Has anyone had landsickness of MdDS post cruise? How long did it last?

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I get it everytime and it typically lasts just over a week.

 

Since I have vertigo at times anyway, best cure is getting on my bike. Seems to force my balance back.

 

After last cruise I was on my bike every AM and the symptoms were much less severe after and completely gone before the week was out.

[CowPrincess]

I get it. One time was SO bad (vomitting, having to crawl on hands and knees instead of walking), we cancelled our already-booked next cruise, and I thought my cruising days were over. After a 14-month break from cruising, we went again in January, 2013. I still get Mal de D, but this last episode was not as bad as a few of the previoius ones.

 

My episodes usually last around 10 days, and remain pretty much the same severity for that entire time, until (finally) one day I'm over it.

 

Only you can decide whether another cruise is right for you.

[Typhoon1]

I have heard of this, but never experienced it.

[callmehalia]

I can't answer the part about what a repeat cruise will do as mine's still a few weeks away.

 

I had some landsickness - I don't think it was MdDS though. For about 3 weeks/a month after our 7 day calm Inside Passage trip, I felt really odd all the time - dizzy, a bit sick to my stomach but not actually sick, and heavy-headed. I also found that when walking, I would feel like everything was swaying (but it was just me!) and I kept running into things and walked at a funny angle. I got better and I'm not worried about it - a month of feeling slightly off-kilter is, to me, worth the cruise.

[startwin]

Oh, I feel for you:( I've only had it once in many cruises, and that was a couple of years ago following a particularly rough Alaska cruise (hurricane force winds, very high seas)..... I was just fine while onboard ship, but after we disembarked that was a different story! For about 4 days I couldn't walk straight, I even found myself bracing against the bathroom counter just to brush my teeth, feeling like I was on a ship being tossed around! Walking down the hallway in my house I'd be going from side to side, one wall to the other:eek: I haven't had it since and hope I never do!

[vbmom87]

My friend had this problem after her first cruise and it lasted several months. The doctor tried some meds, but nothing was working. It did not go away until she took a flight. :confused::confused::confused:

 

She just came back from her second cruise and this time she started Bonine three nights before cruising and continued it upon getting home. Last I heard all was well. Will check back in with her though. She has been home a week now.

[oceanmom]

Had it after our first cruise-8 days Caribbean. Felt great on the cruise, then the "bobbing" feeling started within several hours of getting off the ship. Friends would tell me to stop swaying in my seat. Saw the doctor, referred to physical therapy where the diagnosis was made. After about six weeks of balance exercises, the MdDS went away. Planning a cruise from Montreal to Boston this fall to see if it happens again before trying a longer cruise.

[mariner]

It's called dock rock

[EagleRocker]

I had a mild case of this after a cruise a few years ago. Like others, it did not come on in port and it was a day or two before I experienced the rocking sensation. It went away on its own after a couple weeks. Oddly, this was after a cruise that was smooth as silk - I have been on more rocky cruises and never experienced this. About 15 years before, I had a brief case of it after an overnight European train trip through mountainous terrain (the railcar was swinging at times) - it came on almost as soon as we left the train in Paris and I spent a few days in Paris feeling like I was swaying back and forth as I walked, with lots of dizziness. Again, this went away on its own, and after just a few days and no meds for it.

 

The postings so far seem to indicate that for many people, this is a very intermittent problem, i.e., it happens rarely after cruises but ocasionally is an issue. For what it is worth, the second time I experience this was milder than the first, tho lasted a bit longer. Neither experience would prevent me from cruising.

[dgc2861]

Happens when I get home, the world sways the worst when I'm laying in bed to go to sleep or in front of the computer. The first time it happened after my first cruise, I was on the couch for a day (made it worse) and thought "what is happening to me." Now Only lasts about a week or so and doesn't interfere with my life, since I know what to expect. I can't ride amusement park rides-I get to dizzy, but the actual cruise doesn't affect me...just getting home. Usually hits a day or two after the cruise.

[sammygoose]

Interesting thread. It makes me wonder about this:

People ask me about being seasick and I ask them if they can read in a car. Now I know that it is not a controlled study but the ones that say they cannot read in a car also experience seasickness. I wonder if land sickness is the same?

I can read in a car all day long and never even think about it, I am also not affected by seasickness or land sickness although I feel both are legitimate issues. Two sides of the same coin in fact like Traction control and ABS in car. Same system-one controls wheel slippage for traction, the same controls wheel slippage for braking.

So my question is- if you get land sickness can you read in a car?

[CptSticky]

Interesting thread. It makes me wonder about this:

People ask me about being seasick and I ask them if they can read in a car. Now I know that it is not a controlled study but the ones that say they cannot read in a car also experience seasickness. I wonder if land sickness is the same?

