bonine vs dramamine

[disneynewbee]

How alike are these two medicines? Everyone seems to like bonine but if it is the same ingredients as dramamine it's a no go for us. Non drowsy dramamine had us so knocked out on our last trip so the non drowsy did not work for us. Hoping the bonine won't knock us out.

 

[Carol G]

How alike are these two medicines? Everyone seems to like bonine but if it is the same ingredients as dramamine it's a no go for us. Non drowsy dramamine had us so knocked out on our last trip so the non drowsy did not work for us. Hoping the bonine won't knock us out.

The best thing is contact your Dr regarding OTC medicine for seasickness. Tell him what you just mentioned to us and I'm sure he'll give you a suggestion or write a prescription.

Don't take any chances with drugs that you have no idea what the side effects are. What may be good for one, won't be for another.

Hope you get everything straightened out. You're going to love the cruise

 

[TravelGuy37]

Depends. There's two kinds of Dramamine. Bonine and original Dramamine have different active ingredients. Bonine and Dramamine II (or less drowsy Dramamine) are exactly the same thing. So if the non-drowsy Dramamine didn't work for you, the Bonine won't, either...

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Personally I prefer Meclizine. It's cheaper, and I think it works better. It is the active ingredient I was told in Dramamine. I think I just paid $5 for 100 tablets from Costco. This is what my dr. recommended.

It is really best to do your homework and try them all out before you go....especially if you will use it on your children. A lot of times you can find dramamine in the sample packs at a convenience store.

I'm a very sensitive motion sick person. I have to wear the patch (scopalmine - sp?), and take meclizine morning and night. I've never felt tired while taking the meclizine, but did while taking the OTC Bonine and Dramamine.

 

[Narnia_girl]

I just wrote a bit on my trip report about how the Bonine affected me. It's on page 4 here. It made me drowsy the next day! Seems like you are affected by those meds the same way I am.

 

[disneynewbee]

Man that was not what I was hoping to hear. I did talk to the pedi at their last visit for physicals about the cruise and the motion sickness and she suggested kids dramamine. I told her about our previous experience and I just don't feel like she was hearing me. Just told me go give them ginger and dramamine. I think I'll call in a few wks and tell her I tried the dramamine to see how they would react to it before the cruise and that it made them all really drowsy and ask her to prescribe something. I will give the other ones listed a try and see how they work first, maybe I'll find something. The youngest will only be one so I don't even know if she can have anything at all. Maybe I'll talk to the pharmacist and see what they say too. My teen and BIL still joke about how I drugged them on our last tip. DD says she doesn't remember anything from that day and that was non drowsy I would hate to see what the regular version would do.

 

[Narnia_girl]

My BFF swears by a bracelet of some kind. I guess it has pressure points? But I also think it's expensive, especially if you need several.

 

[IrenicMom]

My BFF swears by a bracelet of some kind. I guess it has pressure points? But I also think it's expensive, especially if you need several.

Probably the SeaBands. I don't think they're expensive, IMO, especially since they last forever (or until you lose one!)

 

[TravelGuy37]

Probably the SeaBands. I don't think they're expensive, IMO, especially since they last forever (or until you lose one!)

Could be Sea Bands but, yeah, those aren't expensive. Could also be one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/ReliefBand-Explorer-RB-EL-Motion-Sickness/dp/B000ABMJLW

Those ARE expensive, at about $130 a pop. But they're also supposed to work really well.

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Probably the SeaBands. I don't think they're expensive, IMO, especially since they last forever (or until you lose one!)

SeaBands don't work. If you check around on the boards, it seems there is always a thread about this subject. Most people believe that Seabands don't work. If they work for you, that's great. However, I'd hate to get in the middle of the ocean and find out that they don't.

With kids, I wouldn't even try them. When you wear them, you have to wear them quite tight, and they should not move. Kids will pull on them and mess with them making ineffective.

With your 1 yo, she'll probably be fine. You might consider something to keep her ears clear. If you can't use a baby or toddler decongestant, try suckers, bottles, whatever. Keeping your inner ears clear will help.

Have you experienced motion sickness with your children before? My kids will get motion sick in a car if they are reading. Otherwise they are fine, and have never had a problem on a cruise.

 

[disneynewbee]

SeaBands don't work. If you check around on the boards, it seems there is always a thread about this subject. Most people believe that Seabands don't work. If they work for you, that's great. However, I'd hate to get in the middle of the ocean and find out that they don't.

With kids, I wouldn't even try them. When you wear them, you have to wear them quite tight, and they should not move. Kids will pull on them and mess with them making ineffective.

With your 1 yo, she'll probably be fine. You might consider something to keep her ears clear. If you can't use a baby or toddler decongestant, try suckers, bottles, whatever. Keeping your inner ears clear will help.

