Patches or Pills for motion sickness?

[Mean Queen]

I'm about to go on an 8 night cruise (sadly, not Disney) and want to know what motion sickness method to use. When we did DCL in May, I took dramamine. But it made me so tired, we missed Hercules. I was wondering how the patches work. Any pros and cons of your experiences with both would be most helpful.

 

[Monica D]

I haven't tried the patch yet, but I'm going to ask my dr. for one to try before the cruise. I've heard they can make your mouth feel dry and can give you a dizzy type of feel. I think it's a good idea to try anything out beforehand.

 

[MrsScooby]

I've had good luck with Bonine. As long as I get a good night's sleep and avoid alcohol it doesn't make me drowsy.

Ginger capsules have also worked for me in the past after Star Tours at MGM made me quite nauseous

I've heard here that some people shouldn't take ginger though since it may react with prescription meds

Double check with your doctor just in case.

I bring both Bonine and ginger with me when I cruise and take the bonine early the day I board. (Doesn't work as well after you get sick )

I'm very prone to motion sickness (car, boat, plane, etc.) and this works well for me.

Good luck

 

[Windy City Heather]

I have used the patch. I get very motion sick (no back seat of a car for me). I do get Dry mouth and my eyes dialate so I have to wear sun glasses but I have to any way or my eyes hurt and I get a head ache. I hear great things about Bonine so I am thinking about trying it this time.

 

[Colorado DISers]

Bonine works great. Take it before bed, stating the night before, and you will be fine.

 

[sherrlon]

Ginger capsules have also worked for me in the past after Star Tours at MGM made me quite nauseous

I've heard here that some people shouldn't take ginger though since it may react with prescription meds


Good luck

Where did you get the ginger pills? Can you get them at GNC or a health food store? Is there one particular brand you like?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Ginger pills are what also work with my husband (as with any medication or supplment, double check with your doctor or pharmiscist first). Some Targets carry them. GNC and the like absolutely do. It is best to start taking them about a week before the crusie to build them up in your system and then keep taking them right on through the cruise. My DH who can't be a passenger in a car, ride tea cups, or even sit on porch swings, did this on the fairly rocky transatlantic in May and was FINE. Another thing he always does is sit so he is facing forward to the motion of the ship at meals. This makes a HUGE difference for him (he also can't do things in the Buena Vista theatre if it is rocky becuase you sit sideways in there and it makes him queasy).

 

[tiggr33]

If you do not wear glasses for vision correction, be careful with scopoderm patches as they can cause visual disruptions. Those that wear glasses may not notice the visual change, as we are used to slight visual changes (like looking over the top of your glasses). I have heard of many people getting dizzy from the patch(I didn't) , and the dry mouth is annoying (very very annoying). But then again, if you do some research on this medication, it's no wonder it causes side effects. The ship has plenty of meclazine available for free in case you do not medicate in advance and you get sick.

 

[Mean Queen]

It looks like I'll be trying Bonine or ginger pills, because I don't like the idea of visual changes or dialated eyes. So for those that take Bonine, you take it the night before the cruise and it lasts the whole next day? Or do you take other pills throughout the day? I just took the Dramamine before dinner and was dead tired by 9 pm.

 

[mattmommy]

Take the ginger pills a week before, during and after the cruise. Take Bonine every day. My aunts who get very sick did this and were fine (except my cousin who felt so good, she stopped the Bonine-mistake).

 

[mellbe113]

I would not recomend the patch. My ship mate wore the patch last August. She was very irritable, dry mouth, vision problems. The worst was how it affected her mentaly. She felt like throwing herself from the ship. I am not kidding. Very strong urge. She could not wait to get off the ship in port. She ordered room service on the last night of the cruise and does not remember it. Huge order of food and no memory. She still thinks I am nuts.

I looked up the side effects when we got home and she had about 9 of the 13 listed. Not a good experience for her or us.

I used Bonine. No problems. Took it when the ship started to rock and felt fine.

Needless to say, she will not be cruising again, but we are going again this August.

 

[dizneefreak29]

I always take Bonine. I even have a drink with dinner and have never felt anything. And I get motion sickness on Missions:Space! I always take it in the morning with breakfast.

 

[padalyn]

Oh, sea sickness - I am so lucky!! I may feel it occosionally but only for a few minutes then I am fine. Here are my tricks since I DO suffer from motion sickness and air sickness (my hunny, tiggr33, will agree with that one!!)

