wearing a patch for seasickness

[Little Twin Stars]

Have just read a review that suggests wearing a patch to ear behind the ear for seasickness.

Anyone has any idea
1. what it is?
2. where to get one
3. if it is really effective
4. if it is good for kids of 4 years old

Thanks.

 

[jwann]

I've gone on 2 cruises and swear by the patch.

It's called a transdermal scopolamene (sp?) patch and it is by prescription. I asked for it when I visited my doctor months before my trip. You wear it behind your ear. You put it on 3 hours or so before you travel. It stays on for 3 days (even through snorkeling, hot tubbing, and showering). There are some side effects but I usually only have to deal with a dry mouth. I don't know about the 4 year old. Neither of my children had trouble with the boat's movements.

 

[aprilgail2]

If you are going to use the patch do yourself a favor and try it out prior to your cruise! It has terrible effects for some people, vision so blurred that you can't read a menu and a lot of other side effects, my friend took it off after a few hours, it gave him heart palpatations. Bonine works great.

 

[FredS]

Meclazine is available over the counter and worked great for me. I did not notice any side effects whatsoever and it was completely effective.

Each person who I know that used the patch had problems -- some minor (dry mouth, a little sleepiness) while others had MAJOR problems with drowsiness, dizziness, etc. Also, on our last cruise a diner at an adjacent table told us that he had some mild side effects but the patch worked for a couple of days, then he not only had some side effects but became seasick, also. Anecdotal and not scientific research, but in my book Meclazine is the ticket, not the patch.

 

[bnelvr]

Went to the Dr. today and got a RX for the patch. Even with the insurance it was still $25.00. I don't know if I want to get it as a box of Bonine is less than $3.00. Lots of people would rather use the Bonine. Also, it is NOT for kids.....already asked the Dr. I beleave that you can get sea sickness pills free on board.

 

[4cruisin]

Just a word of caution. On our first 3 day cruise, I used the patch and was fine. My dbil had a reaction to it and had to take it off after several hours.
On our last cruise, the first 3 days were ok, but when I put a new patch on, I got very, very blurry vision and had to take it off. The blurred vision lasted a good 26 hours or so and had me very worried. I could not focus on anything. I ended up having my eyes tested a month or so after I got home and found I have narrow angle glaucoma and part of the reaction probably stemmed from that condition. Make sure you do not have any hidden eye problems before you try the patch and I definetly second the idea of trying it at home before you cruise.

Nancy

 

[cjsmith]

I've been using the patch for many years, both on our cruises and when we fly. I find that my side effects are very minimal and over time I seem to get used to them. Hey, I'd rather have dry mouth than be throwing up! I put the patch on about 4 hours prior to traveling and make sure that I change it right on time. I do know that it can't be used on kids, though. so you'll have to used dramamine or bonine for your child.
My kids don't like bonine, they felt it didn't work as well as dramamine. I can say though, my daughter and 1 son get motion sickness when in a car and sometimes on a plane and don't have any problems on our cruises. I'll give them a dramamine on our first day and keep some handy for them, but they never ask for anymore during our cruises.

 

[two-foxes]

I have used the patch and LOVE it. I had no side effects, with the exception of a bit of dry mouth. I am a sucker for anything that makes my trip easier, and the patch was great. I put it on and WASHED MY HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTER and completely forgot about it for the rest of the trip. I was warned by my Dr. and pharmacist that if you get even a little bit of the medicine on your hands then rub your eyes you will have bad visual side effects....so a word of caution with that! All in all I would recommend it.

 

[kramesmom]

I was so sick from the patch!! I thought I had a terrible flu, please try it before your
vacation to make sure you don't have the same bad experience! Good Luck! Kim

 

[Johnathan's Mom]

My husband always wears the patch the first day. He gets car sick, plane sick, motion sick to almost any movement. He uses it the first 3 days and then does not replace the patch after that. His body seems to adjust to the ship and he is fine. The first night on the ship has always been the worst for him with ship movement. I think one of the castmember told us this has something to do with the gulf stream. DS 7 y/o and I never have a problem. My understanding is that if you do have a side effect you can't live with to remove the patch and wash the area really well and SE will stop.

Carla

 

[Gillian]

Add me to the list of people with a bad reaction to the patch! I just take bonine now. Once a day and you're done!

I'm not sure what a 4 year old would need. My 2 year old was fine with nothing.

 

[hydster]

Add me to the list as well of people who had terrible problems with the patch! You can also add my husband as he had them too! They made my pupils huge, made me dizzy, sick to my stomach, headache..and I spent the first 3 days of my cruise in bed crying. I finally went to the doctor onboard and he gave me meclizine which is what Bonine is made out of...it's just the active ingredient and Meclizine is MUCH cheaper!!!

If you are considering the patch...#1 do try it out at home to make sure!!! Also make sure you are ANAL about washing your hands anytime your hands come in contact with that part of your body and they will because the patch is like wearing a bandaid and it makes it itchy sometimes.

