Now there’s a title to strike terror into a mariner’s heart, particularly an old puker like me.
I just got a note from my friend Milt Baker, who is the leading light over at the Nordhavn Owners Forum, with a copy of a thread on seasickness cures attached.
Among the several suggested are:
I’ve tried everything over the years, including the [Scopolamine] patch (gave me sneezing fits, and an awful metallic taste, and I still got sick), the wrist bands, both passive and active, and no joy.
A few things have worked, Stugeron, which is not available in the US (you can get it in Canada and Bermuda), and most recently Mercalm, a French drug, which is also not available in the US. I used the latter on the Norway passage and it was a god send.
The above from AAC site-friend and frequent commenter here, Steve D’Antonio.
We agree with Steve about the Scopolamine Transdermal Patch, and in fact have banned its use on Morgan’s Cloud because of the strange and unpredictable side effects.
And I’ve gotta try this one from Nordhavn 43 owner Bob J:
I haven’t been sea sick for the last five years…I read about the cure five years ago…I have more seasick stories than anyone! For over 40 years I suffered!!! I could never do chart work or read a novel.
What a blessing for me for I’m a avid reader…a very simple cure and the major drug companies do not want this publicized…insert one ear plug in the opposite ear from your dominant hand. If you are right handed simply put an ear plug in your left ear…that’s it!
Comments
Milt’s email got me thinking that it’s been a while since we talked about seasickness—back when we last did, commenters’ preferred treatment was Stugeron.
(My drug of choice is still Gravol, although I rarely use it because I find the side effects are often worse than the problem, but that’s just me.)
If you have come across something new that has helped you, please share in a comment.
I believe it is spelled Stugeron (cinnarizine) (a couple of spellings above), and it is my drug of choice for seasickness. I start it the night before (8 hours or so before departure or so) if I think it is likely to be helpful, but, if able to be kept down, works when already ill and on passage.
My best,
Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
I don’t believe Stugeron is available OTC in Canada anymore. I get sick day one, and not after that. The more I helm, the less sick I may get. I will try the earplug idea, although as I’m ambidextrous, I may have to experiment! Last time I was on the ocean, I had Scopalamine transdermal patches, but didn’t need them and didn’t pre-dose for the reasons you’ve suggested. I am certainly aware that some people, including some noted sailors, can have near-crippling bouts of it.
Stugeron can be ordered pretty cheaply online, however, from the UK: http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/product_3507_stugeron-15-tablets-15x.html
Stugeron causes massive headaches in many people, and that side effect is not often noted but is ascribed instead to the seasickness.
Astronauts use 25-50 mg of phenergan, which is only available by prescription. It makes me very drowsy so I take it the night before, then switch to the patch the next day. I find this very effective. One could also just stick with phenergan at smaller doses.
Hi Charles,
The last I reviewed the military’s protocol for seasickness (a while ago now) the anti-nausea meds (causing drowsiness) were always coupled with a stimulant. Both were prescription meds.
My best, Dick
I hesitated to mention a stimulant taken with phenergan since most are hard to obtain and there is a high risk for palpitations and arrhythmias.
The scoplalamine patch has a possible side effect of fever and confusion. That is why it is commonly recommended to wear it in a visible place. Someone hopefully will see it and remove it.
On prior voyage to Antarctica I was on, the crew reported that an 88 year old passenger thought if one patch worked so well, two would. be better. She took off all her clothes and ran around the boat naked.
Hi All,
Just so you know, Charles is a Doc and shared many good medical ideas and thoughts when he attended our High Latitude Sailing Course in Halifax.
Thanks, John!
A friend also rates a crew’s seasickness like the olympics ratings from one to ten, based on volume, effect, loudness, projection etc. This gives it a little humor, makes it more acceptable, and helps to stop the spread in the crew.
Hi Charles,
And then there is the rating system where the afflicted crew worries that he/she is about to die slipping inexorably into the worry that you will not die.
It is interesting that the one illness in the world that seems to cause amusement/snickering in others (not afflicted) is seasickness.
My best, Dick
While visiting Cape Breton Island a few years back a local woman recommended baby Gravol. She stressed he baby kind. I haven’t tried it myself but she swore by it.