1. make sure you don't eat spicy foods - extra tummy juices make for nausea on a good day!

2. wear the wrist bands on BOTH wrists!! Do NOT get the stretchy ones that are usually sold on ships - they don't work! try these:
http://www.biobands.com/
be sure to wear them in the right spot - right at the wrist with the "bump" between the tendons -should feel relief immediately if already feeling queesy.

3. stay away from chewing gum - same problem as the spicy foods

4. eat saltine crackers chewed into a yucchhy mess and swallow the mess whole -this absorbs the acids and will actually change the acidity of your stomache a little bit.

5. take a mild antihystamine that doesn't adversely effect you - Meclizine, scopolimine, and the other "sea sickness" pills are just antihystamine. nothing more. So, one can take which ever one helps for allergies and that should do it. If you do need more - use the chewable tablets the ship offers -that way one can take a half dose (one pill) and not be as knocked out.

6. premedicate - take what ever you are going to use, ginger, meclizine, or the patch for a couple of days as a tiral before you travel -see if you can tolerate it. I go blind with the patch - it takes about 72 hours and I am then blind for 48 hours after I remove the patch. This is a common side effect of the patch.

7. stay out of the cabin unless you are focused on doing something, like showering or sleeping. Go up on deck -the wind helps. Look at the horizon - it isn't moving this may give you a perspective on what is happening.

I have also heard that eating an apple will work - have never tried it, nor been with anyone who has...but someone at our table swore by it as a possible solution.

I was reading about Seasickness or Mal de Mere (spelling?) the other day - seems it has over 1300 different names! and primarily affects the inner ear. Your eyes and ears disagree and send conflicting signals to the brain. Going up on deck will reset the signals and help. (this is according to my boating magazine).

Good luck - enjoy the cruise and don't really worry about being sea sick - the ship has great stabilizers and even in 30 foot seas was rocky but not unmanagable. For the crossing (EB transatlantic) we had 23 ft seas many days - people didn't really seem to notice it.

I thought the best show on the ship was watching everyone try to walk past Lumiere's...the marble floor made the rolling just unmanagable We were all laughing at how drunk we all looked - even the crew was having a good time laughing at all of us (crew & guests!!!)

 

[jrabbit]

It's been a while since I posted this - so here it goes...

Motion Sickness - Everything you EVER wanted to Know

This information was posted by Hydster 9/20/2004. It is the most complete information that I have seen (and I agree with all of it - especially the part about trying the meds out at home BEFORE you leave on your trip)

Note: any references in the following to "me", "my", "mine", "us", "I", "DW, DH, DD, DS" are refering to Hyster and her family not me or my family. -JRA-
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So I revised my motion sickness stuff and added a few tips given from WVMD (it was his idea and a darn good one at that)and so now here is the new REVISED motion sickness information. -Hydster-
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Sea Bands and Relief Bands

Sea bands are a terry cloth type band that you wear on your wrist. It has a white knob that if positioned correctly CAN put pressure on the wrist pressure point. Here is a website with a picture of a Sea Band

http://www.etravelergear.com/noqmotdiswri.html

These bands are very cheap but beware that since they rely on hitting a specific spot in your wrist it is possible that they will not work very well. They did not work well on me or my husband as our pressure point is too deep. The spot it is supposed to sit on is called the NeiGuan Pressure Point (P6) if you want to research that pressure point.


The Relief Band is a sort of watch looking contraption that actually shocks your wrist with a shocking impulse that is supposed to help with motion sickness as well. It is quite pricey and in the same sort of category as the Sea Bands where if they work I hear they work great but if they don’t work well you hopefully have another method with you. Here is a website with what these are:

http://www.reliefband.com/

We found them at a local store for about 70 dollars but ended up returning them as they didn’t work for either of us.

