SEA SICKNESS - Patch or not?????

[mttk2]

Haven't seeen anything about what people should do to prevent sea sickness.... Anyone have any ideas? Should we get the patch or is there a shot the dr. aboard the ship can give????

[interalia]

I love the patches...I put one on 4 hours before we leave port...I am never ever sick...or sleepy...or boatsick. Also the room does not rock for a day or two when you get off as long as you leave the patch on until you get home! You change the patch every three days. They are by prescription only!

Dramamine...and Bonine make me sleepy and dry...its like taking a lot of cold medicine!

[Janice1265]

My family of 5 just returned Friday and we all took bonine. We took it the night before we left for the cruise and at bedtime each night and none of us had a problem.

[mttk2]

Thanks...

 

Can you drink alcohol with either the patch or Bonine?

[colette5479]

I used the patch on my first cruise and I experienced all the side effects. They were worse than the seasickness! But there are a lot of people who swear by them. Since you would have to get a RX for the patch, you might ask your Dr. about other options. I use Bonine and it makes me somewhat drowsy but it's so much better that having a killer headache and blurred vision:p

[debsavas]

I have been using the patch for the past three cruises. I would not get on a ship without it because I get so ill. It has worked well the past two times. Ove rChristmas we were on the Dawn and had rough waters. I never vomited, but I still felt a little queasy. It also gives me blurred vision and dry mouth. Be prepared to not be able to read. After you stop using it, for about a week, you do sway like you were on the ship.

 

With all that being said, I still will always use it. If you do not have a real bad problem with sea sickness, you may want to try bonine. Also take ginger pills a few days before you leave.

[dougp26364]

My wife uses the scopolamine patch but, if she puts on the entire patch she has problems with dry mouth and blurred vision. We started cutting them in half and they still work for the motion sickness but the side effects are greatly reduced.

 

I had never had a problem with motion sickness until we hit some 15-18 ft waves on our E. Carribean cruise. This last cruise I cut the non-drowsy (meclizine) Dramamine tablets in half and did fine but, the seas were calm so I wouldn't have needed them anyway.

[cabanachick]

I used the patch on my first cruise a few weeks ago and I experienced a very dry mouth, extremely blurred vision and VERY dilated pupils. I had to take the patch off after a few days and it took at least a day for the symptoms to go away. I didn't use anything after that and I was fine.

[Jennygirl]

Our very first cruise 5 years ago..I was totally unprepared and therefore got so dizzy the first night and had to go to bed. ( MISSED THE FIRST MIDNIGHT BUFFET :()

My friend gave me one of her patches - I put it on ...... no problems. Every cruise after that I used the patches, no side effect - everything was fine. The thing even fell off my neck in the shower and I didnt even notice. I would swear by them but then again everyone is different.

[Jennygirl]

What The Heck Is That Little Mad Face Doing On My Post!!!!

Cancel That :)

[Jen_MN]

I just used the sea sick wristbands and they seemed to help. I got them at Walgreen's. Everyone I've talked to says the patch screws with your vision.

[lauren0309]

bonine. take 1 pill a day to keep the seasickness away. No side effects and you can drink alcohol.

[famcruiser]

I used the wristband on our Alaska cruise last summer. I only wore it when I needed to. It only took about a half hour before it made my seasickness go away. Then, I wore it for a couple of hours and was good for the day. I, also, wore it when we took our seaplane tour (I get very airsick in smaller planes) and I had no problems. I did notice, though, that if I wore it for more than about 4 hours, my wrists ached. But, it was pretty tight on my wrists. Good luck!

Carole

[JYL]

Had our first cruise in Dec. I wore the wrist bands and took Bonine for the first three days, then just wore the bands. My wrists did get very sore, but sea sickness is much, much worse. As the end of the cruise told me I think the bands are all I would have needed. The last night was very rough and I had a woman say the next morning that she had gotten sick. I was fine. Good luck, JYL

[kabado]

I used to wear the patch, even with the blurry eye problem because I thought it worked. On a cruise of the western Caribbean several years ago, I got seasick and threw up ALL night long WITH the patch on. No more patch for me. Now I take Bonine the night before the cruise and every night whilst on the cruise. The only time I had a problem was my last cruise when I was packing in our inside cabin. I got a little queasy and just ran up to the top deck for 15 minutes (several times - took a long time to pack!). I then found the wristband I had brought along and wore it as well. That seemed to do the trick. I will try both for my next cruises.

[7nucruzers]

I vote for Bonine - never got seasick until our last cruise on the Jewel in NOvember. Wasn't prepared since I had never gotten sick before - I took Bonine. It took a little longer to work because I was already sick so if you take it before you board it should work. Also, our cabin steward told us that she has heard too many bad side effects from the patch. She prefers Bonine and...... green apples!!! She was so sweet that night I was sick and brought me some sliced green apples. Said that's what the crew eats when they are sick, guess something in it prevents motion sickness. I ate them and can't really tell if they worked since I was already sick. Hope this helps!!!

