Sea Sickness

[thermo]

Be honest. Do you get sea sick? If yes what works best for you?

 

[Magenta]

Two types of Dramamine...

There are two types of Dramamine on the market, one of which is the same as Bonine. Perhaps generic names would be more specific?

As a pharmacist, I recommend meclizine 25mg tablets, bought from "behind the counter" - you can get a bottle of 100 for about $5-$8.

- Dr. Magenta

 

[dfishwoman]

Spanky?????

Haven't you tried all of these remedies? Please give us your input from someone who knows this malady too well!!!

P.S. What about the new and improved Scopolamine patch???

 

[Sushi Boy]

Look Dancing Monkeys!

 

[Chunky]

I get sea sick. As many can tell from my nickname. I usually take a pil before I go to bed, two when I wake up and then another right before I get on the boat. And then on the boat I snack on saltine crackers. I've gone through a full box in three days of diving. But I get very sea sick very quickly and very violently... If I'm doing any technical diving I cut back the amount of meds I take and essentially eat crackers continuously while on board the boat.

 

[dfishwoman]

Our resident pharmacist!

There are two types of Dramamine on the market, one of which is the same as Bonine. Perhaps generic names would be more specific?

As a pharmacist, I recommend meclizine 25mg tablets, bought from "behind the counter" - you can get a bottle of 100 for about $5-$8.

- Dr. Magenta

You da bomb, Magenta!

 

[smash]

Seasickness blues

I'm very susceptible to seasickness as well. It blows, literally.

My choice of meds depends on the type of diving I'll be doing. If it's landbased diving with short boat rides to the dive sites (e.g., Cozumel, Belize atolls, etc.), I'll take a dose of Dramamine a couple of hours before boarding the boat. If the water looks choppy, I might take another dose once I'm on board. If I'll be on a liveaboard, I'll put on a Scopolamine patch the night before I board the boat and then supplement as needed with Dramamine once I'm aboard. The patch usually falls off after a day or two, by which time I'm acclimated to the motion of the boat and will be fine for the rest of the trip, barring any unusual swells or storm action. The worst for me are day trips into the Gulf of Mexico (rig trips, Stetson Bank, etc.). Something about the frequency and multidirectional angle of the swells just confuses the heck out of my inner ear. For those trips, it's the patch and Dramamine, sleeping all the way out to the dive sites and back, and lots of prayer during surgy safety stops.

 

[Captain HardHead]

Stay busy

Being on the water a lot, I have found that staying busy helps. Here is my list of other suggestions when on a boat.

First of all, the back of the boat will be the smoothest ride, while the front will be the bounciest. Unfortunately, when people feel bad and go into the boat salon or bunks, they are almost always forward, many times making things worse. Try to get a spot in the back if possible. The gotcha will be too much sun or even worse, diesel or gas fumes. If they exist, let the captain know about the fumes and he may alter his course a little.

If you can, get up on the bridge with the helmsman and look out at the horizon. This will also usually keep you in fresh air, which also helps.

Believe or not, you can talk yourself out of seasickness if you start at the onset. If it comes on full blown, too late. In fact, the thought of staying on the boat makes you wish to be thrown overboard to the sharks, and put out of your misery.

Last and above all, DO NOT EAT suasage for breakfast.

 

[thermo]

Good Advice - But the real question is this?

Will anyone heed it?

I posted this thread for a reason which is I don't want to see anyone sick on the Flower Gardens trips. I've been diving a long time, and I have lots of experience with both other people and my own sickness. No one ever heeds the warnings (well many people don't) about how to avoid it until it's too late. Once the vomiting starts it’s a sad state of affairs that leads to dehydration and an awful trip not to mention that the hurling diver can make other ordinarily non-hurling diver produce a Technicolor yawn. It’s the smell.

I don't know why but it's the damnedest thing. It especially prevalent in men who are to “macho†to take a cure because “I don’t get sickâ€Â, but it’s not limited to men by any means. I myself have recent experience with an attractive young lady who shall remain nameless who said that only to eat (actually barf up) her words that very morning. I say better safe than sorry, but they never believe me, nooooooooo.

The Gulf makes hearty divers. The waves are short period, and will come from more than one direction very often. When people say it’s flat this is a relative term which seldom means really flat. Also the boats tie up to deploy and recover divers, and the ensuing wallowing of the boat gets those who were only teetering on the edge of hurl. Beware if you’ve never been on the Gulf, and “are not sureâ€Â. If you’re not sure I will make a cash wager you will get sick.

Anyway the take home message is please, please take measures, and no matter what the directions say take them little pills the night before or at least a couple hours before departure as smash suggests. If you wait till you get on the boat, it’s too late.

 

[Captain HardHead]

Take the pill

I posted this thread for a reason which is I don't want to see anyone sick on the Flower Gardens trips.

Please do not take my advise as a recomendation to NOT take medication. Experienced boat riders also get sick.

In fact, taking the medication is not a guarantee that you will avoid the sea plague.

Please keep my suggestions in mind, even after taking your pill.

 

[smash]

First of all, the back of the boat will be the smoothest ride, while the front will be the bounciest. Unfortunately, when people feel bad and go into the boat salon or bunks, they are almost always forward, many times making things worse. Try to get a spot in the back if possible. The gotcha will be too much sun or even worse, diesel or gas fumes. If they exist, let the captain know about the fumes and he may alter his course a little.