I can read in a car all day long and never even think about it, I am also not affected by seasickness or land sickness although I feel both are legitimate issues. Two sides of the same coin in fact like Traction control and ABS in car. Same system-one controls wheel slippage for traction, the same controls wheel slippage for braking.

So my question is- if you get land sickness can you read in a car?

Yes I can read in a car. I hate to admit this, but years ago when I was young and foolish (now I'm old and....) I used to read while driving. propped the book on the steering wheel.:eek: I seldom have any trouble with sea sickness, but have had it from time to time. As stated previously, I have trouble with land sickness after some cruises, but not most.

[CruiseMissives]

This discussion is really interesting to me because I thought I was the only one who couldn't get her land legs back after a cruise, no matter how rough or smooth it was. Neither of us ever got sick on board, and we have been through some really rough seas around the Horn and to the point where it took over five days to get to Hawaii and we missed Hilo.

 

It always happens though, for about a week or so after I get off, I sometimes "lurch" as if trying to get my balance. One particular time was when I was up on a four step stool trying to change a chandelier bulb, "lurched" and fell off, against the dining table, cracking three ribs. Dumb, eh? But the whole world had suddenly shifted to the right!

 

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the inner ear as they say that is which controls balance and spatial relationships. If we are constantly trying to compensate for movement onboard, no matter how slight, perhaps when on land the ear keeps trying to further compensate. Well, it's just a theory!

[legalslave]

Yes, I do have this problem sometimes after a cruise. I would not book a cabin near the front of the ship. Try for mid ship. After each cruise, I still eat crystallized ginger, just a bite a few times a day and that helps some. Longest it has lasted is about 10 days. Sometimes just a day or so. Stop cruising---NEVER!

 

Diane

[3rdGenCunarder]

Interesting thread. It makes me wonder about this:

People ask me about being seasick and I ask them if they can read in a car. Now I know that it is not a controlled study but the ones that say they cannot read in a car also experience seasickness. I wonder if land sickness is the same?

I can read in a car all day long and never even think about it, I am also not affected by seasickness or land sickness although I feel both are legitimate issues. Two sides of the same coin in fact like Traction control and ABS in car. Same system-one controls wheel slippage for traction, the same controls wheel slippage for braking.

So my question is- if you get land sickness can you read in a car?

 

Sorry to mess with your data (:D), but I can't read in a car or on a bus and I rarely feel seasick. The motion is different--the car is bouncier and the ship is a slow up-and-down. I don't know why the different motions affect me differently, but they do.

 

This discussion is really interesting to me because I thought I was the only one who couldn't get her land legs back after a cruise, no matter how rough or smooth it was. Neither of us ever got sick on board, and we have been through some really rough seas around the Horn and to the point where it took over five days to get to Hawaii and we missed Hilo.

 

It always happens though, for about a week or so after I get off, I sometimes "lurch" as if trying to get my balance. One particular time was when I was up on a four step stool trying to change a chandelier bulb, "lurched" and fell off, against the dining table, cracking three ribs. Dumb, eh? But the whole world had suddenly shifted to the right!

 

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the inner ear as they say that is which controls balance and spatial relationships. If we are constantly trying to compensate for movement onboard, no matter how slight, perhaps when on land the ear keeps trying to further compensate. Well, it's just a theory!

 

That is the theory I've been told. It's accommodation, your body getting used to something. Actually, it's your brain that gets used to the stimulus. Rather than waste time and energy on a repeated stimulus, your brain kind of says "oh yeah, same old, same old" and tunes it out. It's like not feeling your wedding ring if you keep it on all the time. But if you take it off, you feel that it's missing.

 

Now here's a question to add to all this research. I do get a bit of dock rock, but I rarely get seasick--and I don't use any bands or pills. So do landsick people get seasick? Is it both or either/or?

[topgallent]

http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/disorders/central/mdd.html

 

I think that if one has had it for several weeks once or is female with a history if migraines there is a risk, how great the risk I am not sure as the research isn't there. I have read some very sad stories, see

