sea sickness question

Are there any sea sickness tablets you can buy that don't cause you to have a dry mouth?

I went on a 2 night cruise from Sydney to Brisbane in May and the sea was quite calm but for a short time I felt a bit queasy (when I was in a bar watching an art auction. Maybe it was because the room was so stuffy and I was sitting on a high bar stool) so I went back to my cabin and took a tablet, that I bought from the chemist before my trip. It worked and I felt better within half hour but had an unbelievable dry mouth that lasted for ages! I was also wondering if it was the tablet that made me better or lying down in my cabin!

I am going on a 7 night cruise in Feb to New Caledonia and am a bit concerned that if the sea is a bit choppy I will definitely need to take something. (hope we don't hit a Cyclone!)

I have also tried the bands don't know really if they worked or not. I ended up taking them off as they were really tight on my wrist and left marks and were annoying.

Also am I better off taking something only when I feel the sickness coming on or taking something from day one?

Any tips or pointers on this will be very much appreciated:)

If you like taking pills for sea sickness, take ginger pills. These help tremendously and dont give you dry mouth. I have also heard (from our head waiter in the MDR on last cruise) that if you are feeling sick to your stomach, eat a green apple. I dont know why this works but it truly did for my wife. She ate the apple and felt better in 30 minutes. Hope this helps... enjoy your upcoming cruise!

full strength ginger.. all natural, won't put you to sleep or cause any other side effects. I start taking mine a day or two before even getting on board then twice a day even if the seas are calm.

comes in pill form, chewable tables, even candied ginger works.

and I second the green apple thing..

I am an avid offshore fisherman and sometimes get seasick if we hit 8-12 foot seas. The best thing out there requires a prescription though. But all the people where I live that fish a lot and run charters swear by it. Its the the scopolamine patch by Transderm Scop. Also dry mouth is pretty much going come with any seasickness medicine prescription or over the counter.

Another vote for ginger! You can buy the capsules filled with powdered ginger, drink ginger ale or (my favorite) buy and snack on candied ginger. This is sometimes called crystallized ginger in the stores. As I am very prone to motion sickness I start taking meclazine 2 nights before the trip and continue taking it 2-3 nights after the trip and carry ginger as well. Have a super cruise!

Having been prone to travel sickness (ships / boats / ferries / cars / buses / coaches, but not, interestingly aeroplanes or trains) for all of my life (my mother reports that I was sick when they brought me home from hospital and EVERY time she took me out in my pram!) I have tried many remedies with varying success.

I don't find Seabands or other acupressure devices particularly helpful (and didn't find them good in pregnancy either) but do find ginger effective to some degree. I haven't tried ginger capsules, but will nibble a ginger biscuit or some crystallised ginger.

After much trial and error (horrible dry mouth, heavy sedation etc) I have found cinnarizine 15 mg to be the most effective with fewest side-effects. This is sold over-the-counter in the UK, often under the brand name of Stugeron. I find it prevents me feeling sick, I still feel the 'motion' but feel sort-of dissociated from it. DH finds this too. It causes me minimal, if any, sedation, and dry mouth is not a problem. I bought some in Portugal (well, Madeira to be precise) prior to a minibus trip into the mountains, and did find it sedative - when I looked it was 25 mg dosage, so check this.

Most recently we crossed the Bay of Biscay in a storm, and, with our trusty Stugeron, had no problems at all. And this is from someone who has previously made her self travel sick reading a book in a rocking chair!

Alot of the anti Nausea drugs do dry up secretions and hence cause a dry mouth, but thats part of the way they work. They do sell dry mouth products, (Biotene having a whole range) if the dry mouth would prevent you taking the medications

I have taken Bonine the past 2 cruises I've been on and haven't noticed any dry mouth problems. My hubby took it as well and didn't experience any problems, either. It worked great for us!

Good luck!

I agree with the Bonine. I start taking it the night before we leave and take it each nite before bed. Works perfectly!

Are there any sea sickness tablets you can buy that don't cause you to have a dry mouth?