#2 Here is the transderm scop website for patients...I find the side effects really scary and there are ALOT of them!!!
http://www.transdermscop.com/site2/view-insert.html

If you dont want to read the article here are the major side effects:

Avoid drinking alcohol while wearing the patch. In the unlikely event that you experience pain in the eye and reddened whites of the eye while wearing the patch, which may be accompanied by widening of the pupil and blurred vision, remove the patch immediately and consult your doctor. As indicated below under Side Effects, widening of the pupils and blurred vision without pain or reddened whites of the eye is usually temporary and not serious.

Others include:
dryness of the mouth, drowsiness, blurred vision (temporary),widening of the pupil, disorientation, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, confusion, difficulty urinating, skin rashes or redness, temporary changes in heart rate such as palpitations, dry itchy, or reddened whites of the eyes, and eye pain have been reported.

We gave our kids a very small amount of Meclizine for the older kids and benadryl for my younger boy and they did great!!!

Heidi

 

[Irishmom23]

I agree with the above post. If you are not really prone to motion sickness, the Bonine is a much safer choice. I have been on three cruises, all with different type of seas, and have only really needed to use Bonine once, and it worked great. Scopolamine does have some very serious side effects that may adversely effect sensitive individuals, and if you decide to use it, make sure you try it before you leave!

 

[Little Twin Stars]

Thank you ALL for your sincere advice.

 

[TinkerBellPixie4GOAL]

My aunt wore the patch, and half way through the cruise we saw that one of her eyes was dilated (sp?) and the other wasn't! WE thought she was having a stroke! Luckily though we found out that it was just a side affect of the patch.

 

[Rence]

I am prone to motion sickness so I had researched this subject before my first cruise. I didn't like all the side effects I was hearing either.

I read a couple of places that taking powdered ginger capsules helps. The recommendation was to start taking them a couple of days before the cruise and then to continue to take them regularaly during the cruise. I took a minimum of 2 capsules three times a day.

If I started to feel a little bit queasy I would pop another capsule or two.

It really worked, I was fine. We did have rough weather (I was on one of those non-docking at CC cruises) Others were getting sick, but I had no problem.

You can get powdered ginger capsules at a health food store. I have heard that it is also safe for children, but please don't take my word on that one, do a bit of research to make sure.

 

[jiminy579]

I was afraid to take any medication because of the side effects, and when I found this amazing board last year, read about Seabands! They are INCREDIBLE!!!!!!! We purchased ours at Walgreens, though I have read that people found some at Walmart. Ours were $10.00 a pair and worth every cent and then some! You experience zero side effects, they are safe for children, and they work like a charm! The last night on board, the seas were extremely rough so I slept with them on. What a life saver!! I hope this helps!!! Have a wonderful cruise!!

 

[wink]

I have problems with motion sickness, and usually dramamine does the trick. (Ginger and Seabands have never worked for me). The Dramamaine didn't help though on the first night of the cruise. The winds were rough and we were going through the gulf stream - the ship was really rocking. They had free SeaCalm pills at the front desk that are supposed to work for 24 hours. They seemed to work better than anything else I tried.

 

[Minnesota]

Hi all! Just your friendly Pharmacy Tech adding in 2 cents here. I have been in Pharmacy for 3 years now and have done a ton of RXs for Transderm-scop, one of which was for my mother who can get motion sick watching an Imax movie. Some of our patients love them and have conviced their doctors for a years worth of refills at a time. Then there are patients like my mother who have gotten so sick they have had to seek medical help from a hospital or clinic, I remember a couple who recently went on a cruise and had to medivaced off because of the side effects. In general if you do want to try it, 1) try it where it won't matter a lot if you get ill, better to find out any bad effects before your thousand dollar cruise is ruined. 2) ask any question you want to know (even dumb ones) of your doctor or pharmacist, that is what they are there for, we go to a minimum of 7 years schooling to do this, we really do know what we are talking about. If you don't want to try the patch some other alternitaves that have worked well is Seabands, Ginger, Meclizine, & Dramimine (there are 2 types one is meclizine the other is something I don't remember right now) If anyone wants to know more about any medication RX or OTC, please e-mail or PM me and I will pull out our PDR and help as best I can
Minnesota CPhT.

 

[hydster]

Just another .02 cents from me....

Seabands were mentioned and while they probably work great for some people others like me have too deep of a pressure point for those nubs to hit so they didnt work. If you want to try them make sure you take an ALTERNATE form of therapy as well just in case! I was glad I had my meclizine just in case when the seabands didnt work for me. The Relief bands didnt work either and they were pricey at 99.00. They put out an electric stimulation but they didnt apparently stimulate the right nerve endings in my wrist.

Just one more opinion and I do agree with Minnesota to try it out BEFORE you go...(meds that is) just in case!

Heidi