 

http://www.etete.com/mdd/support.html

 

for some of them about women who have gone on a cruise which changed their lives and led to permanent balance and vertigo issues and it didn't have anything to do with how rocky the sea was... I think since in my case I didn't respond to sea-sickness medication that some speak of... see "After the MDD has started, most medications that work for other forms of dizziness or motion sickness are ineffective. Specifically, antivert, bonine, meclizine, dramamine, scopolamine seem to be of little use. Valium and related medications such as Klonapin are helpful in some persons." then I really had a small milder form of MdDS. Some of the posts I have read on cruise critic of cruisers having gotten symptoms for months or years and then getting on another cruise seem highly risky to me... I am only considering what the situation is because it was weeks, just under a month, but even that has me taking serious pause and really not going... I am still looking for evidence to make me feel the risk isn't there... or not that badly there... other cruisers who have success stories... but I think the fact is, as some members on support groups for this balance disorder have said, it's a gamble and the losing end is possibly an incurable condition that will be a life-changing condition... if one had had an experience of MdDS before then as one of those support members put it.... perhaps the brain has identified itself as one of those that is within the risk group. Is that a risk I am willing to take for a two week cruise or for any cruise? It seems like a big gamble at the moment, and I'm heartbroken about it because I would really like to go and get a break from a very difficult year.

 

Hopefully my response to my thread now prompts some more responses that I can weigh in. But if you knew that there was a chance that you were more likely than the average person to getting an incurable balance disorder that may not go away with time would you take that risk?? I have read stories of people who cruise fine several times and then a certain cruise does it, or cruise and get small episodes and then finally a big episode hits. It's definitely a reason to pause, I think.

[topgallent]

http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/disorders/central/mdd.html

 

I think that if one has had it for several weeks once or is female with a history if migraines there is a risk, how great the risk I am not sure as the research isn't there. I have read some very sad stories, see

 

http://www.etete.com/mdd/support.html

 

for some of them about women who have gone on a cruise which changed their lives and led to permanent balance and vertigo issues and it didn't have anything to do with how rocky the sea was... I think since in my case I didn't respond to sea-sickness medication that some speak of... see "After the MDD has started, most medications that work for other forms of dizziness or motion sickness are ineffective. Specifically, antivert, bonine, meclizine, dramamine, scopolamine seem to be of little use. Valium and related medications such as Klonapin are helpful in some persons." then I really had a small milder form of MdDS. Some of the posts I have read on cruise critic of cruisers having gotten symptoms for months or years and then getting on another cruise seem highly risky to me... I am only considering what the situation is because it was weeks, just under a month, but even that has me taking serious pause and really not going... I am still looking for evidence to make me feel the risk isn't there... or not that badly there... other cruisers who have success stories... but I think the fact is, as some members on support groups for this balance disorder have said, it's a gamble and the losing end is possibly an incurable condition that will be a life-changing condition... if one had had an experience of MdDS before then as one of those support members put it.... perhaps the brain has identified itself as one of those that is within the risk group. Is that a risk I am willing to take for a two week cruise or for any cruise? It seems like a big gamble at the moment, and I'm heartbroken about it because I would really like to go and get a break from a very difficult year.

 

Hopefully my response to my thread now prompts some more responses that I can weigh in. But if you knew that there was a chance that you were more likely than the average person to getting an incurable balance disorder that may not go away with time would you take that risk?? I have read stories of people who cruise fine several times and then a certain cruise does it, or cruise and get small episodes and then finally a big episode hits. It's definitely a reason to pause, I think.

[CowPrincess]

You are the only one who can decide what is right for you. Anecdotal evidence provided by others is not terribly useful IMHO.

 

Talk to your doctor, maybe contact the researcher(s) who are working on it, but attempting to get whatever answer you seek on a cruising chat forum isn't a good use of your time IMHO. Pretty much all of the posters here do cruise. The ones who have decided to not cruise usually find other chat boards.

 

You sound as though you are terrified by the possibility, and that you feel you have a good chance of having Mal D De again. Your cruise date is approaching quickly. You need to make a decision, not expect others to make it for you.

 

I wish you luck whatever you decide.

[Seago2]

Wow, did you ask this on every single forum on Cruisecritic?

[sammygoose]

That's a difficult one. When do you stop living because of the what if? Any activity any day has a what if. That next chicken wing? The salt on my margarita? The excursion in Jamaica? The 5 extra pounds I've put on? My family history? I could go on and on.

The internet worries me because it seems like everytime you google symptoms of something you might have its CANCER. I know that sounds flippant but where do you draw the line?

I think I'd do my research then ask for a consult with my doctor and based on that discussion make the best choice for me.

I'm not sure a CC forum in conjunction with the internet is the wisest choice to make an informed decision. IMHO. :eek:

[RuthC]

It seems like a big gamble at the moment, and I'm heartbroken about it because I would really like to go and get a break from a very difficult year.

As you said, the consequences of getting sick post cruise could be life changing. And not in a positive way.

 

This is about a vacation, travel, seeing the world. There are other ways to achieve all of these without cruising.

If this has been a difficult year, and you need a break, you don't have to cruise to get that. You can explore other ways of getting a real change of pace that doesn't endanger your sense of balance for the rest of your life.

