Combatting car sickness

[Sandi]

DD15's high school band and orchestra are taking "luxury motor coaches" to WDW in late March to participate in Magical Musical Days. The busses are going straight through from mid-Michigan; they switch drivers somewhere in Tennessee.

DD15 gets queasy unless she is riding in the front of vehicles. I'm flying down part way into their trip and we'll fly back after Spring Break. She does better with flying.

We've talked with her doctor to see what advice she had. Her suggestions included: sleeping, audio books, sit at the front of the bus and always face forward, make sure to have something in your stomach all the time, drink lots of water, Dramamine, and give Bio-bands a try.

Thought I'd check with my DIS friends to see what additional advice you all could offer. It's amazing to me that a kid who can do Mission:Space, ToT, EE, and Cedar Point roller coasters with no trouble, gets car-sick.

Thanks!

 

[Best Aunt]

Hard lemon candy. If you get on a bus/train/plane and are hit with that weird scent (which might be some kind of cleaning product), put one in your mouth immediately.

Lean your head back whenever possible. If the seatback isn't high enough, try to get the window seat so that you can prop your arm on the window and lean your head on your arm.

Look out the front of the vehicle whenever possible, so that you can see where you are headed.

 

[Glencora]

As a fellow sufferer, I can say the best thing really is to sleep. For long bus trips, I've taken Dramamine of Benadryl to knock myself out. Bonine may work as well if she needs to be more alert for some reason.

Also, if she does have problems, peppermint is very good for upset stomachs.

 

[Girlie1]

The chewable Dramamine works for our family.

 

[rileyreese]

What about the motion sickness patches? Will your doctor prescribe them, they are great?

 

[Sandi]

What about the motion sickness patches? Will your doctor prescribe them, they are great?

I'm not familiar with the patch. I'll have to look into that. You've had experience with them?

 

[Glencora]

The patches can be real life savers, but they tend to have more side effects than the OTC stuff. If you want to try them, have the doctor prescribe one before she goes, so that she can wear it for a day or two to make sure there are no side effects (it gives me awful dry mouth). Sometimes the side effects can be reduced by cutting the patch in half and only wearing one half at a time. Good luck!

 

[buzz5985]

My DS suffered from car sickness when he was younger. His Doctor prescribed Benadryl and it worked great. Several trips MA to FL no problem.

 

[JB2K]

Thought I'd check with my DIS friends to see what additional advice you all could offer. It's amazing to me that a kid who can do Mission:Space, ToT, EE, and Cedar Point roller coasters with no trouble, gets car-sick.

My problem when doing a road trip is with fountain drinks -- that's why I only drink canned or bottled drinks whenever I am doing a long-haul.

 

[snowbunny]

I had terrible car sickness as a child. Dramamine was the only thing that worked. I use the chewable orange ones now, they can be split in half which I do sometimes.

 

[rileyreese]

We used the patches when we went to Africa, we used them on the flight and while we were riding around Kruger National Reserve and were in sprinter vans for 3 days straight and did not get sick at all and the Hubby and I normally do. The only side affect we found was a dry mouth and we just drank alot of water and it did not bother us very much!

 

[Sandi]

All the pharma studies say that the patch is not to be prescribed to children under 18 years of age. DD is 15 and the size of an adult. (One of those 15 going on 22 kids.) She'll probably be okay with the bonine, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the patch for a teen?