We have found that Meclazine, sold under the trade name Bonine works very effectively. Pam suffers from seasickness but since learning about this drug she has sailed 20,000 offshore miles without problem. Buy it from a compounding pharmacy as the generic brand sold at Westmarie does not seem to be as effective. We have seen no side effects.
Love all the ideas. While I’ve never experienced sea sickness (but I’ve also never been offshore), my girlfriend finds even a modest rocking to be a challenge. She gets nauseated reading while in the car – so she’ll be trying the ear plug idea!
A few years ago I was taking a course where the instructor ended up talking about how he was involved with studying military fast jet pilots and spatial orientation — they need to be able to manage high G conditions and still know where they are vs adversary. He explained some basics (indicating that his research is not open to the public due to military confidentiality restrictions). The simple answer is that it’s all about acclimatization – or getting accustomed to situation.
John you’ll love this. They way they train the pilots is to put them into one of those gyroscopic rides, spin it while having them do math problems on a mounted laptop — the goal is to make them sick, repeatedly, until they become acclimatized to the motion and gradually are no longer affected. I asked about how this knowledge could be applied to sea sickness he suggested just gradually challenging the limits – reading while driving, etc and gradually building capacity.
I’d guess this is the same way people get their “sea legs” after a few days out on the water – but can you do some activities day to day to prepare in advance?
Mark
Hi Mark,
As you say, I love that piece of information. Completely confirms my experience.
I totally agree with the “gradually build the sea legs”.
I think this is the reasons I never got sea sick nowadays. I used to do sky diving – In beginning, I felt “sea sick”, than gradually it went away. When I started sailing, I pushed it always to see where the limit is.
When I sail with friends I also try to build their sea legs by asking them to go down put a kettle on, and if they start feeling sea sick – I put them on helm. Then repeat. In few days they don’t have any problems.
It has always struck me that seasickness is a person specific phenomenon. The sort of motion that makes you sick, may leave me unmoved. Conversely, you may find yourself wondering just why I am throwing up. What does it for me is a sharp pitching motion. I make it a rule to do any anticipated foredeck work before dinner. Rolling motion, which many find intolerable is not my problem. A corollary is that seasickness remedies are equally person specific.
In my case, I find that I do not adapt even after many days at sea. When it gets rough I throw up. Conversely, I do not get land sick on arrival. After 50,000 odd miles, here is what I find works. (But please bear in mind that I am NOT a doctor and anyone following this regimen should consult their own doctor first.) :
1. Scopalamine patches, changed every three days and placed under alternate ears. I have a slightly dry throat on each day 1, but not on days 2 and 3. I have worn these patches for months at a time with no other side effects. My wife by contrast used a patch once and discovered that scopolamine had the effect of relaxing her eye muscles to the extent that she was effectively blind until the drug wore off. Somewhat unsettling, but on the other hand, she was not sick. The point here is your mileage may differ. It is a great drug IF it works for you, in the quantities delivered by the patch.
Stugeron/Cinnarizine does not seem to do the trick for me. My brother in law (who is a doctor) swears by it.
2. In really bad conditions, I have also used a drug called ‘Compazine’ in the US. It also goes by the names : Compro, Prochlorperazine, and Buccastem. It comes in pill, suppository, and injectable (intramuscular) forms. Interestingly the standard protocols for the pill form differ between the US and the UK. I follow the US protocol. Even more interestingly, the literature that comes with it says it also used for treating schizophrenia. At all events, it really does stop people throwing up. On the downside, it will make some people (but not me) very sleepy. I have never had to use the injectable form. I carry it just in case someone becomes sufficiently seasick for a long enough period and far enough from land that dehydration is likely to become serious health problem. In these days of satellite phones I probably would not use it without consulting a real doctor. But if you don’t have it on board you can’t use it.
Best regards,
Grenville
Hi Grenville,
Wow, I admire your grit. I’m not sure I would keep on offshore sailing if I continued to get sick after the first day or so. And I think your are right about the personal aspects: like you, I get sick from pitch, not role, but I know others who are the exact opposite.