These two options are nice if you don’t want to take any medication but please beware that there is a chance that they will not work and make sure you have a backup method.
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The Transderm Scop patch is a patch that contains scopolamine and you put it on behind your ear and wear it continually for 3 days at a time. Can have irritating side effects but, most people complain of a dry mouth. Wear the patch for a day or two prior to going on the cruise to see if you can tolerate it. It is a prescription only medication. Drug clears rapidly from the system - hence the need to wear the patch - so side effects should be resolved in 4-6 hours after removing the patch. You MUST be diligent about washing your hands after they come in contact with the patch and if you accidentally touch it and touch your eye(s) they can dilate your pupils and give you symptoms much worse than seasickness alone! These patches work well for some but have a higher rate of allergic reactions than other forms according to my pharmacist (take that for what it's worth). Their website is http://www.transdermscop.com/site2/
I would suggest that you read the side effects in the patient information section. I didn’t try this out at home before we left on our first cruise and I ended up in the cabin sick with a nasty headache, upset stomach, dizziness, dilated pupils and miserable. Turns out I am highly allergic to scopolamine and didn’t know it! I would suggest if you plan on using this you try it out at home first to make sure that you are not allergic to it. I have also heard that there is a new scopolamine product called Scopace that gives the same benefit as the patch but with fewer side effects. Ask your doctor if you want to go this way if they think it is good for you and your body.
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Then there are the over the counter drugs like Dramamine, Dramamine Less Drowsy, Bonine and the active form of Bonine and Dramamine Less Drowsy which is Meclizine.

Dramamine is a dimenhydrinate and it has the ability to make you really really sleepy! I'd suggest trying these methods out at home before you go as well to see how they react especially if they make your extremely tired and if you drink how you react with alcohol. Original Dramamine can be used in small children although not under the age of 2 but can make them extremely tired and agitated. Here is their website
http://www.pfizer.com/do/counter/di..._dramamine.html


Dramamine Less Drowsy and Bonine are actually Meclizine. You can generally buy Meclizine over the counter (although some pharmacy's keep it behind the counter) but without a prescription and the Meclizine is generally cheaper. We get 100 Meclizine tablets for 8.00 where we get 12 Bonine for 8.00 so the difference is a big deal to us! Meclizine, Bonine, Dramamine Less Drowsy are all antihistamines such as Benadryl. We usually start taking this medication 2-3 days before we leave and continue to take 1 pill every morning until we have been home for at least 2 days. Our pediatrician told us we could give a 1/2 of a 12.5 mg pill to our older kids and my dd needed it but my 2 boys did not. They didn’t suffer from motion sickness at all but my 9 year old did suffer. I would also suggest trying this out at home before you go as well. Better to lose a weekend than a whole trip! Here is an online pharmacy (prices are outrageous) but it has some good information on Meclizine http://www.online-health-pharmacy.c...y_meclizine.php

Antivert - Prescription version of Meclizine - no difference in strength/ingredients - just price!

Claritin = Loratadine - Not as effective for most people - makes very few people drowsy

Any antihistamine has the potential to help with seasickness. Remember if you are already taking an antihistamine - start at the lower doses of meclizine - as there can be an additive effect

Alcohol can intensify the side effects of all of these medications!
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There are also Ginger tablets or candy that you can take with you to help with nausea and generally you can buy them in any health food store. As with the relief bands since they are "natural" and not a drug it would be hard to try them out before you go so make sure you take a backup method as well. Also some people find that mint is helpful as well. I believe these are in the same kind of category where ginger and mint have a calming effect on the stomach. Another short term trick is to eat a green apple. Our servers told us this on one of our cruises and it did help when I was already feeling ill. It kept my stomach somewhat calm UNTIL the meds took effect.
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For children, Benedryl is supposed to help them overcome motion sickness
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As you can see there are many ways to combat seasickness but you need to make sure that you pick the right one for you!! I honestly can’t say this enough but make sure you try whatever medication you can out at home before leaving on your trip so that you can deal with the side effects at home. A trip to the ships' doctor is quite costly and MOST insurance require that you pay for the treatment up front and then submit a claim to get reimbursed. I know my one trip to the ships doctor cost me over 200 dollars because I had to get an anti-nausea shot, diagnosis, more medication and I lost 3 days of my trip! Remember it is a lot easier to prevent sea sickness than it is to cure it.
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[lawmom3]

I took a RCL cruise a few years ago and was sick as a dog due to rough waters. I get car sick/motion sick easily. On that cruise, I took Bonine after teh worst part of it but still wished for chicken broth and the bed.

So, on my last DCL, I got the patch. Stuck it behind my ear and it was GREAT! NO seasickness. The only thing was that my vision was VERY blurry. I could not focus on anything. But let's put it this way, I'm going on another cruise in Sept and it will be the patch for me. Blurry vision v. that awful nausea feeling??....stick it on please!

