Advice needed- best option to prevent sea sickness!??!

[Carey and Kerry]

I have 3 suggestions - they all work for me, so your choice.

 

1. Scoplamine gel - same ingredient as patch, but only good for 12 hours, so side effects not as bad. Works in 5 minutes. Have to have prescription and get it at a compounding pharmacy.

 

2. Marazine - recommended by a boat captain in Hawaii due to really BAD tradewinds - take 2 hours before hand, lasts several hours, no side effects, works great, over the counter.

 

3. Ginger pills - start taking 2 a day (1morning, 1 evening) 2 days before cruise and continue thru cruise. Learned this thru this board, tried it on our last cruise, never felt a thing.

 

I am very susceptible to motion - no back seats of cars, airplanes or amusement park rides, etc and all 3 of these I now take with me, but they all worked, the difference is longevity of effectiveness, hassle to take and side effects.

 

Good luck!

[Illinitrvlr]

Just my .02 Sea bands did squat for me......dramamine or bonine worked like a charm:D

[swedish weave]

I dont know what the problem is with Dremamine :confused: Do people get side effects or something? Is there something bad in it? I have VERY VERY good luck with the non-drowsy version, chewable and works quick.

 

If you look at the active ingredient in Non-drowsy Dramamine, it is Meclizine -- Same as Bonine and the drugstore brands.

[scrinchy]

If you look at the active ingredient in Non-drowsy Dramamine, it is Meclizine -- Same as Bonine and the drugstore brands.

 

Dramamine can make some people very sleepy, works just like a sleeping pill for DD. She swears she will never use it again. I get very sea-sick and I have used the patch, sea-bands, ginger, green apples, Bonnine, you name it. Last cruise we were in some really rough seas and the patch was not working. I put the seabands on with the patch and that helped. I took the patch off and felt better without it. You have to find what works for you. I would start with the sea-bands and take it from there.

[alwayssingin]

I start taking ginger tabs a couple of days prior and take a bottle of Ginger ale on board with me. I also use the Sea-bands for a day or two, but found that after a couple of days I could do without them.

[flowerchild]

My 9 yr old gets motion sickness all the time. On her first cruise we tried everything. The seabands did nothing for her. Bonine was great. We got the generic which was a smaller dose and we had to constantly be feeding her pills. Next time, I will go with a larger dose. Definitely start the day before.

 

I see that no one has mentioned ginger gum. We found it in the drug store and swear by it. At the beginning of the cruise, she fought us with the gum (it is a little spicy, not that tasty) but by the end, she was asking for it.

 

DH and I sailed to Bermuda recently and on the last sea day coming back home, we were sailing at higher speeds and everyone was feeling green that morning. I never get sick and even I was feeling the effects. I tried the ginger gum and with the very first swallow I felt immediate relief. The stuff worked miracles. With the pills, you may not feel relief for hours.

 

My older sis swears by the patches, but they do give her dry eyes and mouth. Some people report other side effects.

[BarbRN]

I have 3 suggestions - they all work for me, so your choice.

 

1. Scoplamine gel - same ingredient as patch, but only good for 12 hours, so side effects not as bad. Works in 5 minutes. Have to have prescription and get it at a compounding pharmacy.

 

2. Marazine - recommended by a boat captain in Hawaii due to really BAD tradewinds - take 2 hours before hand, lasts several hours, no side effects, works great, over the counter.

 

3. Ginger pills - start taking 2 a day (1morning, 1 evening) 2 days before cruise and continue thru cruise. Learned this thru this board, tried it on our last cruise, never felt a thing.

 

I am very susceptible to motion - no back seats of cars, airplanes or amusement park rides, etc and all 3 of these I now take with me, but they all worked, the difference is longevity of effectiveness, hassle to take and side effects.

 

Good luck!

 

Went to Wally World today and found Ginger Root capsules 550mg. Is this what you guys take? The right dose? I should take it night and morning and the day prior?

[CanadianTwosome]

Traveling on a cruise with my sister who is prone to sea sickness.

Does anyone know what works the best? I do not want to chance that she gets sickk and ruins her vacation. What medication is the very best option if yo are prone to motion sickness?

 

A friend who was with us in January took Gravol... I think it's the Canadian version of Bonine, but I can't tell you what the active ingredient is. It most definitely worked, though. She took one on my birthday before we went out on a trimaran in waters so rough we couldn't go to some of their 'usual spots', and she was fine.

 

I do have a question, though... Your sister is prone to seasickness - I assume all kinds of motion sickness - does she not already use something - or has she ever used anything that did or didn't work? My sister has always had a problem with motion sickness and I know when she travels she's got something that works for her - I haven't discussed it with her, but I know she travels and there's no way she could without some sort of remedy. :)

[swedish weave]

My 9 yr old gets motion sickness all the time. On her first cruise we tried everything. The seabands did nothing for her. Bonine was great. We got the generic which was a smaller dose and we had to constantly be feeding her pills. Next time, I will go with a larger dose. Definitely start the day before.

 

I see that no one has mentioned ginger gum. We found it in the drug store and swear by it. At the beginning of the cruise, she fought us with the gum (it is a little spicy, not that tasty) but by the end, she was asking for it.

 

DH and I sailed to Bermuda recently and on the last sea day coming back home, we were sailing at higher speeds and everyone was feeling green that morning. I never get sick and even I was feeling the effects. I tried the ginger gum and with the very first swallow I felt immediate relief. The stuff worked miracles. With the pills, you may not feel relief for hours.

 

My older sis swears by the patches, but they do give her dry eyes and mouth. Some people report other side effects.

 

 

I have some ginger gum that is put out by Sea-Band. Thanks for lettimg me know it works for you. I haven't tried it yet. Bill

[Cuizer2]

Traveling on a cruise with my sister who is prone to sea sickness.

Does anyone know what works the best? I do not want to chance that she gets sickk and ruins her vacation. What medication is the very best option if yo are prone to motion sickness?

 

There is no one remedy that is 100% guaranteed to work 100% of the time on 100% of the people. That said, I have had success with ginger. I like it because it is not a drug and it was the only thing that worked on Mythbusters. It also has the added benefit of working after you begin to feel sick (which is usually too late for the others).

 

While I have never gotten seasick on a cruise ship, I do get motion sick easily (including on a swing). On one rather rough trip (there was a storm chasing us) I took one tablet in the morning just before breakfast (starting the day I boarded the ship) and one tablet just before dinner. I was told many on the ship were sick. I was fine. One warning, make sure to take the tablet with some water. You will only make that mistake once (I did).

 

The other time we had just exited the Panama Canal (which of course was glass smooth) and ran into some rough seas. I started to become aware of a not so good feeling in my stomach. One pill (with water) and about 10 minutes of sitting out on my balcony and I was fine.

 

Ginger tablets only cost about $5 to $6 per 100. Ginger snaps (cookies) work also.

[Snookum]

I checked the sea bands at our local Rite Aid because Walmart doesn't carry them. They are about $10 but found for $6+ online. My question is where does one purchase for teenagers. I need them for my granddaughter and the ones I found really had no size or age range. Thanks in advance;)