Dealing with seasickness, how to.

[Symphony]

here's another vote for the electronic wrist bands. My wife has had great success with it for 10 years. FDA approved as safe and effective for treatment of nausea - that means a lot of testing done. stimulates a nerve which is close to the skin in the wrist.

and here's another vote for Stugeron. Helps my wife get over the anxiety of getting seasick.

[Sailor Nin]

Steady Hand's reply is great plus I understand that ginger tea/tablets help. I have never been seasick, but have heard this might work.

[Steadman Uhlich]

I posted this before in another thread about seasickness. It may help others who only read this thread.

What follows is offered in a friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help others avoid Mal de Mer or seasickness.

Anecdotes and personal experience are hard to beat.

By that, I mean we tend to believe what worked for us will work for others just as effectively.

In addition, there are always the amazing results of the placebo effect and coincidental observations that happen without any real causation, like carrying a rabbits foot for good luck.

Ginger anything, wrist bands, and other "proven" or traditional remedies are likely simply an example of placebo effect.

I prefer to trust scientific studies which use double blind testing methods, etc.

For anyone considering using Stugeron (cinnarizine), you might want to consider the following too:

"However, a recent 2012 study comparing the effects of cinnarizine to transdermal scopolamine for the treatment of seasickness, concluded that scopolamine was reported as significantly more effective and as having fewer adverse side effects than cinnarizine.[14] This led to the conclusion that transdermal scopolamine is likely a better option for the treatment of motion sickness in naval crew and other sea travelers."

Citation Source:
14] Gil, A.; Nachum, Z.; Tal, D.; Shupak, A. (2012). "A Comparison of Cinnarizine and Transdermal Scopolamine for the Prevention of Seasickness in Naval Crew". Clinical Neuropharmacology 35 (1): 37–39. doi:10.1097/WNF.0b013e31823dc125. PMID 22139622.

[Harro]

This may sound strange but my wife is right handed so she blocks her left early with a piece of tissue. She no longer gets sea sick. Has something to do with your balance.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Harro

This may sound strange but my wife is right handed so she blocks her left early with a piece of tissue. She no longer gets sea sick. Has something to do with your balance.

Her left what?

[Harro]

Sorry about that spelling error. My wife blocks her left "ear" with tissue to overcome sea sickness.

[landlockedsquid]

Originally Posted by Harro

Sorry about that spelling error. My wife blocks her left "ear" with tissue to overcome sea sickness.

So your saying she stuffs a wad of tissue like an earplug in her ear?
Im reading all this and figuring out different things work for different people.
We know that Dramamine works for my XO. Its what she's used since she was a kid. Downside is she goes to sleep. Well, I guess ill have to carry a bigger share of the load the first few days if thats what works for her. But Im gonna get all the other things, and when its time we will try this or that on short trips to see if it works or not. Once we find out we will be good to go.
Thanx for all the input.

[thruska]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

sugared ginger pieces and weed.

Ginger candy works for the dogs. I havent suffered from it. Wifie uses ginger also.
I have heard others use cannaboidals, notthe thc flavor .
Id try it if ii needed to...
Its time to decriminalize it . Js.

[bvisailing32]

Sea sickness.....

Truth is, there are all kinds of sea sickness preventions cures...some work for some people, some don't work for some, and some don't work for anyone. There are already many of the standard sea sick prevention methods and medication already posted.

1. the patches behind the ear. Scopolomine was quite popular and worn as a small patch behind your ear. Back in those days, you had to get a prescription from your M.D. Actually, it seemed to work pretty darned well. I do not know if it is still available.

For day sails, I would suggest that my sailing students and guests cut the patch in half as the normal full patch was supposed to last three days.
Some would report dry mouths, but that could have been dehydration.

There was also a pill at one time, Triptone that was the same formula.

You had to take it the night before. As with any motion sickness medication read the instructions and follow them.

you have received many helpful hints....a couple more.

* Lay off the booze the night before you are going sailing.

* Have a good healthy breakfast. But lay off the coffee or anything acidic like orange juice, tea, etc. Actually any over abundance of liquid.

A few cups of coffee, and some donuts are perfect for checking the prop, feeding the fish, etc.


* You can try bonine, might not make you as drowsy as Dramamine.
Again, different things effect people in different ways.

* Give a job, such as a helm person, and keep watch. Keep them topside.



