Warning for first time cruisers (sea sickness)

[Poodle Lady]

You know, I was really surprised at how much the sea bands helped. I'm not really into alternative medicine but I thought, well, here goes...it can't hurt anything. So I wore the bands from the get-go. Then I took the bands off to go swimming. Wow! within minutes i felt different. I really didn't want to believe that something as simple as wearing this grey elastic bands would make that much of difference. I took them off during a spa treatment and forgot to put them back on for a couple hours. When i finally realized that I had left the bands off, I put them on and gain, within minutes I began to feel better. It took about an hour to get me back to normal. I still wouldn't try a cruise without using Bonine, but the sea bands seemed to be a great adjunct and I will use them again.

[Poodle Lady]

 

Anyone considering the scopalmine patch should try it before cruising. I get double vision from it and am glad i wasn't relying on it during my cruise.

 

Absolutely, try it before you leave home. Scopalamine can cause hallucinations, sleepiness, dry mouth and other things. Back in the bad old days scopalamine was part of the combo of meds that induced amnesia during labor.:( It is still used as a part of anesthesia during surgery in some parts of the world.

 

My youngest DS15 used the scop patches last year in an effort to control excessive drooling. He drooled constantly, and not just a little dribble down the chin. More like a 4ft strand of Niagara Falls.It caused terrible skin breakdown on his face and neck. Anyway, the patch took care of that. But then he started having side effects--vertigo and nausea. At first we didn't realize it was the patch causing it. We took him to the doctor a few times for suspected stomach bugs. But it would go away and come back unexpectedly. Finally, I realized that it had something to do with changing the patch--every time the patch came off, the symptoms would return. It got so bad that DS was running into walls and falling over on the floor. And vomiting like you wouldn't beleive. Poor boy! It took 3 weeks to get him off the drug! We had to give him 2 meclizine*Bonine* every 8 hours, plus some Zofran for the vomiting. It was truly a terrible experience. DS lost 20-lbs, from 120 down to 100-lbs. He was just all skin and bones, with no energy and no appetite. I will never ever use scopalamine again except in a dire circumstance. And it would have to be pretty darn dire.:cool: DS now takes a different med for the drooling and it doesn't help as much as the scop did, but he's all back to normal and I want to keep it that way. No more scop for us!

[Marian Paroo]

Absolutely, try it before you leave home. Scopalamine can cause hallucinations, sleepiness, dry mouth and other things. Back in the bad old days scopalamine was part of the combo of meds that induced amnesia during labor.:(

 

 

Amnesia being the key word. As Sylvia Plath commented in The Bell Jar, it didn't relieve a woman's pain, it just made her forget it!!!!

[Poodle Lady]

Amnesia being the key word. As Sylvia Plath commented in The Bell Jar, it didn't relieve a woman's pain, it just made her forget it!!!!

 

I worked in Labor & Delivery when i graduated from nursing school *1977* and it rankled me when doctors would tell their laboring patients, "Don't worry, you're going to sleep right through it." I wanted to scream, "No you won't. You're going to curse, scratch, hit, spit, take your clothes off and swing from the chandelier, but the one thing you will NOT be doing is sleeping!" Yeah. I didn't last long at that job *shudder*