Dealing with sea-sickness

[Decker]

I have a terrible problem that gets in the way of enjoying getting offshore, and would appreciate any advice or input.  I am definitely more prone to sea-sickness than most.   Last weekend I went out on a 20 ft boat about 5 miles offshore.  The waves were not big, definitely less than 2 ft but rolling, and the air was still hot and humid.  I was fine while we were going out and coming back, but while drifting over the reef I was turning green.  I never came close to losing my breakfast but was dizzy and a little weak.    On other trips with slightly rougher conditions, I've lost it, and seem to recover afterwards.  Stale air and cigarette smoke or diesel fumes seem to make it worse.  

I've heard that sea-sickness happens in the brain... something about the motion and the visual perception, and that looking at the distant horizon can help.   I definitely feel it more when concentrating on something close, like attending to rigs.   If it really is a brain trick, then it seems like I should be able to find a way to avoid it.

Taking Dramamine has never really helped me, and I haven't tried the accu-pressure wrist bands.  A friend of mine told me to chew on raw, fresh ginger, though if it is happening in the brain, I don't see how ginger could help.  I friend of mine who was in the Navy told me that (back in the 80's) in the Persian Gulf, they gave him a "special tea,"  considered contraband in the U.S., for this purpose.

I'm sure it is different for different people, but I''m looking for encouraging advice.   If the only cure is to let it happen and then blow donuts, I could probably live with it, but...

[handi2]

Whenever I want to make sure I have a happy day I take one Bonine at night and one in the morning. Most of the time i forget. It does work.

[Swami805]

Talk to your doctor about getting a prescription for scopamine. You'll need to find a compounding pharmacy to make it for you. I'm not afflicted with mal de mar but a couple buddies use it and it works really well

[mo65]

   I wish I had something to help Joe...I know your pain...I turned green once too...it was not fun. It's never happened again, yet, but on the last trip out my brother got sick. I guess all the time we spend in our little boat doesn't qualify as experience...it seems to only happen on the big water. The worst waves I've experienced weren't even on saltwater. If you've ever been on Lake Erie when the swells get big, you know what rough is. They say it's because it's shallow. All I know is every time I go up there I cross my fingers hoping the wind won't blow.

[rogan]

Decker,

I also suffer from a strong sense of motion sickness. I've learned to deal with it better as an adult, but as a child it was pretty bad.  I took Alan's advice on the rock fishing trip last April and it worked, minimal sickness and I stayed functional all 11 hours on the boat, that's the first and only time I've never gotten sick on a trip.  I started with  a "scope" patch 12 hours the night before departure, then took two standard Dramamine pills 2 hours before we left the dock.  Then I took a single Dramamine every three hours for the duration of the trip.  It worked!!!  Alan mentioned that if I couldn't feel the wooziness of the Dramamine, then it wasn't working and I needed to take more.  He was absolutely right, on his schedule I never lost the "woozy" and I never got sick...


I am a beliver in accupuncture and accupressure, they have worked for me in the past for other issues, but i haven't tried them for motion sickness.  I'm not willing to experiment and try it, because the other thing I've learned is, once you get sick, you can't get unsick... until the motion stops and your body and brain can recover (at least that's how it's always worked for me).

[Cortez_Conversions]

Scopamine is the ticket. The patch is the only thing available these days. You may be able to have a pill compounded for you...

Like you, I get sea sick with no rhyme or reason. It's a fight between your brain and inner ear.(balance)

The patch gives me some serious dry mouth, so keep a beverage handy to sip on.(try and avoid booze until you're heading to port.) One patch is good for two days, I cut it in half and apply it the night before a trip.

While not a cure all, for me it is the best thing on the market that I've tried so far.
Tom

[Decker]

Thanks, guys! Higher dosage of Dramamine or the Scopalamine patch.   Gonna try.

Question: Does vomiting really stop sea-sickness? Maybe it is just coincidence,  but I recall that after vomiting (sometimes several times in a relatively short period,) I've always recovered. Then again, I've never been out long enough to get sick twice. Could there be something about vomiting that hits the reset button?

[Maxed Out]

 ....all above is good advice....

  I would also add my own observations. I don't eat a huge dinner the night before and don't go to bed on full stomach. Also stay away from sweets. ...personally I am prone to seasickness and Dramamine seems to work for me. I also drink plenty of water while on the water   Hydration is key !!

 Ted

[Cortez_Conversions]

Thanks, guys! Higher dosage of Dramamine or the Scopamine patch.   Gonna try.

Question: Does vomiting really stop sea-sickness? Maybe it is just coincidence,  but I recall that after vomiting (sometimes several times in a relatively short period,) I've always recovered. Then again, I've never been out long enough to get sick twice. Could there be something about vomiting that hits the reset button?

Actually, I think so.
I never fight getting sick. Once I feel the nausea, I hit the rail. Most of the time I'm better and have a great trip instead of just trying to hold my cookies.
I call it my offering to the fish gods. Call it penance;D

[Fishy247]

Question: Does vomiting really stop sea-sickness? Maybe it is just coincidence,  but I recall that after vomiting (sometimes several times in a relatively short period,) I've always recovered. Then again, I've never been out long enough to get sick twice. Could there be something about vomiting that hits the reset button?

