Seasickness Prevention Question

[Froufie]

[So I have been reading about the different "options" to avoid seasickness - not that I anticipate this - but dh as a virgin cruiser is a bit uptight (his latest ride on a catamaran made him lose his breakfast and he does not do well on small planes).

 

I have acquired all the necessary things: bonine, ginger root pills and seabands.....and I know that eveyrone says to take preventative precautions before you are sick, so my questions are:

 

1) how do you know you are going to be sick (unless you are psychic? :D )

 

or

 

2) do you just presume you might be sick and start taking something?

 

so

 

2a) do you start w/least innocuous (such as seabands) - now if they don't work you're starting to fee1 bad right? (back to quest 1 - have you now missed your prevention "window of opportunity"? :confused: )

 

2b) maybe one should take the ginger pills as a "preventative" starting on travel morning?

 

2c) or just bite the bullet and start taking the bonine...just in case? (prefer to take before bedtime)

 

We would prefer not taking medications unless necessary, but sounds like "when necessary" may be too late.

 

Would like to hear from others and how they managed this!

 

Thanks :cool:

[stoneharborlady]

For my recent first cruise we started the day before, took the ginger capsules in the morning, and the bonine at bedtime. Worked beautifully. Of course I may have been fine without them, but who wants to take a chance. Only felt uncomfortable once, in the theater, very front of ship, and it was just a bit choppy. I agree with you, when necessary would be too late.

[LARGIN]

If you are concerned about meds, you can wait until you get seasick.. A quick trip to the medical center for a shot will usually cure the problem almost instantly.. But at a fairly high charge..

 

Myself, I ensure my wife takes the generic bonine (Meclizine.. $5 for 100 @ Costco) . I do because once she got seasick in our swimming pool once and used to get sick at least one night on each of our earlier cruises. Since she started taking Meclizine in 1993, she has had no seasick problems..

[bostongal]

As someone who gets motion sick in cars, planes, amusement park rides I figured it was a pretty sure bet that I would be seasick as well. I begin bonine a few days before hand - 1 in the a.m., 1 at bedtime. When I board the boat I add the seaband. I haven't been seasick since I started using this method. My first cruise I wore the patch and that made me so ill that this is my preferred method.

 

Meg

[TexEm]

I used ginger root to prevent my "landlegs" (severe dizziness after the cruise for 3-5 days) on the CP 2 weeks ago, it worked really well, no "landlegs." (hard to get back to work right after a cruise when you can't walk straight!) I did also use one 25 mg bonine the morning of our deepseafishing trip in Cozumel, and had a great time (storms over Coz that day), ate and drank the entire 6 hours while some of the others were sick. Since I never take that kind of drug, it made me very sleepy--but not until about 3 or 4 p.m. or so, had to miss afternoon tea. The seabands didn't work for me previously, and I got some patches but never used them after reading and hearing about the side effects.

 

Be sure to try anything before the cruise--not to know if it works for seasickness (how can you tell?) but to know if you have side effects you don't want to have. (seabands excluded)

[seastar2]

I used ginger on my last trip..took a couple in the AM and PM..no problem. I also used the Bonine before our StingRay trip since it was a very windyday. I have used the patches but don't like the idea of the drugs in my system for the extended lenght of time but they worked well for our transatlantic crossing.

 

Boninie and a drink..works great for very long flights...I slept for 5 hours coming back from Germany!

[LARGIN]

I guess my system is use to the meds. Alcohol and Meclizine does not make make sleepy..

[sue d. miller]

I swear by bonine. Non drowsey. About $3 in wally.

[tom-n-jules]

DW can't ride in rear carseats and is an iffy flyer, but Bonine has worked great for her. Only problem was on a small-ish shorex boat on VERY rough Cayman waters near Stingray City, she lost it. Very clean head onboard, she reported though!

