Sea sickness tips

[laevson4712]

Looking for tips for sea sickness. This is our first cruise so not sure how everyone is going to react. I heard starting motion sickness medication a week out helps, but not sure if this is true. Thanks!!

 

[Barbydoll8]

A week out is a bit much. Usually it's 24 hours before. I personally get sick if you go reverse in the car too fast so I MUST wear a patch. Nothing else works. I've done sea bands, over the counter stuff ect. The patch is all that works. It depends on how everyone does with things like rides, reading while driving, flying etc. I can't do any thrill/virtual reality type rides. I will always recommend the patch to anyone who has even mild reactions to motion sickness cause it works. It does have side effects so I would say, talk to your doctor.
They do have sea sick pills on the ship should someone get sick but usually they will make you very drowsy. I didn't have the drowsiness with the patch but I do get dry mouth terrible.

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

My husband was the only one who felt a little sea sick. He only really felt it when looking out our verandah from inside the room. Sea Bands worked perfectly for him. He didn't have to take any of the Dramamine that I also packed in case.

 

[Bdunn]

As stated above, scopolamine patches (prescription) work, as does meclizine (either prescription or OTC Bonine). No studies have demonstrated significant effect from using sea bands or other substances like ginger.
Patches will cause dry mouth and blurry near vision in most people, but not drowsiness. People with glaucoma and some other medical conditions should not use the patch. Each patch lasts 3 days and should be applied the night before boarding.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I would really suggest waiting to see if you are going to even get sea sick before taking meds.

I started to feel a tiny big "swimmy" on our first cruise and used Sea Bands, which had me right as rain almost immediately. My mother, who is in her 70s and is prone to motion sickness, did get sick on two of three cruises. She takes a motion sickness pill and puts on the Sea Bands when she feels it coming on (usually just on a rougher sea day), which fixes her. So like I said, wait and see how you react because you might be just fine or be able to fix it naturally.

 

[AcuraTL]

We used sea bands. We also took bonine the first couple of nights but that made us too drowsy. Sea bands worked for us.

 

[RebelHawk]

My wife gets pretty bad motion sickness. She tried acupressure bands, over the counter meds and all the other typical homeopathic solutions but nothing really worked. Our last cruise she got the prescription scopolamine patches and that worked for her. She had very minor side effects such as dry mouth and some blurred vision. She typically started wearing the patch 24 hours prior to our cruise and wore it a couple of days after we got home. Best wishes on your cruise and hope you find a good solution.

 

[lucky1]

Now. I take non drowsy Bonine or equivalent brand the day before I get on the plane to go on the cruise and I continue the recommended dosage until mid cruise, generally I forget to take it any more.

I had problems on my first cruise and generally it it is the first day heading out into rough waters and I also have issues on smaller boats in choppy water.. But since I started taking Bonine right before traveling I don't have same issues.

 

[anricat]

On our first cruise I started using Bonine 24 hours prior to the cruise and took one every day. I felt mostly okay but had a LOT of vertigo, particularly at ports. I was also able to feel a lot of movement on the ship when other people were looking at me like I was insane when I asked if they could tell we had just picked up speed, stuff like that. In fact, when we pulled out of port, I turned to DH and said "we're moving" and he was like "Huh!?!" We both looked and sure enough, we were moving. I felt it but he didn't.

Sooo... I'm very sensitive to movement. In August we didn't cruise, but I did a plane trip with a half day boat trip and I wore a patch just to test it out prior to our next cruise in October and it was great. The first night I felt a little drugged. Not bad, just sort of felt like my body had something in it. The next morning I was fine. I had no dry mouth, no blurred vision, nothing. It was a little itchy. I kept accidentally reaching up to scratch it, forgetting it was there. It was still better than vertigo!

But try without the patch first. It's a SERIOUS medication with lots of scary sounding side effects. I was really nervous but I was fine. Bonnie is non-drowsy so give that a try first. Don't use generic. I found it not to be as effective as the brand name Bonine. It sounds weird, but I've experienced it with other medications (as has my mom) and I spoke to a friend who is a pharmacist and she said generics can be formulated slightly differently and that there can be subtle differences some people might be more sensitive to.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I swear by Bonine (active ingredient meclizine). I get car sick and can't ride roller coasters. I had no side effects with meclizine. I start taking it the day before getting on the ship and then once in the morning and once at bedtime. I have never had motion sickness on the ship and we sailed in the North Sea this summer! You can buy cheaper generic brands, but the active ingredient has to be meclizine.

