Seasickness Patch???

[VanillaCruiser]

I used the Scope patch on our Alaskan cruise last year. Worked great for me with no side effects.

[redlef]

For those that have used the seasickness patch (Dramamine)...what have been your experiences with it? Has it helped you? How far ahead of time before the ship sails do you need to apply the patch if the ship sets sail at 4pm (an hour, overnight?)?

 

Thanks,

Michael

 

I wear a Scopalamine patch when I go out in a small dive boat or fishing boat. Put it on 6 hours before the boat leaves the dock.

 

Sometimes it has helped me in very rough seas. Other times, I have gotten sea sick. A lot of how it works (for me, that is) depends on how much sleep I had the night before. I got sea sick one day after a night of a few beers, going to bed at 2AM, and then going out on a small boat at 7AM. Seas were a bit gnarly, but not horrible. So, it was more likely my tiredness and dehydration that led to the sea-sickness.

 

The patch gives me cotton-mouth and makes me very thirsty. Also, I get a little tired earlier in the day than when I don't wear a patch.

 

When you put it on, wash behind your ears with soap real good, then rinse and dry. That way it'll stay in place. Also, wash your hands really really good before you touch your eyes (as in rubbing your eyes, or handling contact lenses.) That stuff will mess up your vision for hours.

 

I would try it before going on your cruise. No point in finding out you have bad reactions and losing a day of your vacation waiting for the psychotic hallucinations to dissipate:D

[mekewpieis]

I'll add a bit: It was my first cruise and I was worried about seasickness so I got the scopolamine patches from my doctor. I'm very prone to motion sickness in cars so I figured I should be safer than sorry. I did experience side effects: sleepiness the day the new patch was on, dry mouth (especially the first day where I just couldn't drink enough fluids), and blurry vision. With the vision, I couldn't read anything up close I had to hold it far away (I'm nearsighted and wear contacts). The sleepiness didn't bother me, just took an extra nap a couple times. The dry mouth was fine after the first day. The blurry vision made it very hard to read some things and was annoying enough that I tried to take off the patch on the fifth day but then decided that I was starting to feel a bit nauseated so I put it back on. The vision's returned to normal now that I'm back home :) The blurry vision didn't bother me at all for any of the sightseeing stuff.

 

WOW!!! you just told MY story!! So all i need to add is....yeah what YOU said!!!

BTW just a little added note...if you use a little bit of rubbing alcohol on the spot you intend to use the patch it doesn't bother the skin...AND my vision was back to normal after 4 days home:D

[blindrid]

We try to put on night before but have the morning of with no issues.

 

Another way we have used Scopolamine was have a compounding pharmacy put it in a pharmaceutical grade gel and we rubbed it on our inner wrist, twice daily. We did that when we could not get the patch and it worked equally well. It also allows us to wean ourselves off the scopolamine as we use less and less as the trip goes on.

 

We have had no ill effects from using it as I was worried as I typically drink a lot on a cruise and was concerned about any effects. I'm a little cynical of the other items i.e. seabands, ginger etc,. but as mentioned some people swear thye work, I prefer the tried and true though with the patch.

[melthemadhatter]

We took our first cruise on the Dawn last month.

 

I had blurry vision, burning eyes and a really dilated pupil when I took the patch. It was called Transderm Scope. I took it off the next day. I found apples and the bonine or dramamine that they had at the front desk worked well.

 

I didn't the like the disorienting feeling the patch gave me, and I looked loony as well!

[NanaBet]

I've used the patch for 6 cruises and I've never had any side effects nor issues. The one time I didn't use it, was something that I'll never forget.

 

As long as it is prescribed by your primary care physician, you should have no problems. I usually put mine on about 2 hours before boarding.

[lahoban]

I tend to get really sea sick! The patch worked for the sea sickness but it really messed up my eye sight. I now use Ginger travel and it works great. I have not been sick once since I started using it and I have been in some pretty rough seas. One sailing home it got so bad they had to close most of the resturants and a lot of the crew were sick also. I never got sick that cruise using the Ginger pills.