Seasick vs. food poisoning?

[racegirl35]

I'm not sure where to post this so I will give it a shot here. I got sick on our last cruise and after reading I still can't figure out if it was truely mostion sickness or I had food poisoning.

 

We went on our first cruise last year and I never had any issues with feeling motion sickness, although we had smooth sailing the entire cruise. A few months ago we went on our second cruise, the first night we had dinner where I ate fish(tilapia to be exact). While at dinner the boat did start to rock a bit. Fast forward about 10-15 minutes after dinner, I became hot and almost flushed feeling and nausea set in. We sat on the deck for awhile, no relief so i decided to turn in for the night. Woke up feeling better so I had a bit of breakfast and we went to the lido deck. Was only out for about 30 minutes and I start feeling extremely nauseous again and weak. I made it maybe an hour and had to go back to the bed. Laying down is the only place I felt halfway decent. At this point I had already tried motion eaze multiple times so I decided to try dramamine. A couple of those actually. Gave it some time and absolutely no relief from feeling nauseous. My husband ended up finding some seabands and I put those on and slept for about 2 hours. Woke up feeling better but not great. Showered to get ready for dinner and ate a small bite of something and ended up throwing that up. Almost immediate relief after throwing up. We went to dinner and a show that night and I did fine. Still didnt feel great until the next morning but the nausea was gone. I was fine the entire rest of the cruise. I also wore the seabands the rest of the time. I was too scared to take them off.

 

I have researched both food poisoning and motion sickness and the symptoms are so similiar. I feel I had food poisoning moreso than motion sickness as it set in immediately after eating, dramamine or motion eaze didnt work and I felt so much better just laying down. But the boat was so rocky the entire cruise also. So I guess my question is for those who are familiar with motion sickness. Is this what it sounds like? We are cruising again in December and I want to be prepared if it was motion sickness.

[buchananglasgow]

If it had been food poisoning you would have been throwing up for a good 24 hrs at least plus have the runs too. It sounds more like motion sickness to me and the tablets don't always work if you are feeling sick already, you need to take them before feeling ill.

[cb at sea]

Sounds like sea sickness..usually, once you throw up, you'll feel better.

[LHT28]

I agree I have had food poisoning & NORO & you are not going to be far from the w/c in either case

Probably seasickness... it does take time for the pills to work once you are feeling ill

[SadieN]

Once you start feeling seasick the pills won't help for a while.

Trick is to keep your stomach full-- green apples, crackers, raisins, clear soda, ginger ale, other ginger flavored things (gum, candies, candied). Go outside into the fresh air, look at the horizon.

 

Usually takes longer than 15 minutes to get food poisoning symptoms.

[perditax]

When you have real food poisoning / food borne illness you know it.

 

 

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[ATC cruiser]

Food poisoning usually takes longer to hit you also

 

 

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[mjkacmom]

Food poisoning is way sicker than that!

[sanger727]

Agree. I have significant issues with motion sickness and your symptoms sound similar to that. For me at least - once motion sickness sets in - I'm done. Pills and remedies are much much better as a preventative than a treatment. Once the symptoms start I go to bed and wait for it to pass. I think it's a good thing you wore the seabands the remainder of the cruise - by treating it before you feel sick it's much more likely to work.

 

 

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[jennybenny]

Sounds like you might be a good candidate for the patch. As others have mentioned, you need to take sea sickness meds before you get sea sick. Plus, some meds say take 1-2 per day. You may require 2 per day. Also I’ve heard some people start to take seasick pills a day or so before the cruise

Good luck on your next cruise

 

 

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[CHEZMARYLOU]

If it was food poisoning a lot of other cruisers would have had the same symptoms. My DH had motion sickness once in 17 cruises and it was during calm seas. He was also convinced it was food poisoning but I eventually talked him into taking sea sickness meds and he was fine. We always make sure to get some from guest relations just in case.