I went on a 2 night cruise from Sydney to Brisbane in May and the sea was quite calm but for a short time I felt a bit queasy (when I was in a bar watching an art auction. Maybe it was because the room was so stuffy and I was sitting on a high bar stool) so I went back to my cabin and took a tablet, that I bought from the chemist before my trip. It worked and I felt better within half hour but had an unbelievable dry mouth that lasted for ages! I was also wondering if it was the tablet that made me better or lying down in my cabin!

I am going on a 7 night cruise in Feb to New Caledonia and am a bit concerned that if the sea is a bit choppy I will definitely need to take something. (hope we don't hit a Cyclone!)

I have also tried the bands don't know really if they worked or not. I ended up taking them off as they were really tight on my wrist and left marks and were annoying.

Also am I better off taking something only when I feel the sickness coming on or taking something from day one?

Any tips or pointers on this will be very much appreciated:)

We have been on several cruises and I do feel seasick at times when the waves get to be a bit much. I have tried ginger tablets and candy (did not work for me); the wrist bands (did not really work and left a mark for days after removing them); tried Maxolon (mainly for nausea after the fact I found and made me sleepy); looking at the horizon did nothing for me; breathing the fresh air did help but that was when I was also taking the below mentioned Avomine...fresh air by itself did not work. Then after reading lots of threads here on CC got my answer I decided to try Avomine and it worked great for me!! It is available here in Australia at Chemist Warehouse...no prescription needed. You have to ask for it at the counter. It worked best for me by starting to take it several days before the start of the cruise and then one hour before bedtime each night on the cruise (that eliminated the drowsy feeling). I had no problems with dry mouth. I also found I only needed it the first few days of a cruise or when the captain notified all passengers that rough seas were ahead...then I resumed for that day.just to be safe. On one cruise I did have to keep taking it after I got home because my "sea legs" would not revert back to "land legs" for about 2 weeks...:eek: One last thing...you are not supposed to drink alcohol while taking it.

Hope this helps because it is the worst thing to feel "seasick".

Barbara

Are there any sea sickness tablets you can buy that don't cause you to have a dry mouth?

I went on a 2 night cruise from Sydney to Brisbane in May and the sea was quite calm but for a short time I felt a bit queasy (when I was in a bar watching an art auction. Maybe it was because the room was so stuffy and I was sitting on a high bar stool) so I went back to my cabin and took a tablet, that I bought from the chemist before my trip. It worked and I felt better within half hour but had an unbelievable dry mouth that lasted for ages! I was also wondering if it was the tablet that made me better or lying down in my cabin!

I am going on a 7 night cruise in Feb to New Caledonia and am a bit concerned that if the sea is a bit choppy I will definitely need to take something. (hope we don't hit a Cyclone!)

I have also tried the bands don't know really if they worked or not. I ended up taking them off as they were really tight on my wrist and left marks and were annoying.

Also am I better off taking something only when I feel the sickness coming on or taking something from day one?

Any tips or pointers on this will be very much appreciated:)

A lot of questions here.

One - I favor ginger. I get motion sickness easily and ginger works for me. I don't recall any dry mouth issues. However, you will feel a burning sensation if you don't drink some water with the ginger.

As a preventative I took one ginger tablet (with water) before boarding the ship. Then one tablet (with water) before breakfast and one tablet (with water) before dinner and I was fine on a ship where several others were getting seasick.

Two - seasickness / motion sickness is caused by a conflict between the eyes and ears. If you are inside then your eyes will not detect any motion, however, your ears will. This can work in reverse. I became sick while sitting on a couch on land. The couch of course was not moving. However, the video game I was playing on a large screen TV was showing motion. So in this case my eyes saw motion but my ears did not detect any motion and I got sick.

Three - thus you want to be outside where you can see the horizon. That way your eyes and ears will both sense motion.

Four - most drugs only work if you take them before you start to feel sick. Fortunately ginger will work even after you start to feel sick.

Five - eating bland foods (bread, crackers, water ...) will help.