And thanks for a good overview of the drug options.
Hi All,
Thanks very much for all the great comments. What jumps out at me so far is that there has really been no advances in the treatment of seasickness in the last 30 years or so. I think I’m right in saying that all the treatments being mentioned have been available for at least that long. Charles: is that right?
Hi John
I believe you are right. The original studies I am aware of were US Armed Services. They did air loops while a subject did repeated tasks. The usual anti-seasickness meds like Bonnine, Marezine, etc. got to 10-20 loops. The combination of Phenergan 25 mg / Ephedrine 25 mg got to over 120 loops! (This is from memory.) This is a big difference, so that is what astronauts use.
Ephedrine is essentially unavailable with side effects of palpitations, jitteriness. Benzedrine is sometimes mentioned to replace ephedrine to decrease the drowsiness. I find if I take the phenergan the night before as a sleeping pill, drowsiness is still present but less.
I take phenergan 25 mg the night before and then start the scoplalamine patch. Side effects of the patch are change in vision, urinary retention in males (carry a catheter), fever, & confusion. So wearing a patch should be known to your crew in case they have to remove it.
Best wishes
Charles
Hi Charles and all,
Back in the day when scope patches were new (and I think the dosage higher), it was common practice to suggest to crew that they do a trial run on land with a patch before the passage to make less likely any idiosyncratic side effects happening at sea. Probably good advice even now.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick
I agree.
I also forgot use of Zofran, and rectal suppositories of phenergan. Both can be very helpful.
Best wishes
Charles
Hi Charles,
Have you had much success with Zofran (ondansetron)? I was under the impression that it is not effective in the treatment of motion sickness. The trials I can find seem to indicate this, but like most motion sickness medication trial, are on small numbers of subjects. In fact of the trials that I did find (with the exception of the ones you refer to) of the most medications do not seem very effective. May this be the reason for the multitude of remedies around? It would appear that one has to test them and see what works for you, pretty much the point that John made above, I guess.
Regards,
Coen
I have no experience with zofran for seasickness and never carried it on board. I only used it in the hospital setting.
I would think phenergan suppositories would be the way to go at sea for somebody really ill. But keep them in the fridge if you go to warm climates.
Most woolen are reluctant to give IM or IV medications but in severe problems, suppositories maybe more acceptable.
HI Charles,
I can confirm that suppositories are the way to go for a crew that is becoming dangerously seasick. Thankfully, not through personal experience, but with a crew member who was so sick and dehydrated that we feared for his life. One Gravol suppository and the resulting 8 hours sleep solved the problem.
The one caution is that the drug administered this way is so strong that he was pretty much useless as crew until it wore off. Not a problem in this case, in that he was so sick that he was no use anyway, but worth keeping in mind.
Hi Dick,
I think that’s a very good recommendation. As I said in the post and also in the Online Book, I have seen such bad and dangerous side effects from the patch that I have banned it’s use on our boat. That said, if a crew could assure me that they had tried it on land for say three days and remained functional, I might relent.
Hi John
Thanks for the good words.
I use phenergan one night and then the patch to start a voyage and get sea legs. I find the side effects minimal, but would suggest carrying a catheter for urinary retention in males. I don’t hesitate to use the patch but I agree: It is wise to try anything out ashore first.
Interesting read. It seems to be an extremely personal thing and a moving target as a result.
I did get seasick as a child, but seemed to grow out of it around 10 years old. Through my teens and up until my early 40’s there was virtually nothing that could make me sick offshore: I mean I have been upside down, in the bilges bleeding diesel engines in full gales; fixing clogged heads in tiny compartments in similar conditions; tending to several full-on pukers and the attendant mess below during maelstrom’s on deck… Cooking? no problem! Tuning a radar or reducing a sight in heavy weather? My pleasure. All with nary a hint of queasiness.