[dsrdsrdsr]

If it had been food poisoning you would have been throwing up for a good 24 hrs at least plus have the runs too. It sounds more like motion sickness to me and the tablets don't always work if you are feeling sick already, you need to take them before feeling ill.

This isn't actually true. It's a common myth that you can't get mild food poisoning, but it certainly isn't true. If you have a couple of bites of a dodgy chicken sandwich, it's certainly possible to get a mild dose of food poisoning - there's every chance that you'll suffer less than someone who eats the whole chicken. Or two people might eat the same affected food, and one is properly ill, the other just a bit dicky.

[NLH Arizona]

With seasickness you feel better when you lay down, with food poisoning you don't.

[payitforward]

Sounds like motion sickness to me. If it had been food poisoning, I would expect more vomiting and also diarrhea. I take Meclizine aka Bonine, and start before I get on the ship. This has solved all seasick problems I used to have.

[Capt_BJ]

sea sickness is reaction to vertigo caused by over stimulation of the balance 'circuits' of the inner ear.

 

how much is OVER is something that varies from person to person and even in one person can change over time. It can also vary by the type of motion. I can say from experience that I have one tolerance level for rolling (ship goes side to side), and another for pitching (bow goes up and down)

 

I know of two ways to overcome

 

- drugs ..... these tend to dull the balance receptors of the ear. These affect people differently and should be taken with caution (I recommend a dry run at home b4 your cruise ... see how they affect YOU) They must be taken B4 vertigo/sea sickness sets in. When I was a USCG Cutter Captain we told those who needed the drugs to start taking them 48 hours b4 we got underway.

 

- distraction - the mind is an amazing thing and if you can stop the mind from focusing on the motion screwing with your balance you CAN give your system time to adjust. When I was young in the USCG the answer was WORK ... as a cadet I found asking to go up in the rigging of EAGLE was a sure cure. Being too busy hanging on for dear life was a sure cure for sea sickness. This can also be accomplished with a placebo (ginger, sour apple or other misdirection), acupressure (sea bands) or a variety of other methods which I am NOT diss'ing ... some work for some and not for others.

 

Once you've been hit, sometimes an emptying of the stomach helps but there is a flip side ... while in the 'toss it stage' an empty stomach is worse ...... hence the 'eat some crackers' suggestions often received ....

 

For MOST, sleeping gives the body time to adjust to the motion (stimulation of the ear parts) and they 'get over it' .... 8 hours of sleep and most could wake and function ... but not always.

 

A few we just kept drugged until we could get them to the only 100% solution ... LAND ... and their medical record was marked, not qualified for sea duty.

[SRF]

10 - 15 minutes after the meal it typically too soon for food borne issues. And they are typically over after 12 - 24 hours.

 

Not all food borne issues will cause problems at both ends. Some are only nausea and vomiting and some are only diarrhea. And some are both.

 

If you use the patch, take if off when you are in port, the reapply just before departure. If you wear it continuously for a long time, you can get side effects.

 

Ginger is good for motion sickness. I also find crackers and citrus (lemonade) works well for me. I don't get motion sickness from ships, but have had issues when flying aerobatics on an infrequent basis, for the first flight or two.

[geoherb]

As others have said, food poisoning takes longer than 15 minutes for symptoms to appear. But it could have been something you acquired earlier. Ships are notorious for having norovirus, but there are food-borne illnesses you could have picked up at lunch or earlier.

[GUT2407]

As others have said it sounds more like seasickness, Mrs Gut suffers a bit so starts her treatment before we even board.

[racegirl35]

I'm sure it most likely was sea sickness. But from what I have read, symtpoms from some types of food poisoning from fish actually come on pretty fast, within 15-20 minutes of consuming. I also thought it was odd that laying down made me feel better, as I had always heard that seasickness was made worse by laying down and the fact that I immediately felt better after throwing up the next day and then was fine the rest of the trip!

[Keith1010]

I am not sure if any of us will ever know for sure what you had.

 

I think in hindsight a visit to the medical center might have confirmed what you had.

