Sea Sickness - What To Use To Avoid It -

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J

John

I have never been seasick but my nephew was ill beyond belief last year. Good thing we had the onboard deckwash hose. Looking for over the counter remedies as well as herbal/natural methods to combat seasickness. I hear that ginger tea is good and we picked up in Annapolis this smelly stuff the you place behind your ears. I never get ill but I feel helpless when someone onboard is suffering. Can you tell we sailors are bored? when the boat is out of the water we ask questions like this? Merry Christmas all.
 
Dec 3, 2003
2,101
Hunter Legend 37 Portsmouth, RI
Motion-eze!

You mentioned that stuff. My wife uses it successfully along with any type of ginger product. Motioneze has a web site (Google for it) and WalMart now sells it. We bought ours at a boat show, also. Also have the person stay topside and at close to center-ship as possible. Look at the horizon and not into the boat or at the deck. Put the person on the wheel, if at all possible (serves as a distraction from being sick). Keep the person out of diesel fumes. The wrist bands seem to help, somewhat, but, IMHO, I think thay may be psychological. Fortunately, I don't suffer from the malady, but on two occasions I did get seasick - oncewhile mess-cooking in the Navy on a destroyer and then on a larger ship until my body acclimated to the pitch and roll of the larger ship. Both incidents only lasted for a few hours. But I still wanted to die! It's not fun. :)
 
W

Waffle

Mine does too!

Ginger pills work to ease seasick. I am going to try then this summer. I have been using the patch but you have to get a prescription for it.
 
Feb 15, 2004
735
Hunter 37.5 Balt/Annapolis/New Bern
Second Motion-Eze big time...

I keep several bottles on board and have given some to others for gifts, trips, etc. Fawcett's in Annapolis, kind of the Vatican for Sailors, recommends it exclusively based solely on customers' feedback. I've had guests go from violently ill to tolerable, just a 1/2 hour or so after I get it on them. With a crowd, I ask that anyone who even THINKS they may get sick to rub just a little behind their ear before we leave. Doesn't stink, no side effects, and it gives everyone peace of mind. No, I don't own stock in the company, but after hearing someone barf all night at anchor and discovering this the next morning, I swear by it.
 
B

Bil sv Makai

Stugeron

Stugeron works likes gold. You can be chucking your guts and if you can hold it down for a few minutes the sickness goes away. It doesn't make you drozey or hyper, just fixes the problems! It is over the counter everywhere in the world except the US.
 
Nov 29, 2004
12
- - Groton, CT
Ginger Pills

Just watched an episode of Myth Busters a couple of weeks ago on this. They built a copy of a NASA motion sickness inducing chair and the two most susceptible people(my hats off to them) rode the chair each day testing different remedies. Wrist bans did nothing. Over the counter drugs did help, but caused considerable drowsiness. What worked best for them with no side effects was ginger pills. The only thing they failed to mention was how heavy a dose they took.
 
D

dnauheim

Lay down!

I've heard all kinds of answers for years and nothing ever worked for me. Watch the horizon, blah blah blah, . . . Here is what I finally discovered. Lie down! As soon as I lie down, the sea sickness goes away. This is the only thing I have found that works.
 
B

Bil sv Makai

Problem with laying down

The only problem with laying down is you always can't. We have been passagemaking in rough weather, docking, or anchoring. If your are sick you just can't take a break. Find something that will work. It can save your boat or your life.
 
Dec 2, 2003
4,245
- - Seabeck WA
The problem with this thread is that some people

can get sick just reading it. :( So NASA has a motion chair? That's who I was looking to for the cure. (not me) I recall the press announcing that a particular shuttle flight would be dedicated to motion sickness study. I never heard what came of it. The simple definition of the malady is that the brain and the stomach are not in sync. It's a wiring method that evolution hasn't had to deal with. Something was given the go-ahead on the production line by evolution when certain hominids stopped swinging from trees. Obviously a guess. What I'd love to see is a vaccine. But notes are being taken. Keep the treatments coming,,,,
 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
I posted the myth busters

Ginger results on the wooden boat forum and it was old news there. The only time ginger won't work is when you don't take it. Crystallized ginger is nice as are ginger snap cookies.
 
W

Windwalker

Hats off to Seasickness!

Actually exposing your head/ear to cold desensitizes the input your inner ear gives your brain (combined with conflicting input from your eyes is what causes seasickness). So take your hat off, get some breeze on your face/ears & it will really help! And hey, no prescription needed, plus you can use it in combination with any of the other remedies!
 
Dec 2, 2003
4,245
- - Seabeck WA
You know Ross,

I can't recall anyone saying Ginger didn't work. Wonder how it works? It's a 'vaccine' thing. Cookies are hard to inject.
 
Feb 12, 2005
143
- - Lake Worth, FL
chew on ginger root is best

Powdered ginger pills are 2nd best. From my experience, candied and cooked ginger has significant less effect. Start taking ginger pills or chewing ginger root 72 hours before hand. If you only take powder pills, keep some fresh root onboard in case you need some extra strength help. BTW, ginger root is pretty, um, warm... The only medicine that works without wipeing you out is Scopolamine patches.
 
R

Richard Bryer

Second vote for Stugeron

My wife suffers from motion sickness big time. She gets seriously ill and as well as throwing up, will if enough time goes by start to hallucinate. Scary. She has tried the patch- Scopolamine- it gave her really bad shin rash and terrible itch. Dramamine worked to some extent but she had to take a no doz anti allergy to keep her from falling asleepshe just isnt that big on taking a bunch of pills She has been for motion sickness tests which were very dizzy making and the only definitive result was that her hearing is significantly different from one ear to the other ( it is usually the one nearest me that is bad!) Stugeron ( cinnarizine) has been a godsend. She still gets queasy but if I stick her behind the wheel she can survive about 4 hours of rough stuff. Quartering wave action is the worst Wish Janssen ( sp) would get Stugeron approved here. Drug running is a pain.
 
G

George

Seasickness

Some people swear by Compazine which is used to control severe nausea and vomiting. There are some side effects so it should only be taken under a doctor's orders.
 
Mar 20, 2004
1,753
Hunter 356 and 216 Portland, ME
anti-seasickness

I've found that the electronic wristbands-not the cheap things with the little buttons-really work, even after someone's sick. you have to position them correctly on the wrist, and they cost $$$, but no side effects!
 
T

Tom S

Funny no one mentioned those electrical

wrist watches I see at Chandelries. I have heard they really work for most people and (suprisingly) it was one of the few things that can make one feel better even ~after~ one has started to get a bit sea sick. I've been told its the difference between someone feeling like dieing and something bearable. Kind of takes the edge of things -- (Ps, not to be totally confused with those pressure point wrist things) http://www.nboat.com/news/notes/1-3-cure.shtml Secondly I concur on the "Ginger" My girlfreind has gotten seasick a few times and REAL Ginger Beer (not ginger ale) really seems to make he feel better a few times. Here is the link to discovery channel "mythbusters" show that was on seasick remedy. I'm going to have to tape it (did it have the electrical wrist band thingies??) http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/episode/episode.html Nothing makes you feel great (other than being on land ;) ) but some of these things can take the edge off and make life bearable
 
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