But, since I’ve hit the mid 40’s, I’m starting to find my physiology changing in ways I didn’t expect (do you ever?). Recently, in relatively mild conditions I’ve begun to sense what I think is incipient queasiness – a low-level anxiety really, more a sense of disquiet and impending doom than anything else. I have yet to puke, but I do notice I can make it worse or better by moving in or out of the cabin. I REALLY hope I’m not headed down the tubes!
for our kids, we’ve found that this stuff really delays the onset of actual sickness: https://motioneaze.com/
might be quackery; but we have seen it work on guests and kids alike for quite some time. And – it smells nice!
best-
bg
The point about aging is a good one. Various subtle changes can combine in odd ways at sea. Has anyone else found a partial solution in helming outside? I suppose even if you throw up at the wheel, a bucket and the scuppers make the issue go away.
Hi Ben,
Following this thread with interest, and came across this article from 2012 Yachting world: http://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/seasickness-cures-1664
which summarises a survey of over 200 Challenge round-the-world race participants and their experience of seasickness during the race. What makes this sample interesting is they are all sailing offshore in identical yachts, in the same oceans and are a mix of experienced and inexperienced crew. A follow up article (linked to from the above), summarises medical cures used by the participants and their efficacy. Things that stand out for me from the findings are that the incidence of sickness trends down as we age (which is in contradiction to your own unfortunate situation Ben). Also significant is that nearly everyone reported recovery after time on passage. The regime and “esprit-de-corp” in the different yachts appears to have played a part in the speed of recovery. As Sir Peter Blake used to say “Everyone gets seasick. If you haven’t, then you didn’t go out in a small enough boat, in a big enough sea”! The right mix of routine, empathy and humour may be more helpful than any drug for sufferers – that and ginger nut biscuits?
Rob
Very interesting!
My own experience hasn’t yet resulted in full seasickness – just a general sense as I said, of anxiety and impending doom. This was remarkable to me when I first noticed it, as throughout my life, I’ve rarely been happier then when I’m at sea.
Thinking about this some more, I suspect that also may be related in some way to a level of concern related to the ‘new deal’ – i.e. cruising with kids! It may also not be unrelated to an accumulation or build up of PTSD-like symptoms – felt I’m sure by any parent, let alone parents who take their children offshore. Heck – I felt ridiculously nervous about strapping little babies into car seats and bringing them home from the hospital the first time… But that’s serious thread drift.
Anyway – I’m hypothesizing that perhaps an underlying driver for that sense of discomfort for me is related more to a decrease in my ability to handle new or accumulated types of mental stress; rather than physiological changes.
…I think I have to test this theory by doing an A-Number-1 stormy offshore trip on someone else’s boat with no kids to be responsible for! Any takers? 🙂
Hi Ben,
I think that’s a really perceptive analysis. There was a time when I did quite a bit of single handing, including a passage from the BVI to Bermuda, and what stands out for me about that time was how relaxed I was, and now I think about it, less prone to seasickness. Don’t get me wrong, I would not willingly go back to passages without Phyllis, but there is no question that having someone you love along adds to the anxiety.
I think the obverse of that is that if it’s only you on the boat, more of the variables are known in terms of one’s own skill set. That’s tension-reducing in and of itself. I have never been seasick solo sailing, even in stuff rough enough to cause it. Perhaps I did not allow myself the psychological luxury! But I am moving into an area of speculation perhaps not amenable to pill or patch.
Mark, thank you for the link to expresschemist.co.uk but they will not ship to Germany as Stugeron is illegal here (I tried). It’s sold over the counter to anyone in any quantity in the UK and in Spain but is illegal in Germany. Compare this to the fuss they made over red diesel in Europe!
I had tried before with a Belgian mailorder pharmacy but no luck, either.
Stugeron has been a relief for us, mostly our 8 year old daughter and me. My wife is a true “armchair sailor” who will usually retire to her place on the sofa below to read magazines or watch recorded TV as soon as the fenders are put away. And she will stay there happily even when the china is making a racket in the cupboard from pounding. I once saw her peacefully asleep going upwind in rough conditions when her hair lifted slightly with every wave we crashed down from.
