Gravol Ginger?

[Winnipeg Cruiser]

Hi.

 

We have been reading on these boards that ginger is a good natural motion sickness remedy, and since my family and I will soon be going on our first cruise and don't know what to expect, we want to be prepared. Tonight my DW came home with a product we've never seen before called "Gravol Ginger." The only active ingredient is Ginger Root.

 

Have any of you experienced cruisers ever tried this product?

 

Thank you.

[catmand]

Gravol: In addition, I can't stress enough how well drugs like Gravol or the U.S. version - Dramamine, work at averting motion sickness.

You know I had no idea what you were referring to so I looked it up. Seems Gravol is the Canadian version of Dramamine which my wife takes and it works fine for her. She takes a half dose every evening, the full dose making her a little sleepy.

I have taken powered ginger tablets a few times when I have had the "woozys" and it works for me, I take it with a ginger ale.

Now, Garvol Ginger? Guess it may be a mixture of the above?

[CanuckCFAN]

Hey Winnipeg,

 

I just posted this in response to a similar question on the Princess board... I hope this helps...

 

I asked about the patch and the Dr. warned me against it... Too many side effects, Shoppers DM has information pamphlets you can pick-up which will list them all for you.

 

I also asked specifically about the "Ginger Gravol" they are advertised to be non drowsy...

 

The Doctor HIGHLY recommended them, she herself vouched for the "non drowsy" claim, which was quite comforting...

 

HOWEVER...

 

She did tell me, I should NOT drink alcohol with ANY of the Gravol products... Especially the ginger tablets... Apparently it will wreck havoc on your stomach and will knock you out (kinda defeating its purpose)!

 

If your going to drink she recommended the "sea-bands"... Although, I tried sea bands last cruise and ended up tossing them out, didn't work worth a "hill of beans"... You can find "sea-bands" at your local CAA!

 

For the record, I had read somewhere that you can get Bonine here in Canada, however when I asked my Doctor about it, she didn't have a clue what I was talking about (neither did the pharmacist:rolleyes: )...

 

I am going to try a few "homeopathic" remedies this time (anything has to be better then the sea-bands) and I will take the Ginger Gravol just in case... Lets face it, if you have seasickness your NOT going to want to drink anyway!

 

Good luck in your quest!

CCFan

 

Bascially what I am saying here is "regular" Gravol is no good for me, it really knocks me out, even half the dose and I am out flat for 4 hours, not a great way to spend a cruise... The Ginger Gravol apparently does not have the same effect (according to my doctor), although mixing Gravol and alcohol does leave you with some bad side effects :( ...

 

I think in the US you can actually buy "ginger tablets"... Heck, for all I know you can buy these here, however GRAVOL GINGER is not the same as plain Ginger tablets... You can still have an adverse reaction to mixing the Gravol with Alcohol...

 

The reason I mention this is apparently I confused a whole lot of Americans when they thought I was saying ginger and alcohol can't mix :rolleyes:...

 

Have a great time on your first cruise, and let me know how the Gravol Ginger worked for you, our trip is still 3 months away:(...

 

CCFan

[Winnipeg Cruiser]

Thanks very much for the info. My DW and I are not the world's biggest drinkers anyway and with the DD and DS along we are likely to be even less inclined to drink to excess. But, we have no reason to think that we will have any motion sickness problems as none of us get carsick or airsick. We like the idea that we can take something after it happens, if it does, and other posts indicate that ginger works as a remedy and not just as preventative.

 

Gravol Ginger has no other medicinal ingredient, just 500 mg of ginger root. Why would that be different from a straight ginger tablet? I can't imagine. So, why would there be side effects? From the corn starch or filler?

 

Thank you for looking into this for me. I am still hoping that someone out there has actually tried the product and could let us know how it worked, but otherwise we'll just bring it along. (And imodium, peptol bismol, advil, tylenol, etc etc etc etc...it's like we're the keynote speakers at a pharmaceutical convention :p )

 

Thanks again for your help!

[glgolfer]

We use candied ginger that works fine for us. We've never been seasick in 23 cruisews, even in rough seas, but have been a little woozy at times. The ginger and/or Bonine works good for us.

Some cruise lines even put out candied ginger. Crystal did one night with high seas and the Queen Mary 2 had it in a dish by the door of the Princess Grill every night.