[MVPinBoynton]

We bought relief bands, the ones that look like watches that send an electrical implust to your wrist. In addition to motion sickness these devices are also recommended for morning sickness and chemotherapy patients. I have had them for over a year and taken 3 cruises since I got them, but haven't needed them yet. Other people swear by them and one of my pregnant employees borrowed mine for a few months and loved it. I have a feeling we will need them on the Tahitian Princess in February. The real benefit, from what I understand, is that you don't use it till you get sick and it works quite fast. They carry them at drugstore.com

[KimmyinLA]

I just read an article in the LA Times about motion sickness and it mentioned all the above things but here are some interesting tidbits that stood out for me:

 

* In research, people who *anticipate* motion sickness fare better than those who don't.

 

* Some other research concluded that listening to music via headphones had better results than dramamine/bonine, ginger, sea bands.

 

Btw, fwiw, my dh was totally afraid of this too since it was his first cruise last year but the ships are just so massive and completely unlike a catamaran trip that he didn't have any problems. He did say he felt the motion but not in a way that made him sick. He tried taking bonine for the first 2 days but it kept making him really drowsy -- so if you go that route -- you might want to look for the non drowsy stuff. Have a good time!

[cindersue]

My sister can't even handle a swingset much less a merry go round!!! She swears by Bonine which is the same as "less drowsy Dramamine". She gets sick on planes too .

She takes Bonine the night BEFORE we fly and takes a pill every evening during the cruise.That way she isn't drowsy from the pills. If there's no motion on the ship she doesn't take the pill.If there's rough seas I take one too.

If you wait til you start to feel sick the medications are MUCH LESS EFFECTIVE!

I bought a Relief Band..the electric stimulator for $65 on crewpass.com for our 10 day cruise. It's supposed to stop nausea when you start to feel it...Unlike the pills that don't stop it well once you are already sick!

You'll know you're getting sick...nausea as soon a you feel movement...(but by then the medication won't be useful)

more saliva...then persistant nausea and sometimes vomiting...In my opinion being a bit drowsy (from a pill the nite before) beats nausea and vomiting any time!!!

Good luck Cindy

[tom-n-jules]

I bought a Relief Band..the electric stimulator for $65 on crewpass.com for our 10 day cruise.

??? Aren't they just elastic bands that cost $5 or $10???

 

Tried to search on that website but it's either down or not there...

[MVPinBoynton]

Tom-n-jules,

 

What you are describing it the seaband. They are nothing like it except that they go on your wrist. Here is a link to them so you can see and read about them. http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=68264&catid=281&trx=PLST-0-SRCH&trxp1=281&trxp2=68264&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-SRCH

 

Good luck

[jlsdunn]

Thank you all so much for these tips. I have SEVERE motion sickness. Looking at a moving roller coaster can make me throw up. Floating on a pool float will make me sick. So........

 

I got the scapolamine patches, but have never used them before. I'm not sure if I should use them or the Boninie. Guess I'll do some research on the two and then decide.

 

JenD

[KAJOKG]

I use the ginger capsules. Start taking them the morning I leave home. I guess I'm unusual, but Bonine makes me sleep the entire first day of the cruise. Fortunately, neither of us is too prone to seasickness, so the ginger seems to work well for us. I also use them at home for an upset stomach. They do work.

[tom-n-jules]

Jen, as previous posters said, try the patches out "on land" long before your cruise. Actually, try to float on a pool float if you can, too! :D

 

MV, thanks for the link! Do you use these as preventatives, or only if you start feeling sick? If the latter, do you use any preventative first?

[irislady]

My first cruise was a family reunion cruise 2 years ago. I was really worried about seasickness since I'm prone to motion sickness because of an inner ear disorder. Our first 2 nights the seas were really rough, and I kept trying to brace myself against the movement. My brother-in-law, who had been a chef on Carnival many years before, told me not to fight the movement but to relax and let myself move with it. He was right. Once I stopped fighting the sensation it really didn't bother me.

 

I also discovered that the sensation of movement was lessened at night by putting a night light on in the bathroom and closing the bathroom door. Having that steady source of light from under the door to focus on before falling asleep really helped. (And if you wake up in the middle of the night you don't feel so disoriented.)