Not so our daughter and me, unfortunately. I agree with Ben that responsibility for my family is a factor in my seasickness. One of the best features of our boat is a perfectly safe “puking station” by the wheel on either side where the supports for the collapsed bimini are arranged in a V that provides perfect protection and handhold. This is for my use. Our daughter’s station in rough going is in the recessed companionway that provides a snug hole to settle in with a collection of cockpit cushions. She has learned to will herself to sleep quickly as she knows this will spare her seasickness. But many times I have held the dinghy bailer for her and felt the compulsions go through her little body. No one needs to tell her about seasickness…
Years ago, when she was learning to speak, we were beating upwind with a good amount of pounding and water coming over. We were not making nearly enough progress to make our destination in a reasonable time so we turned around. Our daughter must have noticed how everything suddenly turned quiet and peaceful because the following weekend, when the pounding started again, she shouted out “turn around!”
I tried the scopolamine patch once but pulled it off after 30 minutes never to try it again.
Dimenhydrinate reduces the sick feeling but does not stop or even reduce the vomiting.
Then on the advice of several other sailors we tried Stugeron and found it helping pretty well. 75mg is way too much and the 25mg capsules are best in my opinion but we ran out. I open a 75mg capsule and fill the powder into a small PET water bottle which I then mark with indelible marker with 3 large and 3 small marks. Large marks for me and small marks for our daughter. Once in a while my wife takes a sip, too.
So I am grateful for the existence of Stugeron and angry at the Germany pharmaceutical administration that is run by my tax money.
It may be that it does delay normal adaption which takes 2-3 days for me and about the same for our daughter but it’s not shorter by much in my case so not really worth trying to go without.
Hopefully in this coming summer we will do a Baltic loop of somewhere above 3.000nm in 3 1/2 months (just received permission form the school board). While there will be many overnighters, most likely not a single stretch of 2 or more days, so in the whole voyage I will probably not see natural adaption at all.
Hi Henning,
Stugeron is also unavailable in the US, but, with sufficient lead time, I could always find someone who was traveling through Bermuda or Canada who could pick some up for me. I suspect this would be even easier for you in Europe.
As an aside, I have been told that the FDA’s (controlling department for US’s medications) qualifying protocol for new drugs were so onerous and expensive, that the makers of Stugeron just decided to write off the US market (and there was the adequate-for- most-needs meds of Dramamine and Bonine). Not sure if true, but it sounds likely.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Was told about bonine couple months back and surprised it’s not mentioned here.. have not used but hear good things..
Hi All,
Thanks very much for all the great comments. Lot’s of good thoughts as always. A special thank you to Charles for providing his insights as a professional Doc.
A suggestion for those that want to stock up medications such as Stugeron is to consider what the shelf life may be in a boat environment. As we came back up the coast of Mexico I picked up a couple packages and vacuum sealed them in small quantities. They are about 4 years old now, have been on the boat the entire time, and seem to work as well as day one. But the boat is in a cooler climate now too.
Regarding wrist bands I have tried both the pressure point type of wrist bands and the electric bands that send pulses through the wrist. The pressure ones had a minor benefit but made my wrists sore after an hour. The electric ones surprised me with how well they worked. They were even able to quickly reverse my motion sickness – and I can get very very seasick. But alas, the great disappointment for me was that the electrodes had to be positioned very precisely for me to get the benefit. I had to literally hold the wrist band in place with my other hand. So it worked fabulously but was useless because I can’t sail with one hand holding the wristband in place. (I found that the instructions had to be followed exactly. There should be a tingling sensation running up two specific fingers – don’t recall which two. If I achieved that it worked. Otherwise, nada.)
Frank Tansley
s/v GRACE
Hi Frank,
Good point on shelf life.
I too have tried both types of pressure point wrist bands: https://www.morganscloud.com/2009/06/01/antiseasickness-product-hurl-off/
I am not very susceptible to seasickness, however, I usually sail with crew, and almost all of them are. So I have an interest in treating seasickness.
I have suggested to several crew to take Vitamin C as well as antihistamine seasickness medicine (usually cinnarzine or meclizine) they were taking. I did this because of something I’d read online somewhere a few years ago. I had 500mg Vitamin C tablets aboard, so that is what they used. The usage on my boat never involved any kind of A/B testing. This usage also wasn’t mostly done with people who had enough experience in enough different sea conditions to be able to say that ‘taking this lets me be in higher seas without seasickness than not taking it’. So I don’t know how much–if any–500mg Vitamin C pills in combination with antihistamines helped.
