Motion sick meds

[Micheme]

I have SEVERE motion sickness. Can't sit in the back seat of a car, all rides make me sick (esp soaring), boats are out of the question (i puked off the side of boat in turks). Elevators and escalators are nightmares, since i have vertigo as well.

Now i have been on 3 cruises and this is the only thing that worked for me.

I have the patch AND i take bonine every day. This is the only combo that has worked for me. Tried bonine alone and didn't work.

You have to start the day before the cruise, preferably put the patch on in the morning and take the bonine pill. The first night on the cruise will be the worst for motion sickness and you Do Not want to be puking in the small space of your bathroom, it will make it 10x worse.

The patch can make your mouth dry, but compared to puking i'll just drink more water.

A crazy side effect from the patch is that I have a huge problem judging how much space i take up. It throws off my spatial perception. The last cruise I kept banging into things and had a horrible bruise when I thought the steward coming in when i was dressing. Smashed so hard into the door way of the bathroom my bones were ringing. It has happened on 2 cruises so far. Weird

 

[disneyholic family]

What does everyone use? Do you use over the counter or prescription from the doctor? What works best?

Never cruised before, but all 3 of us get motion sick/car sick, so preparing for it.

two words for you: sea bands.

for years i thought they were a bunch of bologna - but my last cruise (in hurricane sandy) has turned me into a believer....

i suffer from terrible motion sickness on land, so you can imagine what a rocking and rolling ship can do to me...

but those sea bands totally saved my life...
i felt the ship rocking and rolling, but not even a twinge of motion sickness..
it's a miracle!!!

and DD had the same experience on her alaska cruise in the summer..
10 minutes after she put on the sea bands - poof, her motion sickness disappeared..

i haven't a clue how they work - clearly on some sort of acupressure concept - but they do....
they don't look pretty, and you have to keep them on 24 hours a day (including in the shower and after you get off the ship for a few days), but they work....miracle of miracles!!!

as for all the chemical options - even the nondrowsy formulas put us to sleep....
so we can't use them...
but no matter - we have the miracle of sea bands to keep us cruising along!!!

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

two words for you: sea bands.

for years i thought they were a bunch of bologna - but my last cruise (in hurricane sandy) has turned me into a believer....

i suffer from terrible motion sickness on land, so you can imagine what a rocking and rolling ship can do to me...

but those sea bands totally saved my life...
i felt the ship rocking and rolling, but not even a twinge of motion sickness..
it's a miracle!!!

and DD had the same experience on her alaska cruise in the summer..
10 minutes after she put on the sea bands - poof, her motion sickness disappeared..

i haven't a clue how they work - clearly on some sort of acupressure concept - but they do....
they don't look pretty, and you have to keep them on 24 hours a day (including in the shower and after you get off the ship for a few days), but they work....miracle of miracles!!!

as for all the chemical options - even the nondrowsy formulas put us to sleep....
so we can't use them...
but no matter - we have the miracle of sea bands to keep us cruising along!!!

Unfortunately I have tried them before (in the car) and they don't help me at all! :-(

 

[antmaril]

I have very good luck with Bonine. I take one the night before the cruise and each night during the cruise. Works like a charm.

 

[disneyholic family]

Unfortunately I have tried them before (in the car) and they don't help me at all! :-(

that's too bad because we had really bad experiences with non-drowsy bonine and dramamine.

did you use the regular sea bands? - the ones that are elastic with a hard plastic ball that presses into your wrist?

there is only one medicine that is effective against my motion sickness that doesn't make me drowsy, but it's not available in the US.
It's available everywhere else in the world, including Canada, but not the US, so i guess you wouldn't be able to get hold of it.
The chemical name is betahistine dihydrochloride (be sure it's the betahistine dihydrochloride and not the betahistine hydrochloride - the claim by the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the latter is that they're the same, but my experience is that they're not).
It's actually for meniere's (which i have), but it seems to also work on non-meniere's motion sickness as well.
i used it on my first two cruises, but i stopped taking it about a year before my most recent cruise and i didn't want to start taking it again, so when i boarded the Dream and immediately felt ill, i put on the sea bands. And much to my surprise and joy, they worked!