It's probably different for everyone, but I've found that bounciness really isn't the problem with seasickness. It's that slower movement that comes with swells and surge. And even worse, it's the smell of diesel or gas fumes (those will set me off almost without a doubt). The ride while the boat is underway is rarely problematic because the high speed of the craft minimizes the rolling and keeps lots of fresh air blowing. Once the boat stops and moors or ties up, though, that's when it gets bad. Stay away from the stern or wherever exhaust fumes might be coming from. Let the captain know that you have a problem with them, and he/she might cut the engines as quickly as possible to minimize their impact. And as CHH says, the salon and the head are the absolute worst place to be on a boat if you're feeling queasy -- they're forward, they trap fumes, and they block your view of the horizon which helps your body reconcile the motion you're feeling to your visual cues. (I have a really yucky story about a group of Japanese divers that suffered through a dive briefing in the salon of a dive boat in Australia. My understanding is that Asians tend to be more predisposed to seasickness for some reason, so that was not a pretty experience for the boat, the crew, and the rest of us passengers.)

Last and above all, DO NOT EAT suasage for breakfast.

And avoid bananas as well! Many cultures believe that bananas are bad luck for boats. The Gulf Diving boats prohibit passengers from bringing them aboard. You might think it's an urban legend, but on my very first rig trip ever, half the boat got violently seasick while the other half didn't. It was in fact the first and only time I've ever progressed beyond mere queasiness and actually spent time hunched over a gunwale losing my breakfast. Our DM had provided breakfast for us at the dock while we were loading onto the boat. Turns out the half of us who had become ill had eaten either a banana or a banana nut muffin while the other half who hadn't gotten sick had stuck with the blueberry muffins.

On that delightful note, I'll sign off now.

smash

 

[sherilynne]

Look Dancing Monkeys!

Ok, so , you found this website after taking which of the seasickness meds? I hallucinated once after wearing the scopalamine patch. Oh, and I guess you gave up and getting people to stop threadjacking and decided to join in on the fun!!!!

Seriously, I tried the patch, apparently I'm very sensitive to it and during the boat trip started talking to people who weren't actually there, and then my friend who had passed away was standing on the waves waving for me to come out and talk to her. Needless to say, I don't use that anymore! One of the doctor's I work with makes a lotion out of the same stuff in the patch and you put a little on your wrist. That way you can regulate the dose and there are less side effects. I have recently found that if I take bonine for two days before I leave on my trip and the first day of the trip I don't have to take it again. By that point, I am used to the boat and don't get sick.
It also helps if you are rested, well fed, and well hydrated.

If all else fails, stay below the surface as long as possible (sticking to table limits, of course) and if needed your regulator will clear any necessary items (you know what I mean) Makes you reconsider renting regulators, doesn't it!

 

[outback]

This may be a post I regret later, but fortunately I don't suffer from mal de mer. Have been mildly queasy a couple of times but never barfed (sailing cat in Africa and on a North Sea supply boat in a force 8 for 2 days were nearest misses).

Now you can all laugh when I blow chunks on the FG trip.

 

[dfishwoman]

That's what I said!

This may be a post I regret later, but fortunately I don't suffer from mal de mer. Have been mildly queasy a couple of times but never barfed (sailing cat in Africa and on a North Sea supply boat in a force 8 for 2 days were nearest misses).

Now you can all laugh when I blow chunks on the FG trip.

I had NEVER been seasick either and then the Gulf kicked my a$$!!!!

 

[Chunky]

BARF!!!!

 

[dawnskies]

The Patch Rules in my Book

I can manage ss on bonine on a regular one day boat trip, however the best thing I ever got before the Flower Gardens trip w Gulf Diving, LLC was to get the patch. They are scopalamine patches that come 4 to a box. You put it on 1 hour prior to getting on boat and NO SS for me. I had heard of others getting it and decided not to take any chances. It lasts for 72 hours, and for the 2 or 3 day trips where the boat rocks non-stop for the trip, it worked better than any pill. I have been on 3 trips out there, and going this weekend, I was giving out some of my bonine because people were getting sick left and right. My recommendation, GET THE PATCH!!!

 

[ScubaPunk]

There are two types of Dramamine on the market, one of which is the same as Bonine. Perhaps generic names would be more specific?

As a pharmacist, I recommend meclizine 25mg tablets, bought from "behind the counter" - you can get a bottle of 100 for about $5-$8.

- Dr. Magenta

Hey Doc - I went to my local pharmacist before the rig trip and asked them for some meclizine. They took me over to the asle with the motion sickness medicine and handed me a box of Bonine. The ingredients on the Bonine box says 25 mg Meclizine. So, ok I bought it, and it worked just fine.

My question is, You say there are two types of Dramamine, one of which is the same as Bonine, which is the same as Meclizine?

and

there is another type of Dramamine? What is the active ingredient in the other type of Dramamine?

and

I paid $4.00 for a box of 8 tablets for the Bonine at a pharmacy which will remain nameless, however it's initials are CVS. What pharmacy might I find Meclizine in bottles of 100 for $5 - $8?