Before posting this, I did a quick internet search and see considerably higher doses of Vitamin C are recommended for motion sickness. This site recommended 3,000-5,000mg Vitamin C taken when one starts feeling sick, https://mylifeatsea.blogspot.com/2007/05/sea-sickness.html
In a study at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25095772 , 2,000mg of Vitamin C taken one hour before exposure to a liferaft in a pool helped.
Has anyone here tried Vitamin C for seasickness? If so, what dose, and did you find it effective?
Several years ago the popular US television show Myth Busters did a segment on non-drug remedies for motion sickness. The only remedy they found that consistently works is ginger pills. I don’t get seasick, but my wife does. She has used ginger pills for several years and has definitely found them to be effective in reducing or eliminating her motion sickness.
Early on in my sailing life I suffered from seasickness. On my first crossing of the English Channel I threw up six times. Not fun. I started using Stugeron and it seemed to work. Now, many years later, I find I don’t need anything anymore and am only slightly queasy on the first day or two of a passage, thankfully. A few days ago it all came back to me just how bad it can be. We were on a ferry, a smallish power cat crossing the Foveaux Strait which is between the South Island of NZ and Stewart Island at 47S. The winds were only about 35 knots but a 50+ knot storm had gone through the day before and the seas were definitely very ‘lumpy’ and confused. We were doing about 20 knots. It’s only a one hour crossing. Of the 100 passengers probably 80%!! were sick. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not just queasy, but, actually throwing up, a few were violently projectile. It was absolutely horrific to watch, girls crying, a woman crawling on her knees trying to make it to the door, a man sitting by himself after everybody around him moved away. Cabin crew were continually cleaning and handing out bags. Luckily we were in the minority and not afflicted, but, I really felt for those suffering. Wish a cure could be found.
In Western Europe some people use vitamine C. Start a day before sailing to take 1000 Mg vitamine C, and during the trip once a day, or maybe more. I myself was never seasick, but it should help a lot, and it does not hurt.
Hi Dick,
I will have to try that, particularly since I really don’t like the drug options. Thanks.
Dear fellow sailors,
A note on sourcing various motions sickness tablets;
To the best of my knowledge, inside the EU one is free to shop OTC drugs online and have them sent to your postbox. There are a number of online pharmacies. The caveat is that the drug in questions has to be approved for sale in the country selling it, then it is legal in the whole EU.
Stugeron is for sale in the UK and most chemists online and off-line carry it.
Gravol is not sold in the EU, but its active ingredient is Dimenhydrinate. As somebody has pointed out above a drug called Mercalm contains this ingredient (50mg) combined with caffeine and is for sale in France.
A similar product is also for sale in Italy, however, without caffeine. It comes as pills (50mg) or as chewing gum (20mg) I have just been to the local chemist and acquired a small batch for testing.
Hope this might be of benefit for some suffering souls – me included – till sea legs are duly established.
Greetings!
After having been unsuccessful with 1 Belgian and 2 UK pharmacies in having Stugeron shipped to Germany, I asked a friend visiting the UK to bring some. The UK only seems to sell packages with 15 tablets with 15mg of active ingredient (Cinnarizine). So I told my friend to bring 20 packets totaling 4.5 grams of Cinnarizine. The pharmacist he visited declared him a dangerous lunatic and after 15 minutes of discussions, he only scored 3 packages 🙁
I told my friend that if he could only visit Belgium, they sell Stugeron with 25mg dosage and 200 tablets per package, giving 5 grams in a single package. He declined, however, stating no near term plans for Belgium.
So I switched my internet search to “Cinnarizine” and that brought up a forum entry with the name of a pharmacy in the Netherlands. I ordered, there was no error message when I entered the shipping address, and viola, the order arrived a few days later.
https://www.efarma.nl/pages/iteminfo.asp?ItemID=13821776
I’ve done two offshore passages in the past three months (Annapolis to Jacksonville and Bermuda to Martinique). I tried all sorts of medications/preventions but still got sick both times in pretty rough conditions (for me it’s when the boat yaws (skids left or right) not rolling or pitching) on day 3 so can report for me at least what worked and didn’t:
Gravol – in high enough dosages, it kept me from getting sick but put me to sleep and made staying awake very tough so I’d use the suppositories if throwing up and needed recovery time. Non-drowsy, didn’t do anything for me.