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

that's too bad because we had really bad experiences with non-drowsy bonine and dramamine.

did you use the regular sea bands? - the ones that are elastic with a hard plastic ball that presses into your wrist?

there is only one medicine that is effective against my motion sickness that doesn't make me drowsy, but it's not available in the US.
It's available everywhere else in the world, including Canada, but not the US, so i guess you wouldn't be able to get hold of it.
The chemical name is betahistine dihydrochloride (be sure it's the betahistine dihydrochloride and not the betahistine hydrochloride - the claim by the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the latter is that they're the same, but my experience is that they're not).
It's actually for meniere's (which i have), but it seems to also work on non-meniere's motion sickness as well.
i used it on my first two cruises, but i stopped taking it about a year before my most recent cruise and i didn't want to start taking it again, so when i boarded the Dream and immediately felt ill, i put on the sea bands. And much to my surprise and joy, they worked!

Yes, they were gray with a white ball that went on your wrist, the white ball goes on the inside as a pressure point. I just didn't know they were called sea bands.
There are many meds that don't work on me either Like for instance I get migraines & so many swear by imitrex... it does NOTHING for me, not even the shots! I have had 3 shots piggybacked in the ER & no relief! Im just an odd duck I guess! LOL

 

[WicketsMom]

I normally don't get seasick unless the seas are REALLY rough and I'm on a small boat (I am a scuba instructor). When I am taking students out in these situations, I take Dramamine, but these are generally trips of 8 hours or less. We were on the Dream during Hurricane Sandy and my five-year old son was with me. The pharmacist recommended Bonine for him, since most everything says "ask your pediatrician" for children under age 12. I gave him a half a tablet every night (we called them his 'sea leg pills') and he was fine. The are chewable but taste awful so he learned how to swallow them instead. One girl in our group tried the Sea Bands but they made her even more sick than she was with nothing.

Whatever you choose, try it out before you cruise to make sure that it doesn't cause you any adverse side-effects. Medications like that affect people differently and it's best to find out well before you set foot on the boat.

 

[pequele]

Bonine and Dramamine are the same things depending on which version you get. They are either meclizine or diphenhydramine (diphenhydramine is Benadryl). So if you go this route, read the active ingredient then purchase the cheapest product! Meclizine and diphenhydramine are both 1st generation antihistamines which mean they cause drowsiness an you can best counteract that effect by taking them at night (FYI diphenhydramine is also the sleep agent in Tylenol PM and Advil PM). It helps to read the box as each Bonine and each Dramamine are NOT the same!

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

Bonine and Dramamine are the same things depending on which version you get. They are either meclizine or diphenhydramine (diphenhydramine is Benadryl). So if you go this route, read the active ingredient then purchase the cheapest product! Meclizine and diphenhydramine are both 1st generation antihistamines which mean they cause drowsiness an you can best counteract that effect by taking them at night (FYI diphenhydramine is also the sleep agent in Tylenol PM and Advil PM). It helps to read the box as each Bonine and each Dramamine are NOT the same!

I will be honest, back in high school I took Dramamine & it knocked me out for 6 hours!!!! I have bought non drowsy to try, but haven't yet. As I get older I find I need to take Tylenol pm to sleep, just recently switched to the natural herb to be safer... Not as effective! So even though you take them at night, they don't leave the effects during the day of the drowsiness?

 

[disneyholic family]

I will be honest, back in high school I took Dramamine & it knocked me out for 6 hours!!!! I have bought non drowsy to try, but haven't yet. As I get older I find I need to take Tylenol pm to sleep, just recently switched to the natural herb to be safer... Not as effective! So even though you take them at night, they don't leave the effects during the day of the drowsiness?

definitely try it before the cruise.

the non-drowsy formulas knock us out.