Six - Here is some reading material for you ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Motion-sickness/Pages/Causes.aspx

http://www.medicinenet.com/motion_sickness/article.htm

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/motion-sickness-topic-overview

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/motion_sickness/article_em.htm

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/motion-sickness-000110.htm

does anyone know if this is avail in the US? sounds like a miracle pill!

does anyone know if this is avail in the US? sounds like a miracle pill!

Which "this" are you referring to?

I was referring to Avomine, as mentioned above.

I was referring to Avomine, as mentioned above.

My post is above yours and my post is about ginger, not Avomine. If you use the quote button there would not be any confusion.

does anyone know if this is avail in the US? sounds like a miracle pill!

I haven't tried to get in the US but the info online says it should be available as Avomine in the US. I would ask a pharmacist.

My post is above yours and my post is about ginger, not Avomine. If you use the quote button there would not be any confusion.

I apologize, please forgive me

Thanks for all your replies you all been a great help. I will stock up on ginger. And avominethis week. 2 weeks to go and counting Yay :)

Subscribing so I can refer back to this thread. I'm quite worried about feeling nausea on our first cruise.....

I found ginger chewing gum at a US Walgreens Pharmacy but I had to ask where it could be found. It tastes good and gives a continuous dose.

If the seas stay the same, your body should adjust by the third day.

If you like taking pills for sea sickness, take ginger pills. These help tremendously and dont give you dry mouth. I have also heard (from our head waiter in the MDR on last cruise) that if you are feeling sick to your stomach, eat a green apple. I dont know why this works but it truly did for my wife. She ate the apple and felt better in 30 minutes. Hope this helps... enjoy your upcoming cruise!

I agree Ginger is great. Wnt on my first cruise dec 2011, I took with me.. Dramimine, bonine and Ginger, wrist braclets for seasickness and pads for behind the ears from my DR. Only used the ginger 1 time ( rough seas) and i was fine never needed the other items at all.

I was amazed because i get carsick in the back seat of a car LOL.

The ginger works great for Air travel also.

I buy and use the generic tablets at Wal-Mart - less than $2 for 8 tablets. They are equivalent to the non-drowsy drammamine. They worked great for all of us on our last cruise, and they work when we drive in the mountains, etc. Never gives any of us dry mouths. I know they worked on the cruise because one day we didn't take them because we were docked all day and we were off the ship all day, but during the night my kids felt sick because the ship was sailing again and they hadn't taken them that day.

I was just told my pharmacist that the transdermal patch would be most effective for seasickness. But then they added 1 drawback....he stated you can't drink with it. It'll cause drowsiness and confusion if you do, bummer.

I think I'd rather have a virgin colada than deal w motion sickness !

I went to Chemist Warehouse today to stock up on my Ginger Capsules and Avomine.

The Pharmacist came up to me and said he would prefer to recommend me Stemetil (on the box it says Nausetil) as Avomine is a preventative and you have to take it before and during your travel. The problem with that is you may be taking drugs for no need as you may not get sick, plus you still get a dry mouth. Where as Stemitel is to stop you feeling sick and works pretty quickly when you take it and doesn't cause such a dry mouth. (His words not mine).

So I went with his recs and got the Stemelil.

Tried to get the Ginger Capsules but all I can find is tablets. Most people here where I live recommend the Blackmores Ginger Travel Calm so I reckon I will get theses on Monday. Just unsure how many packets to get as they come in packs of 45 for ten dollars and will want enough for hubby and me and not sure if I will have to take about 3 a day

My wife gets sick at any sense of motion. If I am tapping my feet the vibration causes her trouble.She gets air sick, sea sick, car sick if on a curvy road for long etc. Yet she travels all over the world with me by using Bonine (Meclizine 25mg) It is OTC, comes in a chewable form and she takes one an hour before we sail. effect lasts for 24hrs. So on port days will not take it until 5:00 pm (for 6:00pm sailing). On sea days takes it in am.

Scopolamine patch works too but causes dry mouth, blurry vision, constipation and dizziness in people prone to that.

Have never had the courage to try Ginger- if it does not work, then her day is ruined. Once the nausea/vomiting starts nothing will stop it short of going to ships doctor and getting an injection.