this topic.

Edited by Moonarino
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Thanks, Moonarino, for the very detailed explanation. The part about congestion in the sinuses causing balance problems was very interesting, and may explain why, although I had not been seasick on previous cruises, was seasick on a cruise 9 years ago when I was in the recovering stages of a sinus infection.

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