Scopalomine Patches – did nothing for me (no side effects either). Be careful with this stuff though and make sure you wash your hands very well with soap after applying as any contact with your eyes will dilate your pupils wide open and scare the heck out of your crew mates.
Cloth wrist bands – no effect
Electronic wrist bands (the kind that give you little shocks) – no effect other than getting annoyed by being electrocuted when cranked up – at low settings, no effect.
Sturgeron – almost immediate improvement. I took it after being quite sick and felt better in minutes and was able to do pretty much anything a few hours later. I kept taking it until the end of day 4 and then didn’t need it again.
I still believe the best cure for seasickness is time at sea (by day 4 or 5 you can do almost anything but the first few days can be pretty tough and you might not make it that long). Any discussion of seasickness cures should also talk about the severe risk of dehydration… make sure you carry some electrolyte replacements (with vitamin C if you can) and ensure you drink 1L every watch no matter if you are sick or not… if you do get sick, it becomes critical that you keep getting fluid in so suck it up and take a suppository and hit the sack.
Hi Brent,
Lots of good tips, all of which, as a fellow sufferer I agree with. That said the bands help me a bit.
Stumbled across a new non-drug proposed solution.
http://Www.boardingglasses.com
Or Seetron glasses appear to be licencing the patent
Unable to find the supporting evidence (claims that they ‘we’re tested on the French Navy and found to be 95% effective’) but the concept of helping the brain harmonize the visual information with the inner ears motion sensation makes some sense.
I might try mocking up a set for my partner to try.
Be interested to see some real world (not corporate spin) feedback when the glasses become available
Mark
Hi Mark,
Yes, Colin wrote about these some years ago here at AAC, but we have yet to hear from anyone who has used them. If you give them a try we would be really interested in hearing about your experience.
Hi John,
New to ACC [and very happy to have found it] but sadly, not new to seasickness. Five years ago I started a rebuild and refit on an offshore power boat for tuna fishing off the Astoria Canyon at the mouth of the Columbia [predates taking up sailing]. In the process of researching how to cope with seasickness, I discovered that prior to the creation of the trans-dermal patch, the Scopace delivery system was a cap. It is reported that a lot of the vagaries of the trans-dermal patch is not so much the med as the delivery system. You can get a prescription for the caps from your GP which any compounding pharmacy can formulate…and cheaply.
Never tried the patch, but….my prescription of the cap has been bulletproof for the last five years.
For what it is worth…..
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the heads up on that. I had never heard of a different delivery system.
That said, others considering scopolamine should be aware of the dangers and test it on themselves on shore, prior to use offshore: https://www.morganscloud.com/2009/06/01/antiseasickness-product-hurl-off/
This is in response to the Dec. 2023 note on seasickness:
Hi John,
I am wondering if others have noticed:
I experienced anxiety as playing a big role in my becoming seasick. (Anxiety usually went hand-in-hand with sleep interference, diminished appetite, an already unsettled “funny tummy” and other symptoms). So, I was already “set-up” for seasickness with pre-departure jitters. Over the years, as I became more confident in all aspects of passage-making, I became less prone to seasickness and got to the point of not needing any meds at all.
When still worried, I relied on Stugeron, started a day ahead of time and stopped 2-3 days into the passage: always worked well for me. We always carried Gravol suppositories, but never needed them.
If I am correct that anxiety plays a part, perhaps a large part for some, in seasickness, then I wonder whether one of the anti-anxiety agents might be a help to a few. I have heard some anti-anxiety medications are very effective without diminishing capabilities: I also have heard of some used for “performance anxiety”.
Random thoughts, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
Past my pay grade, but it sounds logical. I know my ocean race mentor and skipper always used to take a child’s Gravol in the morning before we went sea. Said it calmed him down without any side effects.