 

Also, while eating meals in the dining room my daughter-in-law and I found we didn't notice the motion as much even during the rough patches when our chairs faced the front of the ship.

 

Now I put on Seabands before I leave for the airport and find that I don't have to worry about airsickness or seasickness... and I still pack the nightlight. (and Bonine... just in case)

 

Hope this helps.

Shae

[PeabodyNVL]

On my first cruise, I was worried about possible seasickness. I bought wristbands and Bonine. The wristbands I put on before boarding, like they recommend. I didn't even experience a twinge of seasickness and after two days, I removed them. For my subsequent cruises, it hasn't been an issue.

 

I would still bring Bonine in case of extremely rough seas. Even the most stout stomach probably will experience some seasickness during rough seas!

[lindnet]

I get carsick even when I'm driving, so I was sure I would get seasick and worried about it constantly before my first cruise. I don't react well to most medications, so I really wanted to go the most natural route. I wore the acupressure seaband and took ginger starting the night before. By the second day, I quit both of them, since I forgot in the morning and didn't feel sick at all. No sickness for the rest of the cruise. I used them again the first day or two on my second cruise. Same story. But at least there was no reaction to medication....I hate that sleepy feeling.

[WillB]

In over 20 cruises I have seen very few people get sick.

 

1) Take a Dramamine or your pill of choice (I prefer the regular, not the Non-drowsy formula) 1 or 2 hours before cruising. Do not over eat or over drink the first day. As the cruise goes on...if the seas get choppy, don't hesitate to take another Dramamine.

 

2) Don't dwell on it. Worrying about getting seasick makes you overly conscious of motion. Have a positive attitude that you WON'T get sick.

 

3) Remember that VERY few people get seasick on today's cruise ships.

 

4) Don't place a lot of weight on cabin location. This is WAY over-rated.

 

5) In the unlikely event that you DO begin to get queasy, FIGHT IT! You can get on top of it if you do not give in and sit around dwelling on how bad you feel. It is not uncommon to feel a little wobbly or woozie, but you can certainly get on top of it mentally and fight it off.

 

6) In extreme cases, the ship's doctor can help you. Don't hesitate to ask if you are really sick. The doctor can give you a shot that will make you sleep. Unfortunately, you will miss 12 to 16 hours of your cruise if you take this step, but if you are vomiting, it would be well worth it.

[VacationNut]

WillB

Fantastic advice. I agree about not dwelling on it. I get motion sickness on land (cars, rollercoasters) but I know that part of my motion sickness at sea is because I am somewhat scared of the ocean and if movement gets too rough I imagine all sorts of things. So I try to rationalize, tell myself I am not going to be sick - take a small piece of a bonine tablet and so far so good.

I think it is interesting that I only feel any sensation of sickness at night when I can't see what's around and can't tell what the ocean is really doing.

 

Hasn't stopped me cruising.

[katiestan]

The shot the doctor can give you will indeed knock you WAY out and I think should only be used as a last resort. The alternative of taking some meclazine if you feel badly is much superior to the shot. It's nice to know that you can get the shot but I would never rely on that. Of course, if you do start vomiting, the shot is superior to that. Marezine or Bonine or the generic meclazine (which I am bringing with me for our cruise next week) worked very well. I have never tried the writstbands or ginger but they sound effective also. Jenny

[MVPinBoynton]

tom-n-jules,

 

The relief band is to be used once you get sick and it is supposed to knock it our. Before I had these, I would use bonine, but since I have had the relief bands, I haven't needed them, so I really can't say how well they work. I know on some of the other boards, folks rave about how wonderful they are. I really like the idea of not using somehting unless you need it.

[cindersue]

I got the Relief Band for the same reason.(That link is a good price) Any pill makes me drowsy and miserable. The Relief Band has different settings to prevent motion sickness and will work if you put it on even after you start to feel sick.

I wanted something for IF I need it...Most of the time I'm fine..I figure my sister who's much worse than me can be the true test! ;)

With the pills once I started to feel sick, the pills didn't stop it.Just made me Tired and Sick! I HATE Nausea!!!! Good Luck to all Cindy