question for veteran cruisers with chronic motion sickness problems (on land)

[disneyholic family]

ok...
we're getting close to sailing now so i'd better get serious....
as the subject states, i have chronic motion sickness problems even when nowhere near an ocean.....

are there any veteran cruisers out there with the same problem who have been on a cruise (and lived to talk about it)?...

i'm really curious how you reacted to things like lying in bed and being rocked.....i just read a post about how well someone slept because they were lulled to sleep by the gentle rolling........well...what baby's like might be torture for someone like me...so i'm wondering what other balance-challenged cruisers have experienced....

 

[Celebrategoldens]

I get motion sick very easily, as in I do easily get car sick, I ALWAYS take bonine or dramamine when riding a bus (you don't want to ask the people on my Germany trip what happens when I try to ride in a bus in the Alps with no medicine ) and I CANNOT do rides that go round and round or those new "motion" rides like Star Tours or Body Wars.
That said, when I cruise I take Bonine before I get on the ship. I continue taking it most of the time throghout the cruise. Our last cruise had very smooth sailing, and I think I skipped a couple of days. I have to watch when we get OFF the ship and onto a bus, so I always make sure to take something then. I have even sailed on a VERY rough trip (1993 - storm of the cenury- you get the picture) The water in the pools was sloshing out of the pools and you could see the roll of the ship. I was fine, but kept myself medicated. This is just my experience, I did start to try the patch one trip, but I got AIRSICK on the way down and had to take dramamine ). So, when I pack to go on a cruise, I always pack my bonine!

 

[disneyholic family]

can you buy bonine over-the-counter (without a prescription?)....
we live overseas and it's not available here...
so will i be able to say, walk into a pharmacy (goodings?...does it have a pharmacy....i can't remember) before we sail and buy some?...

 

[MartyP]

I get motion sick very easily, I can't ride in a car and read or anything like that.During both of our cruises I used the patch. The cruise (June 00) the ship moved very little. I was fine. March 02 on the eastern Magic the ship moved quite a bit. I never once felt sick. Some people have said the patch made them sleepy. The only and side effect I felt was a dry mouth. I just drank a lot of water.

 

[1disfan]

Bonine or its' equivalent- Meclizine is available free on the ship, in chewable tablets, in packets. There is a box full of them available outside the medical section. It is called "Sea-Calm".

Cruisin` tomorrow and haven't packed a thing. It's great to live in Orlando.

Bill

2/24/01- Magic
5/10/01- Wonder
9/29/01- Magic
12/2/01- Wonder
4/7/02- Wonder
5/11/02- Magic

 

[disneyholic family]

really?.....i wasn't aware of that..
but i think i want to start my family on the stuff an hour before we board.....
but it's good to know it's there in case we run out..

and by the way, i'm totally jealous of where you live...
next best thing to living inside WDW....

 

[kramer_clan]

I agree with the Bonine. I take it everytime I cruise and have no problems with motion sickness.

I would take it in the morning after breakfast on the day that you board.

Vicki

 

[gottaluvdisney]

I get car sick, air sick and of course I have gotten sea sick on most of my 7nt cruises, usually the first full day at sea I have spent in bed. I have been on 10 cruises (8 of those being 7nts). I have always taken bonine or meclizine which make me very sleepy, hence sleeping almost one day in bed. This past cruise I tried the sea bands. What a gem those are! Within 10 minutes of putting them on I felt better and never once felt sea sick. I will be traveling with sea bands from now on. You can take them on and off as needed. Just follow the directions.

 

[disneyholic family]

where do you buy sea bands?

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Bonine or its generic equivalent should be available in any pharmacy, Wal-Mart, probably even grocery store (although possibly not a quickie mart like 7-11). You should have no trouble finding it before you leave. However, I don't know if Nonine is for kids under 6, if that's a concern. you may wish to ask a doctor, some people have said half a tablet for under 6, but I would check with my doctor's office before leaving. Good luck!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

P.S. I saw Sea Bands in Wal-Mart yesterday. I'm SOOOO jealous of all you inagural cruisers!

 

[plutojudy]

I took Dramamine non-dowsy every morning and took 2 ginger capsules before breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime. I did not get sick this cruise and it was a rough one (April 6-13). I did get sick last year just taking dramamine. I get sick on Lake Michigan and Lake Geneva! Cannot go on the motion rides or Epcot movie like the China and Canada ones. Hope this helps, it sure helped me!

 

[gottaluvdisney]

I purchased them on the ship for about $15. Just make sure you read the directions. I didn't and my SIL did and I couldn't figure out why after about 4hrs my hands felt funny (between my thumb and pointer finger) This was the only side effect.....I just took them off for awhile and then used them later and they work really quick. Once you start to feel whoozie you just put them on and within about 10-15min. I would feel better.

I also can't ride Body Wars or Star Tours. Yuck!

