Wife and Seasickness

[The Blue Heron]

Has anyone just gutted it out for a terrible couple of hours/days and then snapped out of it?

[Sabbatical II]

Can anyone tell me how you go about getting your hands on Stugeron if you live in Australia? Like, is there a website that you can do mail order from? And, what's Bonnie, is that a nick name for a product that the chemist only knows by a highly technical chemical name?

[Doug Brown]

My wife and I will use chewable Bonine if the need arises, or for lessor cases de-fizzed Pepsi Cola and saltine crackers. Before a long passage we will each take a pill, but at staggered times,so we don't get drowseyat the same time. (36-ft sloop)

When I was the Med-PIC ("ship's doctor") on a researh ship (225-ft), my standard spiel to all the land based scientist who came onboard was to take a pill (Bonnie or Dramamine) the night before and the morning of departure (or whatever meds their Doctor had given them).

And NOT to load up with a huge meal before leaving!

If they started to feel sick, I told them to go and lay down immediately, take another pill, and get 2 or 3 hours of rest/sleep. This usually worked.

I found that the Scopolamine 1.5 mg patch worked best on people of hispanic origin - not a clue why it did, but it seemed to work best for them.

In extreme cases of 2 or 3 days of continual sea sickness / throwing up, I would give an injection of Promethazine 25 mg/ml using an 1-1/2" needle in the thigh muscle or upper butt.

This always stopped the sea sickness, usually in only 3 to 5 minutes. Very good stuff. Then they could re-hydrate, get some rest, and go back to work. They never developed additional sea sickness on voyage.

As an aside, I always gave the person the choice of injection sites. For some reason, the "babes" always chose their butt. It's hard enough giving an injection to someone in big seas on a small ship with everyone moving and swaying around and remaining "professional" without the extra challenge of having to aim for the "right spot" on a 10/10 butt!!!

Many times people would hide their sea sickness, so I always had to be looking out for signs of it before it became a medical emergency.

Don't "John Wayne" it!!! If you are getting sick, take your pill, lay down, get some rest and get well.

[hellosailor]

"(And) the best thing about these fixes is that no drugs are involved."
Ergh, well, ginger IS a drug. Perhaps less potent than psilocybin and more on a par with willow bark, the basis of aspirin, but still very much a well-studied drug.

Jack, as soon as your wife can tell me of a drug that is AS EFFECTIVE as scop, for me, I'll be glad to switch. Sturgeron runs about even with the placebo effect for me. Bonine, marezine, meclazine, great sleeping pills but useless here.

If I need more than the wristband (the electric one) I go for scop, and if that costs me ten or even twenty IQ points and slows me down? No one on the boat cares, because I can still outperform anyone who's bent over the lifeline praying for a quicker death.

Cognitive ability? Sure, sell that argument to NASA, they've got their own special cocktail too.

[dtj]

I think I posted this on another seasickness thread. My problem is the opposite. I get sick after being on a boat after 24 hours. No problem on a day trip. I haven't thrown up but feel like I'm going to. I can't walk. Everything is rolling and seems sideways. The only thing I know to cure it is to go to sleep on dry land right away. Not a good situation if sailing into any port other than home. Do you think sea sick pills will help? This happens even if I just sleep on the boat overnight at the marina.

[Astrid]

Has anyone just gutted it out for a terrible couple of hours/days and then snapped out of it?

That has always worked for me. If I have motion sickness symptoms at all, it is only for a short time and comparatively mild--just a slight nausea for a few hours but no throwing up. I normally don't take anything for it since it passes very fast.

[sloopygirl]

Originally Posted by The Blue Heron

Has anyone just gutted it out for a terrible couple of hours/days and then snapped out of it?

I have not been seasick in 10 years of cruising, luckily. I have heard of cruisers having to take pills for the first few days and then after about 4 days on multi-day passages, they're fine with no meds.

A friend of mine uses merezine, but it's really hard to find. My doctor told me to use meclezine for vertigo I had once, but it's more like a sleeping pill for me. She said it was supposed to be used also for seasickness.

[sloopygirl]

Originally Posted by dtj

I think I posted this on another seasickness thread. My problem is the opposite. I get sick after being on a boat after 24 hours. No problem on a day trip. I haven't thrown up but feel like I'm going to. I can't walk.