I had a buddy back in the day that would get sick no matter what the conditions were right. The weird thing about it was that once he took care of his business over the rail, he was fine. I've never seen anything like it. In my 30 or so years in and around the industry, I'll still say that an ounce of prevention is worth several tons of cure! A good night's sleep is top of the list. Taking Dramamine the night before will help with that!

Good luck!
Mike

[rogan]

I can only speak from personal experience, vomiting does not cure it... In the collage days, I spent a week sailing around Key West.  The water was glass smooth all week, no issues.  The last day, sailing home, we hit wind and swells the moment we left the harbor. I puked every 45 minutes like clock work for the next 8 hours.  It got easier the closer we got to mainland because the seas calmed down as the day wore on, but I wasn't ok until we docked and the motion stopped for a while and my balance could recover.

I agree with Ted, light meal the night before, good sleep and lots of water all day while on the boat. I'm looking forward to my next trip to see if I can eat while on the boat, then it will be an overnighter to see if I can sleep on the boat, now that I have figured out the meds that work for me.

[steelfish]

now I feel less lonely in this misery world  

Im also very prone to sea sickness, normally every 3 outta 5 trips I need to feed the fishes near to the boat or as we say " I went to check if the the tires of the boat were ok" , sometimes are really that bad that I swear on my return I will sell all my off-shore gear and buy only surf fishing gear   (but never give up on fishing).
the thing is that after two or three minutes after vomiting I feel better and can continue fishing for the rest of the day with no problems at all, thats when I cancel my promess to sell my offshore gear.

as Joe said, its a thing that I just learned to live with it, but that keeps me searching for remedies to avoid it.
I've used the accupunture wrist bands -- they didnt worked
dramamine --- hit or miss, depending on the water, if I too tired from the working week, good sleep, etc.
dramamine with ginger (new product)  -- they worked better but not bulletproof
pure ginger pills   --- I took one pill along dramamine and same mixed results
bonine  --- mixed results

I have searched for methods to avoid sea-sickness and I have found as Tom said, its a fight between the brain and the inner-ear,  the inner-ear send a message to the brain that everything is moving around you while you are still straight and brain take that as a message that you got poisoned and you are about to faint, so, it sends a message to the stomach to throw up everything asap to minimize the damage.

now the medicine that will work on severe sea-sickness prone guys as me (and you) its the medicine that could break the message from the inner-ear to the brain, so the brain wont know that a rocking boat and moving objets on your peripheral vision is something bad, but only strong "active ingredientes" on meds can do that PLEASE DONT recall on me on this (do a research or ask your doctor), but I recall only meds with dr prescription can do that, cuz they are normally prescribed for anxiety, depression, severe motion sickness from a surgery, mental problems, really strong pains, etc, etc, etc, its a long etc list, thats why you feel "wooziness" while the efect of the med is working, they disconect sensors on you brain.

for my luck (kind of) I've suffer from bad allergy (general allergy to dust, flowers, etc) since my Youth and afte trying different meds the only med that worked for me and keep me alive on bad allergy days from suffering watering eyes, running nose, etc, etc, its Claritin D which contain Pseudoefredrine (this is pure gold), well, in my readings from remedies to sea-sickness found that some of the meds for flu, sinus and allergy work for severe sea-sickess cuz some of them made the same disconnection on the brain from the ear, so now I took one allergy pill after a light breakfast on my fishing trips and seem that it was the ticked, no more sea-sickness on the last trips plus I also keep breathing better because of the pill  

but what also helps a lot is having good sleep during 3 days before fishing trip and no big meals 2 days before fishing, my stomach and head need to be calm and rested.


PS: I've read before about scopolamine but havent tried it out, I will try to find it and try it, seems many guys swear by that.

[Reel 224]

Joe I'm joking when I say this Peanut-butter and jelly sandwich works for me, yet I suffer very seldom from seasickness.

Joe   

[jurelometer]

What doesn't work:   Sitting in an enclosed cabin next to an smelly old timer that is smoking a big stogie and eating sardines out of a tin.  If you think that you won't ever get seasick,  try this in "Victory at Sea" conditions.   Decades later and  I am still emotionally scarred 

Candied ginger comes in handy for milder cases.  It isn't a cure,  but it seems to help settle the stomach a bit if taken soon after symptoms first occur.

[El Pescador]

What doesn't work:   Sitting in an enclosed cabin next to an smelly old timer that is smoking a big stogie and eating sardines out of a tin.

Exactly, I call the inside cabin the "DEATH ZONE" - nothing good is going on in there.

Get outside, face in the wind, focus on the horizon.

My wife, Jennifer, takes Bonine 24 hrs. before stepping on a boat, then each morning another Bonine, for her, it works,

Stay OUT OF THE DEATH ZONE.

Wayne