I tried it on DD many years ago, on our first cruise and she was like a zombie, so i took her off it and it turned out she was fine on that cruise (the water was as smooth as glass that year).

last summer when she and her husband went to alaska, her husband took the non-drowsy bonine the evening before the cruise, but the next day, when they boarded the ship, he felt horrible. totally knocked out like he was drugged.
So he stopped taking it right away...
DD went to the general store on the Radiance of the seas and bought sea bands for herself and 10 minutes after putting them on she felt better (the ship was really rocking and rolling in the pacific)...
but her husband didn't want to spend the $16 on the sea bands.
here they'd spent $6,000 on the cruise, but no, not $16 on the sea bands..
anyway, he suffered for 3 days and then finally, on the 3rd night, when he (and everyone else on the ship) was really really suffering and couldn't leave the room, he let my daughter buy him a pair of sea bands...
and 10 minutes later he was fine...
i'm really sorry they don't work for you, as they saved my life on the ship (and i just used them last week when i had a bad attack of dizziness - instead of taking my medication i figured what they hey, i'll try them out..)

everyone's different.

I hope you can find something that works for you!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tiggspring]

We use childrens Bonine which I can only find online. You may be pleasently surprised my girls needed meds for the drive down but not on Dream. They didnt even get sick when were out running a bad thunderstorm and lisiting a bit. Very difernet than my experience on older ships 20yrs ago.

 

[pequele]

I will be honest, back in high school I took Dramamine & it knocked me out for 6 hours!!!! I have bought non drowsy to try, but haven't yet. As I get older I find I need to take Tylenol pm to sleep, just recently switched to the natural herb to be safer... Not as effective! So even though you take them at night, they don't leave the effects during the day of the drowsiness?

definitely try it before the cruise.

the non-drowsy formulas knock us out.

I tried it on DD many years ago, on our first cruise and she was like a zombie, so i took her off it and it turned out she was fine on that cruise (the water was as smooth as glass that year).

last summer when she and her husband went to alaska, her husband took the non-drowsy bonine the evening before the cruise, but the next day, when they boarded the ship, he felt horrible. totally knocked out like he was drugged.
So he stopped taking it right away...
DD went to the general store on the Radiance of the seas and bought sea bands for herself and 10 minutes after putting them on she felt better (the ship was really rocking and rolling in the pacific)...
but her husband didn't want to spend the $16 on the sea bands.
here they'd spent $6,000 on the cruise, but no, not $16 on the sea bands..
anyway, he suffered for 3 days and then finally, on the 3rd night, when he (and everyone else on the ship) was really really suffering and couldn't leave the room, he let my daughter buy him a pair of sea bands...
and 10 minutes later he was fine...
i'm really sorry they don't work for you, as they saved my life on the ship (and i just used them last week when i had a bad attack of dizziness - instead of taking my medication i figured what they hey, i'll try them out..)

everyone's different.

I hope you can find something that works for you!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually neither are non drowsy just labelled "less drowsy". Technically the drugs can be taken every 6 hrs but usually someone with motion sickness will only take it once maybe twice a day. You really don't have much of a need for it while at port right . But many still get the effects by taking it at night and manage to make it through the day fine. Some people also don't tolerate these meds (in rare occasions it an make people, especially children) hyper vs solemn, and sometimes people don't get drowsy either. It just depends on the person and "practicing" before the trip is really good advice so you can see what to expect if anything.

The only boats I've ever had issues on we're smaller ones. Granted I've only been on one cruise sized vessel but that trip we also passed a hurricane and had a rough night but not too terrible. I did feel it but had no issues like when on sail boats and fishing vessels. So you never know.