This happens to me when I've been on a lumpy passage - once I hit land, I feel like I'm still sailing, I'm wobbling and can't go into a small building because it gets worse and I get a bit nauseated. I've had to leave restaurants and once had to get out of the immigration building while I was checking in. I'll be fine once I get back on the boat and it will be OK when we've been at anchor overnite. I've never tried any meds for it, but was just happy to go back to the boat to let it pass. I just call it landsickness.

[hellosailor]

dtj, that's called "land sickness" and it is NOT uncommon. It is stillmotion sickness and yes, the same drugs are used for it. With the same hit-or-miss effectiveness from one person to another. Whatever works for you on boats, try taking that an hour before you make landfall.

[dtj]

Thanks guys!

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Doug Brown

My wife and I will use chewable Bonine if the need arises, or for lessor cases de-fizzed Pepsi Cola and saltine crackers. Before a long passage we will each take a pill, but at staggered times,so we don't get drowseyat the same time. (36-ft sloop)

When I was the Med-PIC ("ship's doctor") on a researh ship (225-ft), my standard spiel to all the land based scientist who came onboard was to take a pill (Bonnie or Dramamine) the night before and the morning of departure (or whatever meds their Doctor had given them).

And NOT to load up with a huge meal before leaving!

If they started to feel sick, I told them to go and lay down immediately, take another pill, and get 2 or 3 hours of rest/sleep. This usually worked.

I found that the Scopolamine 1.5 mg patch worked best on people of hispanic origin - not a clue why it did, but it seemed to work best for them.

In extreme cases of 2 or 3 days of continual sea sickness / throwing up, I would give an injection of Promethazine 25 mg/ml using an 1-1/2" needle in the thigh muscle or upper butt.

This always stopped the sea sickness, usually in only 3 to 5 minutes. Very good stuff. Then they could re-hydrate, get some rest, and go back to work. They never developed additional sea sickness on voyage.

As an aside, I always gave the person the choice of injection sites. For some reason, the "babes" always chose their butt. It's hard enough giving an injection to someone in big seas on a small ship with everyone moving and swaying around and remaining "professional" without the extra challenge of having to aim for the "right spot" on a 10/10 butt!!!

Many times people would hide their sea sickness, so I always had to be looking out for signs of it before it became a medical emergency.

Don't "John Wayne" it!!! If you are getting sick, take your pill, lay down, get some rest and get well.

very good info, thanks man

[GordMay]

Bonnie” is based on meclizine hydrochloride (meclozine), sold under brand names such as:
Bonine, Bonamine, Antivert, D-Vert, Postafen, Sea Legs, Univert, Vertin, and Dramamine II.

"Sturgeron®" is based on Cinnarizine, also sold under brand names such as:
Mylan, Suzaron, and Arlevert.

[carstenb]

I've never suffered from seasickness, but I did suffer occasionally from land sickness in the past.

It can be embarrassing since you sway like a drunken sailor (that's where the expression comes from) and everyone assumes you are drunk or the like.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by The Blue Heron

Has anyone just gutted it out for a terrible couple of hours/days and then snapped out of it?

Yes, that will work, (read Two Years Before the Mast, circa 1840) but if you are just going out for a few hours are a day or so, it isn't practical. It usually takes days to adjust.

Excerpt from Two Years before the Mast:

http://www.authorama.com/two-years-b...he-mast-5.html

[vtcapo]

Originally Posted by LakeSuperior

NASA, which has done significant research on motion sickness has come up with a treatment using oral scopolamine and dexedrine that is the only known treatment which will actually cure an extremely sea sick person while underway. I have the article somewhere and will try to find the reference.

This treatment would be handy if the sick person is becoming dangerously dehydrated. Or for that matter didn't feel like being sick for awhile.

A reference
http://www.practical-sailor.com/lett...avigation.html

I have tried them all and the scopolamine patch placed behind the ear a few hours before sailling ALWAYS works. I never needed the dexedrine. It is only available by perscription. I have never experienced any side effects such as drowsiness.

If it works on astronauts it WILL work for your wife. I assume the oral will work during the onset of sea sickness but prevention is the name of the game. I never sail without it.

RT