Have you experienced motion sickness with your children before? My kids will get motion sick in a car if they are reading. Otherwise they are fine, and have never had a problem on a cruise.

My oldest (the 15yo) gets carsick quite often sometimes on rides as short as an hour. My 6yo got sick once on the way to Disney but that was the only incident she was 2yo at the time so it may have been related to something else. My younger one havent had any problems as of yet with it.

 

[Waltworshiper]

Get your dr's advice, and definitely give whatever a try before you go to see what the side effects will be.

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Get your dr's advice, and definitely give whatever a try before you go to see what the side effects will be.

Very true, because what works for one, may not work for others.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

From what I recall, SeaBands are only about $10 and available at Wal-Mart and many pharmacies. They are basically wrist band with a special knob on them that's supposed to work on a pressure point to avoid getting motion-sick. They do have to be positioned correctly to work, and even when positioned correctly do not work for everyone. They do, however, work for some percentage of the population, and are about the only option available for pregnant women.

As was already pointed out, Bonie and "Less Drowsy" Dramamine have the exact same active ingrediants.

I've used "Less Drowsy" Dramamine on DCL and found that they put me to sleep. While not a problem while "active", I found it difficult to sit and watch a movie or show without dosing off unless the show really held my attention.

The last cruise we got a perscription for the ear "patches". I found that they worked great without the drowsy feeling I had with Dramamine. But you do have to be careful on exactly how long you use the patch. As an example, we both put ours on then we got on board. I took mine off at bed time, DW did not. I didn't have any reaction, but the extra duration caused DW's eyes to dialate for a day (I had to read all the menus to her before the effect wore off).

I heard of using Children's benadryl for motion sickness (though my guess is that is basically makes them drowsy like the dramamine does).

My personal opinion is that you should basically take all of them... talk to your doctor about getting a prescription for the patch (and if there is something equivilent for children). Then also take along the bomine (or less drowsy dramamine) AND at least one set of Sea Bands. Then experiment on board to see which works best for you. Start with the patch the first day (as I find I don't need as much motion-sickness medication once you get your "sea legs") and then the second day try the Sea Bands (or nothing). The moment you start to feel a little sick, either use another patch, or take ONE dramamine (for I think the instructions say to START with two and then take another as the effect of the initial dose wear off). Then again, each day, try to either skip motion sickness medication or use Sea Bands, and only jump back to the medication when you start to feel sick.

Note that motion sickness medications take a little time to take effect. So if you know you are going to do something special (such as an excursion that involves a boat) then take a dose of the medication BEFORE you start. That was one mistake DW and I had on one of our trips. After the 1st night on board, we were fine without medication. But then we took a snorkelling tour that involved some rough water (for a little pontoon type boat compared to the Disney ship) and we started feeling ill. We took medication after we started the excursion (kept it in a personal 1st aid kit I always take with me)... but by that time, it was too late, our excursion was basically ruined and we were just trying to "survive" till we could get back on board the ship.

 

[MomWilma]

I just spoke to the pharmacist and they told me that meclizine and bonine had the same active ingredients in them. Meclizine for me cost $19 for a perscription vs. Bonine for $4 at Walmart.....no brainer!

 

[jamie@dvcstore]

There is a lot of good information on this post. I was just on a cruise 2 weeks ago and the Sea Bands worked well for me. I bought them at CVS and they were not expensive. I also took the Bonine though only when I was ready to sleep if that tells you anything!

I think everyone has different levels of seasickness and reaction to the sickness. While the bands work for me it may not work well for others. We hit some very rough waters and many in my group (even veteran cruisers) were sick. The Bonine worked well for them though also put them to sleep.

One girl in our group had the bandaid looking patch that goes behind your ear. That has to be prescribed by your Dr. though.

There is nothing in my opinion that will completely cure it though all the things I mentioned will help and make it tolerable.

Have a great cruise.
________
Yamaha Lagenda Series Specifications

 

[disneynewbee]

There is a lot of good information on this post. I was just on a cruise 2 weeks ago and the Sea Bands worked well for me. I bought them at CVS and they were not expensive. I also took the Bonine though only when I was ready to sleep if that tells you anything!

I think everyone has different levels of seasickness and reaction to the sickness. While the bands work for me it may not work well for others. We hit some very rough waters and many in my group (even veteran cruisers) were sick. The Bonine worked well for them though also put them to sleep.

One girl in our group had the bandaid looking patch that goes behind your ear. That has to be prescribed by your Dr. though.
http://www.dillards.com/endeca/EndecaStartServlet?view=80&No=400&N=1629840
There is nothing in my opinion that will completely cure it though all the things I mentioned will help and make it tolerable.

Have a great cruise.

Hmm maybe we could do that, just take it at night. How often are you supposed to take Bonine? If it's just once every 24 hrs we could take it at night and hopefully that would combat the sleepiness.