We took a small boat to Runde Island in Norway this summer and it was very choppy an up and down. I used sea bands as well and didn't get sick. My DH, unfortunately, who was not taking a regular dose of meclizine, did get sea sick.

Motion sickness preventatives really need to be taken before you start feeling sick to be most effective.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Looking for tips for sea sickness. This is our first cruise so not sure how everyone is going to react. I heard starting motion sickness medication a week out helps, but not sure if this is true. Thanks!!

When we took our first cruise, we already knew that my husband was quite susceptible to motion sickness, so we got the patch for him. But, for me, we didn't think I would be (although I had had some air sickness issues as a child). So for me, we just brought along bonine. And MotionEze. I didn't need any of it.

When we brought along our kids on a subsequent cruise, I packed everything - bonine, draminine, sea bands, MotionEze. Except for one night toward the end of the cruise noone needed any of it.

As for my husband, after about 3 cruises, the patch was causing more side effects than helping, so he tried not using it for one cruise, only using sea bands on the one day we had rough seas. He did fine. So we think that his body has learned to accept being at sea with no issues.

While it's best to talk to your medical provider about medication issues, IMO, if noone in your family/group has evidenced that they might had motion sickness issues, I'd just suggest bringing along the basics (Bonine/Dramamine) and wait until they need it (if they do). If there are those who have evidenced motion sickness issues in the past, I'd probably start them on a small dose of Bonine starting the day before the cruise.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Always only take advice from doctors or medically trained professionals and not from people on an Internet forum, family health is so important what works for one may cause another harm.

 

[ChicosWife]

Do they make seabands for kids?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do they make seabands for kids?

Yes. Just do a google search for them.

 

[MunFam]

I get so motion sick that I cannot sit in a hammock. Its BAD. I get sea sick when we are still tie up to the pier because the boat moves ever so slightly. I also get sea sick walking out on to little floating docks at the lake. Its BAD. When the seas are crazy rough, I am fine. I have found that if there is wind blowing in my face, I do much better. I bring along little hand held fans and string and a magnet. I dangle them from the ceiling on the nights/days I am sick and trying to sleep. I take meclazine, sometimes, but for the most part, fresh air is best for me. I got sea sick every single night we dined in Animator's Palate on the Wonder. Being at the aft, even in calm seas was just too much for me.

 

[ChicosWife]

Yes. Just do a google search for them.

Thanks. I will. This will be the first time we have taken our kids on a cruise ship and although they did fine on a regular fishing boat, I don't know how they will do on a big boat, for a 4 night cruise. I may just get a couple of "just in case" seabands. How long does it take for them to work?

 

[Bdunn]

Always only take advice from doctors or medically trained professionals and not from people on an Internet forum, family health is so important what works for one may cause another harm.

Yep.

Board-certified in Emergency Medicine with 20 years experience.

;-)

 

[bumbershoot]

Always only take advice from doctors or medically trained professionals and not from people on an Internet forum, family health is so important what works for one may cause another harm.

Did you not read what was said? People have given VERY thorough answers here, with nothing saying "do this and only this!"

Plus, I personally trust the knowledge and opinions of many vs putting blind faith that my one puny imperfect human doctor paid attention on all the days of medical or naturopathic school, and was there all days, etc etc. Not to mention, it's not doctors that know drugs; it's pharmacists.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Thanks. I will. This will be the first time we have taken our kids on a cruise ship and although they did fine on a regular fishing boat, I don't know how they will do on a big boat, for a 4 night cruise. I may just get a couple of "just in case" seabands. How long does it take for them to work?

We got them for my son, on the ship, when he felt a bit queasy. The sea sick meds made him too drowsy. The bands are safe for kids, they work on a pressure point in the wrist. I'm not super convinced of their effectiveness, but, he believed they worked and so they did. He felt better in a few hours.

 

[Bdunn]

Did you not read what was said? People have given VERY thorough answers here, with nothing saying "do this and only this!"

Plus, I personally trust the knowledge and opinions of many vs putting blind faith that my one puny imperfect human doctor paid attention on all the days of medical or naturopathic school, and was there all days, etc etc. Not to mention, it's not doctors that know drugs; it's pharmacists.

So much wrong with this statement, I won't even take the time.