 

[disneyholic family]

Actually neither are non drowsy just labelled "less drowsy". Technically the drugs can be taken every 6 hrs but usually someone with motion sickness will only take it once maybe twice a day. You really don't have much of a need for it while at port right . But many still get the effects by taking it at night and manage to make it through the day fine. Some people also don't tolerate these meds (in rare occasions it an make people, especially children) hyper vs solemn, and sometimes people don't get drowsy either. It just depends on the person and "practicing" before the trip is really good advice so you can see what to expect if anything.

The only boats I've ever had issues on we're smaller ones. Granted I've only been on one cruise sized vessel but that trip we also passed a hurricane and had a rough night but not too terrible. I did feel it but had no issues like when on sail boats and fishing vessels. So you never know.

i was really shocked at how badly i was affected by the Dream - i had assumed that because it was such a big ship, it would move much less...
yet, the moment i set foot on her - when we were still in port - i was ill...
as were both my mom and sister...

truly, i was shocked that it hit me that way the second i set foot aboard her...

i'm curious to see what will happen when i try the Allure...i've heard it doesn't move at all, but that's what people told me about the Dream, and it didn't matter to that place in my brain that controls that awful feeling!!

 

[wen-tom]

I have always been fine and had 10 nights on the magic and aside from 1 night on the med during the roughest seas that the crew had seen for a while!
Yet when we boarded the dream for 3 nights in September I was fuzzy and dizzy and the feeling did not stop for the whole trip and even at WDW after the cruise I still felt off!

I thought that a bigger ship would have less movement so I didn't worry at all but I will certainly think of taking something with me if I ever sail in the dream (or fantasy) again !

 

[lucyem]

I have always been fine and had 10 nights on the magic and aside from 1 night on the med during the roughest seas that the crew had seen for a while!
Yet when we boarded the dream for 3 nights in September I was fuzzy and dizzy and the feeling did not stop for the whole trip and even at WDW after the cruise I still felt off!

I thought that a bigger ship would have less movement so I didn't worry at all but I will certainly think of taking something with me if I ever sail in the dream (or fantasy) again !

For me the more subtle the movement, the more sick I feel. I grew up on small boats and never got seasick. I never get car sick. The moment I step onto a big ship I go downhill fast. Yet when that same ship hits rougher waters I actually feel better. Go figure. Its like as long as the movement is noticeable I am OK.

 

[EricaG]

For me, sea bands and Bonine just took the edge off, but I still didn't feel great the first couple of nights--had to leave dinner the first night.

Next cruise I got the scopolamine patch from my doctor (no appt needed--just called the nurse and then the doctor called it in for me). Several weeks before our sail date, I put the patch on and left it for a few days to make sure I didn't have a bad reaction. The only side effect I got was some dry mouth.

I put the patch on when we boarded (several hours before sailing) and then changed it three days later, and I felt great all cruise. The first night, I could definitely sense the motion, but it just didn't have any effect--no nausea, and no "woozy-head" like I had experienced before.

Doing it for next cruise and recommended the same process to my mom and sister who are also prone to motion sickness.

 

[WicketsMom]

i'm curious to see what will happen when i try the Allure...i've heard it doesn't move at all, but that's what people told me about the Dream, and it didn't matter to that place in my brain that controls that awful feeling!!

From my experience with scuba students on boats, a lot of times if you go in with the attitude that you are going to get sick, you do. That isn't the only factor obviously, but a positive attitude can help (a placebo effect of sorts).

 

[disneymagic316]

I take BONINE. I start taking them 2 days before the cruise. I think they work great. I don't get tired at all.

I tied the wrist bands and they didn't work for me.r

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

I take BONINE. I start taking them 2 days before the cruise. I think they work great. I don't get tired at all.

I tied the wrist bands and they didn't work for me.r

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that the wrist bands don't work on...started to think I was really an odd duck! (Well, more odd then I already knew I was) lol

 

[lovetotraveltx]

My daughter has it pretty bad! Even needs meds for 3d movies and roller coasters. She won't wear anything. Does 24hour less drowsy Dramamine or bromine and does fine!