[interalia]

One important thing...patches although absolutely wonderful for many..."I love em"....are not for children. I think most medical sources consider kids...12 and under. Since these are by prescription only...your doctor is the best source for advise! Bonine...and dramamine make me spacey!

[Laurie Francoeur]

Just got back from my first cruise and I tend to get sick on rough airplane landings and I'm not a fan of rides that turn you all around so I was concerned about this. We left port the first night 4 hrs late do to late arrivals so the captain was sailing faster than normal to make up the time. When I first got up that morning I was fine until I went out on deck and saw the water flying by. I felt ill and decided to take a gravol. I continued to feel ill on and off for about 2 hrs but never actually was. I never took another gravol and felt great for the rest of the trip. Even for our day at sea I was fine. I think its better to take something in case but maybe wait and see if you need it. I work in a pharmacy and have also heard the patches leave people with blurred vision- hard to read the menus etc. It certainly isn't a nice feeling (sea sickness) but I think with my queasy stomach , if I could handle it most people should be alright; there really is very little motion.

[mbisson]

I think Laurie has it right. I've never been seasick (knock on wood) and have never taken anything on a cruise ship (felt seasick once, but it was just way too many beers). However I do take Dramamine whenever I go out on a charter fishing boat (I take it about an hour before boarding the boat). My 2 sons get violently seasick on small charter boats (even when taking Dramamine) but have never had the least bit of a problem on a cruise ship.

 

I took my sister and brother in law on a cruise a couple years ago. He gets so seasick on fishing boats (some of which are pretty good size) that it was difficult to get him to go. We did have some pretty rough water at Skagway (many people were ill and it was rough enough we couldn't dock), but he came out fine and they're now looking to book another cruise.

 

Everyone's different but I think a lot of the times we overmedicate for seasickness. If you know you are prone to becoming motion sick, fine take the meds. If you've never been motionsick, you might want to chance it. And as mentioned above, looking down into the water can make it worse than it is, look toward the horizon. Unless the seas are especially rough, there normally isn't a lot of motion.

 

But that's just my opinion (and maybe Lauries also) :)

 

-Monte

[JYL]

Hi Laurie,

I take Bonine, I like it better than Dramamine, but it can make me sleepy. I'm wondering what gravol is? Maybe it wouldn' t have that side effect? Is it prescription? Thanks, JYL

[interalia]

It is the canadian version of Dramamine

[winkie]

I've tried Bonine, Dramamine, the patch, and seasick bands. All help a little, but the patch worked the best for me. Unfortunately, I can only wear it behind one ear. When I put it behind my other ear, (you're supposed to switch ears every 3 days) my eye dialates and I look really stupid with one big and one little pupil! It also takes several days for my pupil to get back to normal. On our last cruise, I wore the patch at the start of the trip behind the good ear, and then switched to Bonine for the rest of the trip. Didn't have any problems.

 

My recommendation is to try a patch out at home before your cruise so you can tell how you will react to it.

[Leejnd4]

My recommendation is to try a patch out at home before your cruise so you can tell how you will react to it.

Now that's an excellent suggestion! I've been following this thread, and trying to decide what to do (I did feel a bit queasy several times on my last cruise). I'm going to get a patch and try it at home. Why didn't I think of that??

 

LeeAnne

[Tamolio]

We take Bonine first thing in the morning from the day we leave to about two days after we get back. I have felt NO side effects. The purpose of continuing to take it when you get home is that you sometimes feel the boat moving for a while after you get off of the ship.

I also drink alcohol and have had no problems. If anything, Bonine seems to reduce the hangover syptoms. But that could just be my imagination. If you would rather take no medications...than just stay drunk. You won't get sea sick if you are drunk.

CHEERS!:cool:

Tammy

[Lamar Cheeks]

We've turned into a Sea Band family ... like folks say, you can pick them up at local drug stores.

 

I used to fly on commuter planes quite a bit and, as a lifelong member of the carsick/seasick/amusementparksick club:eek: , found the Sea Bands worked quite well, with no side effects, except for gnarly marks on your wrists.

 

My older daughter inherited the ability to hurl out car windows while traversing mountains, and found Sea Bands to work in both auto and airplane. My other kids can ride rollercoasters for hours without ralphing.

 

Drugs and patches put things in your system, and that's always something you should think about:mad: . Plus, mixing alcohol and Sea Bands is possible:) .

 

To experiment with sea bands, put some on, go into the backyard with a baseball bat, put your head on the tapered end of the bat and put the business end on the ground, and twirl yourself around 100 times. Then stagger to the mailbox. You might fall down, but if you feel sea sick, they don't work:D .

 

We cruised on Norwegian several years ago, on an older unstabilized ship, and I got seasick one morning ... used the sea bands the next day, and was fine ...

 

Our past two cruises, on RCL, the ships have been better stabilized, but I used sea bands anyway just in case. Also on catamarans headed toward snorkeling reefs.