 

[NJBlackBerry]

I used the wrist bands. They worked perfectly for me. They put pressure on Pericardium point 6, which worked like a charm. We had no rough seas at all, which helped. I had no issues at all.

 

[Dsnymouse]

I have also used the pressure point bands and purchased them at a local Walgreen's (think they cost about $10 for two), we brought dramine as well. The bands worked for me and didn't have side effects. Enjoy!

 

[branv]

Just call me the poster child for the patch It worked great, and I can tell you 100% that if I hadn't had it on that first night, it would have been one looooong night. I had zero side-effects, no blurry vision, no dry mouth, nothing.

DH on the other hand had no problems, b/c he's got a beautiful inner ear. To be sure, though, I was careful to make him take Ginger pills. I figure even if they weren't needed for the upset tummy resulting from motion, they'd probably help forestall any issues due to your classic cruise food/drink overindulgence.

 

[Perdie]

I tend to get motion sick on ToT and on catamarans....so when i went to WDW in Feb 06, I used thepatch for 10 days-I didn't know about the side effects at all, and I might have had dry mouth (but not bad enough for me to even recall). But by the end of 10 days, my vision started to blur, I freaked out until I read the side effects and as soon as I took the patch off, within hours I was fine. And my vision did not start to blur until after 10 days of this.

My hubby and I are going on the 11 day Med cruise July 28th and a dis caribbean cruise in Feb, I am trying to find the patch here in London so I can bring it along-but i don't think i will wear it everyday-just for excursions! (I get very sick on those slow moving catamarans!!)

Dramamine makes me super drowsy-but I am thinking of bringing bonine and ginger in case i don't want the patch...

Every person reacts differently, so definitely try everything before you go!

 

[mjy]

Ginger really does work. And, unlike many other medications, the only side effect that anyone can really say about Ginger is that some people get a little bit of an aftertaste from it.

Many of the medications have side effects known and unknown. One of them, for my concern, is that it can affect people who have glaucoma and increase the pressure in the eye. This IS true of Meclazine as well:

Active Ingredients: Meclizine HCl, USP (25 mg)

Inactive Ingredients: Croscarmellose Sodium, D&C Yellow 10 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow 6 Aluminum Lake, Lactose (Monohydrate), Magnesium Stearate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Other Ingredients:

Warnings:
May cause drowsiness; alcohol, sedatives, and tranquilizers may increase the drowsiness effect. Avoid alcoholic beverages while taking this product. Do not take this product if you are taking sedatives or tranquilizers, without first consulting your doctor. Use caution when driving a motor vehicle or operating machinery. Do not give to children under 12 years of age unless directed by a doctor. Do not take this product if you have asthma, glaucoma, emphysema, chronic pulmonary disease, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, or difficulty in urination due to enlargement of the prostate gland unless directed by a doctor. As with any drug, If you are pregnant or nursing a baby, seek the advice of a health professional before using this product. Keep this and all drugs out of the reach of children. In case of accidental overdose, seek professional assistance or contact a poison control center immediately.


I have recommended ginger to many people, most recently a friend who always got motion sick in the paste. He tried ginger and did Mission Space in EPCOT and the new Himalaya ride in Animal Kingdom as well as many others and was fine.

Some people say that it helps them if they start taking the ginger a day or two before traveling. I have seen it done both ways (a day or two before as well as the day of) and there doesn't seem to be a difference.

All I know is that for the vast majority of the people, it does work.

Another tried and true method of preventing/controlling motion sickness is the Relief Band. From Drugstore.com:
__________________________________________________ _____

Travel with Confidence. Reusable.
Nausea on the go is a no-go situation. But this battery-operated wristband both prevents and reverses symptoms of motion sickness with five levels of stimulation.

• Water-resistant.
• Shock-resistant.
• Reusable.
• Electronic.
• Drug free, FDA cleared.
• Battery Operated.

For the relief of nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness, air sickness, and sea sickness.

• No Drowsiness or Drug-Like Side Effects.
• Can Be Used Before or After Symptoms Begin.
• Does Not Interfere With Food or Drink.

The Only Drug Free, FDA Cleared Relief For Motion Sickness. Relieves nausea & vomiting with gentle, non-invasive stimulation on the underside of the wrist. 5 user-controlled power levels for maximum comfort and benefit.

• Works Within Minutes.
• One Size Fits All.
• Replaceable Coin Cell Batteries Last About 150 Hours.​