 

Keith

[Cruisercl]

This isn't actually true. It's a common myth that you can't get mild food poisoning, but it certainly isn't true. If you have a couple of bites of a dodgy chicken sandwich, it's certainly possible to get a mild dose of food poisoning - there's every chance that you'll suffer less than someone who eats the whole chicken. Or two people might eat the same affected food, and one is properly ill, the other just a bit dicky.

 

Hmmmm....food poisoning is a bacterial infection/problem; once you ingest these very toxic bacteria, no matter what the amount is, there is a toxic reaction. The suffering less concept is suspect because of the toxic effect of those bacteria.

 

Can you tell me what research the 'myth' is based on; it seems anecdotal? Also, never have heard/read this before.

[Clarea]

I'd put my money on seasickness.

[sanger727]

I'm sure it most likely was sea sickness. But from what I have read, symtpoms from some types of food poisoning from fish actually come on pretty fast, within 15-20 minutes of consuming. I also thought it was odd that laying down made me feel better, as I had always heard that seasickness was made worse by laying down and the fact that I immediately felt better after throwing up the next day and then was fine the rest of the trip!

 

 

 

I've heard that about fish also. But lying down def helps motion sickness for me. And I suspect the relief you had the rest of the trip was from wearing the sea bands. It's going to sound odd, but the fullness of your stomach also affects seasickness. For me, I feel much better in a full stomach, but as others have stated, for some an empty stomach may be better. Which could relate better to why you felt better after throwing up.

 

I've had food issues where I was mildly sick afterwards, but that never lasted longer than the rest of that day. And I've had it where I was throwing up for 24 hours straight. The fact that you felt mildly sick for 2 days also makes the seasickness a more likely culprit.

 

 

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[racegirl35]

I am not sure if any of us will ever know for sure what you had.

 

I think in hindsight a visit to the medical center might have confirmed what you had.

 

Keith

You are right! We won't. I was just curious to see if anyone else had a similiar experience. I definetely think I will just be taking those sea bands along with me next time, just in case! 😉

[Keith1010]

You are right! We won't. I was just curious to see if anyone else had a similiar experience. I definetely think I will just be taking those sea bands along with me next time, just in case! 😉

 

Let me make one suggestion.

 

The sea bands work for about 50% of the people. The manufacturer says that.

 

Since you were very nautilus I would have additional backup plans. On your next visit to the physician I would actually explain what happened just to see what the physician says (more on that in a moment) and also I would discuss other items that can prevent getting nautilus if this was sea sickness. There is a wide range of items and I would highly recommend taking one or a couple of them with you in addition to sea sickness.

 

The reason I mentioned consulting with your physician is they might know better what the cause was. One time one day before boarding a ship I had cooked fish in a restaurant I had a terrible reaction to it within 15 minutes. Different from yours though. Within 15 minutes my heart was beating fast, pulse so fast that I could hear the beat in my ears, whites of my eye turned totally red as did most of my body. We ate at our hotel in South America. Anyway the hotel had a doctor come to our room and gave me a prescription for something. The thought was an allergic reaction. The good news was that within a few hours I was much better. I suspect if I posted this on CC that most people would say food poisoning with some having had symptoms like this. When we arrived home I had an appointment with my physician and asked about this and was told that was not the case and it was explained to me that the fish I ate had ingested a fish that was toxin. Sure enough I looked up this in CDC yellow book and it spoke about that.

 

https://www.amazon.com/CDC-Yellow-Book-2018-International/dp/0190628618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506845196&sr=8-1&keywords=cdc+yellow+book

 

In the end glad you got better and even with the input you received you may not know for sure the cause.

 

But coming prepared for sea sickness is always a great idea. I have been on over 100 cruises and only got sea sick once and it was not a fun day. I do well in a range of seas but that was an eye opener so we bring remedies with us and while I don't use them very frequently when I have it has prevented a repeat.

 

Good luck with all of this.

 

Keith