 

[hydster]

and have gone on 5 cruises with #6 in November. I cannot ride in a car for longer than an hour or I get really sick. I have a hard time riding rides at DL or anywhere for that matter unless I am medicated. I cant read in a car, I cant look at anything but the front window and watch the road without getting sick, I cant even watch my kids go on rides or I get sick and My opinion is this:

Dramamine II, Antivert, Bonine are all the name brand drugs you can buy and they all contain Meclizine which you can buy at any pharmacy like Walmart or Rite Aid and usually they are about 250 tablets for 5.00 as opposed to Bonine where you get 8 tablets for 5.00 at least here. Meclizine (bonine, Dramamine) is an antihistimine that helps your body and the inner ear. If you have problems with antihistimines such as Benadryl you may have problems with Meclizine type products. We take them 2 days before we leave for our trip to get them into our systems. We take one every morning when our feet touch the floor of our room with a glass of water and then adjust the dosage throughout the day if the waves are bad (have been during hurricane season once and had VERY high waves) so we have taken 2-3 instead of one but on calm days we take one pill a day usually. They dont tend to make us sleepy after the initial day or two before we leave. You can drink alcohol with them if you drink but do it very carefully. As for kids it is NOT recommended that you give them this unless they are over 12 years of age. (got that straight from the Meclizine bottle in my medicine cabinet) My pediatrician recommended taking ginger ale and ginger tablets for my kids ages 8, 6 and 2 when we went a few months ago and you can also buy ginger candy that they can have. Amazingly my kids didnt suffer one day with motion sickness or sea sickness on the cruise so I am hoping my luck continues in November.

Some people use the patch which is Transderm Scop. Alot of people do very well with it but if you dont tolerate it well it can make your life a nightmare! If you want to try the patch I would recommend you do so BEFORE you leave on your trip so you will know the side effects. For me the side effect was FAR worse than the actual sickness I get with motion! My pupils dialated so big my eyes were basically black instead of blue. I was dizzy, sick to my stomach and felt really yucky, had a massive headache and my eyes could NOT focus on anything! This lasted for 3 days AFTER I took the patch off! I reacted to it "typically" from what the Norwegian Norway ships doctor told me as he injected me with a shot of Meclizine and sent me to bed for 3 days! It was a horrible experience and one I dont ever want to go through again! You can go to this website to read more about the patch and it's side effects to see if it is something that you are interested in: http://www.transdermscop.com/site2/view-insert.html
With the patch you have to be VERY careful that you wash your hands whenever they have come in contact with the patch so if it itches you have to make sure you wash your hands immediately! It is also NOT recommended that you drink alcohol while using the patch but most of this you can read on the transderm site above!

The sea bands are great if they work as well. They would probably be a GREAT alternative for your kids if you dont want to medicate them! They dont tend to work for me as I must have VERY deep pressure points so they dont push the right "button" on my wrist! Some people have great luck with them and I wish I was one of them but I am not!!

I guess my advice would be if you are going to take medicine to help you I would suggest that you make sure to try it out BEFORE you leave home so that you will know what it does to you and you dont get your very expensive trip ruined by something that could have been avoidable! I would also try it early enough that you could contact your physician to get something else! There are lots of things you could try at his recommendation I am sure! Good luck with whatever you choose! I know how awful it is to think about being so sick you cant get out of bed!

Oh yeah and one more thing... I have never had a problem being in bed with the rocking motion as long as I am medicated! I only have had problems when I think I dont need a pill and dont take it!!

Heidi

 

[disneyholic family]

thanks Heidi!!!!
lots of useful information!!!

i think i'll have to go the wrist band/ginger capsule route....

thanks for the anti-histamine info.....the medicine i take for my chronic problem is a histamine....histamine + anti histamine = not a good mix......as in drug interaction....

so i'll have to leave the bonine to the rest of the family and hope that the alternatives work on me....

 

[hydster]

you are very welcome!!! I think your physician should be able to give you something that will work with your histimine/antihistimine problem! I have heard that regular Dramamine has a different ingredient in it but I am not 100 percent positive on that! You might call your doctor and ask he/she about what you can do! I also have heard that there are relief bands that put electric impulses in your wrist to help keep you from getting sick but I am not sure how well they work! They are called relief bands and they are quite pricey but might be worth it if you can take anything else! I know rei.com sells the regular wrist bands for 8.00 and you can buy the relief bands from places like drugstore.com but they are almost 80 dollars!
Anyway just thought I would throw that out there as well but if it were me I would consult my physician and ask him/her what to do about it! Certainly they can point you in the right direction for medication that you can take that will help you.

Have a good time and best of luck to you!
Heidi

 

[disneyholic family]

i think i'll stick with the bands....
i'm afraid of taking medicine (you'd be shocked at how little doctors know about drug interaction)

thanks again...

 

[akid@hart]

However, prior to my last cruise I got positional vertigo and I had no idea how I would be affected. I took Bonine, but I took it the NIGHT BEFORE the cruise. That way I figured it would be in my system and I could continue to take it at night on the ship. That way if it made me sleepy I wouldn't miss a thing, but have a good nights sleep. It worked like a charm.
There is also a new item out that looks like a watch and delivers doses just when you need it also, they are around $100. and you can buy them on the ship or on the internet, I read about them on another cruise board.

 

[chines]

My doctor suggested chewable dramamine tablets for my 2 kids under 12. I could not find it so I asked the pharmacist at my local KMart and they keep it behind the counter even though its not by perscription. I always give it to them before a flight or during a cruise and it works.

 

[ynggun21]

Another alternative is to drink ginger ale and eat saltine crackers when ever you feel yourself getting motion sickness, it is an old way of the fisherman who did this when the seas got rough on say a boat about 41' I never ever get sick and one time I went shark fishing and for some reason I got light headed and started to get sick and the captain gave me ginger ale and saltine crackers and in no time i was back to my self again. Seems to settle the stomach and and prevent you from vomiting. Now Im no Doctor but IM only offering a suggestion that I know worked for me. Hope I could be of some help. Happy sailing

7 day land & sea cruise July 18th. 2002 Disney Wonder