* If you have an area of protected waters, start them out on that, and have a good time. Some people, if they think they are going to get sick, the brain agrees and sure enough. The fun sailing day is over

* Erica, my special lady of 33 years, used to get airsick and seasick. She is very strong willed, and became a private pilot an aerobatic pilot, and is
sailing club certified to skipper vessels up to 42 ft in length and owned a crealock 37. She has sailed Australia, the south pacific, California, mexico, the Caribbean, Ireland, and Greece....no problems with mal de mer.



* If a person does get sea sick, DO NOT LET THEM GO BELOW AND DOWN INTO THE MARINE HEAD. Keep them up top side, at the stern or the downwind quarter. Have someone hold them by the back of their belt. So while leaning over the side they know that they are not going to topple off the boat into the water.


* I also bring them a wet towel to wipe off their face and what ever.

* If possible, return inside to a calm harbor, and back to your dock.


Fact is sea sickness in not some funny event, they are horribly sick, and need to be in calm water or ashore. Not all the time is this possible, that is why it is suggested that you begin with short planned day sails in calm conditions, if possible.

Also, do not sit around the cockpit talking about sea sick stories that happened to others, or themselves. You do not want anyone sea sick.

It is the skippers responsibility to take care of his crew and passengers. They need to be briefed ahead on many things not only to keep them safe but very comfortable and having a good time. There is along list for captains responsibility to the boat and the people.

[knockabout]

go ashore and sit under a tree until you feel well / stay hydrated

[quandary]

Rougher conditions generally make sea sickness worse for sufferers. The chance of man overboard also increases with rougher seas especially for someone rushing to the side to vomit.
I think it is wise to have a couple of plastic containers with screw lids (about 1liter) available for crew to vomit into if they feel sick so they don't have rush around. It also reduces the risk of a sudden accidental vomit in the cockpit or cabin with all the unpleasant consequences for the rest of the crew. Dispose of the contents into the heads, not overboard. Much safer and less dramatic !

[Otia]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

sugared ginger pieces and weed.

I never get seasick, I mean never, even if I had too much rum...
But my guests get it from time to time. And yes, weed is a good remedy.
Also, since seasickness is caused by sensory conflicts with the vestibular system, by lying down flat you disconnect the vestibular system and provide relief.

[alexanick]

In fifteen years of sailing, I have gotten seasick only twice. Both times it only lasted until I got off the boat. The best remedy I have found is the wrist band. I keep a couple of them on the boat. It's non-invasive and every one that used them on my boat never had a problem. If you would rather try medications, remember to take them before you get on the boat. DO NOT GO BELOW DECK. Stay on deck, keep your eyes on the horizon and find something to do. Not always easy when all you want to do is die but it helps. Also, if conditions allow, try getting into the water for a short time. Just getting off the boat helps. I say this because the second time I got seasick was on a passage from Rondeau Harbor in Canada to Cleveland, approx. 10 hour ride. It started in the first half hour and lasted the whole trip. As soon as I got on the dock, I felt a lot better.

[skwanderer]

My skipper whom I crewed with said seasickness is often associated/onset by stress. I experienced this firsthand. And in an example expressed above is that every time he leaves port he gets sick. My skipper said that people on his cruises would be sick up until he said they were turning around and heading back to land, then they suddenly got better. If you think of it as caused by nervousness, makes more sense. Ginger may be a topical relief, but work to address your mental state

[JPA Cate]

It is a common misconception that seasickness is caused by fear. In fact, it is physiological, but there is always mind/body interaction, so doing your best to set up positive expectations ("it's going to be fun") will help.

If the newbie can be placed so as to have help keeping his/her eyes parallel to the horizon, and focusing on the far distances, he or she will most likely not become seasick, if his/her expectation is for an enjoyable day. Keeping your eyes parallel to the horizon tends to keep your EARS parallel to it, as well, which will minimize the confusion generated by your inner ear vs. visual perception. If they have the wheel to hold onto, they can also let their whole body except their head sort of flow with the boat's motion, and that will help, too. Add to that the focus on helming, so they don't think to them selves "I'm getting sick"may successfully distract them. Imo, a responsible skipper should have something against seasickness for guests aboard, and offer it before the person turns green or white. To this end, Insatiable II carries both Stugeron and stemetil suppositories.

Combatting seasickness is partly a question of teaching your body what to expect, but after that, you really have to respect what your body teaches you it doesn't like. [like reading small print, belowdecks.] Once you learn what your body doesn't like, you can learn how to help it through the situations it doesn't like.

A few people hardly ever get seasick, and some, always do. Most of us are somewhere in between. The learning process above will work for most people, and there are various ways to keep seasickness away effectively, most of the time, as detailed in many posts above.