 

This isn't a "cruise" or "nothing" decision.

[topgallent]

I did post the question in about 5 places because there is no category for "sickness after a cruise" or ailments... and the categories that might be more appropriate seemed that they would not get a lot of traffic and I wanted to gather some quick data in a few days.

 

As for why I posted here...there really isn't an appropriate website for these questions. I posted on sites that are MdDS support sites with people that are suffering and they definitely advise against cruising and take it very seriously. They scared me, honestly! Perhaps, with good reason.

 

To get some voices from the other side of the track I decided to post on a site where I knew the voices would be more pro-cruising and perhaps I would get some stories of people who repeat cruise and are fine and happy and their situation doesn't get worse. Positive stories. I know it is my choice but since there is very little info on the web or even with doctors..and I have emailed a few...they seem to only see the worst cases...not the people who get mild cases and cruise again.... I have to do my own quick research. I would love to get some positive accounts that make me feel comfortable enough to go. So far the evidence hasn't been to supportive of that... but I am still hunting because going would be so fun.

[netingirl]

The flip side is that just because it happened once... doesn't mean it will happen again... or that if it does it will be forever... If you ate a burger once and got sick, doesn't mean it will happen again.

 

I'm with SammyGoose - why stop living over a what if?

 

I've had it frequently (48 straight days of cruising with some rough seas will do it for sure), but it always goes away after a few days or weeks. I actually never considered it something to worry about, just laughed at the fact that I was staggering here and there. Dock rock. Not something to get excited over for me - not to diminish those who have serious problems with it. I wouldn't do too much internet research on health issues (or a lot of things) - generally speaking all you find is bad news and stuff that will scare you unnecessarily.

[topgallent]

I don't think it's about not living or being too fearful. The hamburger analogy only works if there was something about the particular cruise I took before that "prepared" the cruise in such a way as to cause my dizziness. In other words, the cruise was unusually rocky, or my cabin was in an unusual place...rare things that don't happen often so I don't have to worry. What is concerning is that MdDS isn't a problem with the hamburger, with the boat, it's a problem with the person who gets in the boat. So, your analogy would work if, let's say, I have a mild allergy to hamburgers. If I have a mild allergy to hamburgers then yes every time I eat one I will get a reaction and my reaction may get worse with time to become a serious allergy. Do I have an "allergy" to cruising where my brain will get too used to the movement and cause prolonged after affects that make null and void the enjoyment of the cruise? I don't know...maybe. I hope not. I hope that there was something about that one cruise that was different... but in reality the guy I was traveling with was fine and one of the top doctors I asked said anything over 3 days is not normal brain behavior. Some say over a few weeks. My episode after a 7 day cruise was just under a month... for a 14 day cruise would it be 2 months? 3? At what point is it just not worth it... and yes, the question is will it happen again... is it worth the risk... I want to just say that my "fear is invalid" and "this is really rare" and "I am normal" but are those statements true? I read that a lot of people take Bonine before after and during the cruise and then claim they don't get the symptoms back... that is very interesting to me. Frankly I don't think that feeling nauseated and dizzy for another month after the cruise would be worth the trip, especially as I wouldn't know when it would end... or if it would end, and I know there is no known cure... but sure a part of me wants to gamble and say it won't happen, try the drugs and have a great time and feel free. I don't know when another free vacation like this will be offered to me.

[topgallent]

And again, as for Doctors, I talked to several:

 

1 said don't go, it will likely re-occur because I had it before

1 said the same as the above, and there is no cure if it didn't pass

1 said that it would probably come back but go away again like before if I could manage that

1 said I could try to take Clonazepam .5 mg 2x per day and it might not re-occur and may have worked in a few patients of his

1 said the fact that I got it before means I am more likely to get it again and some who have prolonged MdDS say they did have shorter episodes before the big one that didn't pass, and that episodes may get worse each time and the brain become more sensitized

1 said that I should go, he would, that it was less than a 10% chance to happen over a prolonged period though it would probably happen again over the short term and I could try Bonine and Clonazepam.

 

1 who is a pain Dr. said I shouldn't go because MdDS is a disorder of neuroplasticity and my current neurological complication is also a disorder of neurolplasticity and therefore I may get it again. He said I shouldn't have any anxiety at this time and that would make my current condition worse... MdDS would make me anxious if it recurred.

 

My father said I should only come if, if I did get dizzy and nauseated again, if it didn't stress me and I was able to have faith that it would pass with time, which is wise advice. However it is difficult to be confident in something that is an unknown factor.

 

All good advice but some contradictory. Yes, it's my choice!