Motion sickness patch

[maggie1118]

Hello! This is our first cruise and I have a question about the motion sickness patch. Can we buy them on the ship? We are taking Princess. Is it by perscription or over the counter? Thanks for your help!

Dawn

[SeattleCruiselover]

It is prescription only, and has a lot of potential side effects. You need to get your primary health care provider's recommendations and a script from him/her, then you can pick them up at any dispensing pharmacist.

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Hello! This is our first cruise and I have a question about the motion sickness patch. Can we buy them on the ship? We are taking Princess. Is it by perscription or over the counter? Thanks for your help!

Dawn

 

The patch works very well, but it makes me so thirsty! I still take them with me, but now I mainly use Bonine or Dramimine. They can be a little hard to find at times ( at local drugstores), so get your prescription as soon as you can. I would pick some over the counter stuff, too just in case.

 

Jan

[Mary Ellen]

I've still had motion 'problems' ;) with the patch, so last time I also took ginger capsules. I took 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. When I saw my M.D. to get the Rx for the patch, she said it would be fine to combine the two. We had 40-50 ft seas leaving the Falklands - and I didn't have ANY problems. DH was stunned.

 

Reading the info with the patch it said not to combine with the drug in my OTC anti-nausea medicine. Since that takes a number of hours to clear one's system, I didn't want to risk trying the OTC and have it not work. As with most anti-nausea medications, you NEED to take it before nausea strikes.

 

Good luck!

[sassyredhat]

Yes, it is prescription. It made me very thirsty and very drowsy. I took it off the 2nd day, and I was fine the rest of the cruise.

 

Pat

[FunCruiser56]

I sooo agree with the previous poster, there are many side effects to the patch and they are not cheap, usually around $70 for the prescription and usually your ins does not cover it.

Many posters here use Bonnine, easy/cheap to buy over the counter and really works great. My middle son used to turn 'green' when he flew so we knew we might have problems with cruising. Used the Bonnine starting the day we flew down till we flew home and he had a wonderful trip with no problems at all.

Ginger works for some folks but it gave me a huge headache and a bad taste in my mouth.

 

Happy sailing

 

Bev

[JanineM]

To give you another perspective ... I wear the patch and have virtually no side effects. If I take bonine/less drowsy dramamine/meclizine, I will sleep for the entire cruise. The patch works very well for me.

 

If you are in the United States then you do need a prescription. Your doctor will discuss the possible side effects and whether or not it is right for you. I pay $45 for 4 patches with my prescription card. Four patches lasts me about 14 days of sailing.

 

If you are in Canada you do not need a prescription. It is available over the counter. The cost is about $20 for 2 patches at Shoppers Drug Mart.

 

When we sailed in January the seas were very rough. Before bed one night I was concerned about the rockin' & rollin' so I took a ginger tablet. Had a wonderful sleep and felt no sickness.

[Aussie Cruisers]

Okay - while I don't need to use the patches - I have spoken with a good friend who uses them all the time.

 

She says the best thing is to cut the patch in half... this stopped all her side effects, but still provided relief. Plus - they last twice as long!

 

I say try the half first if you have never used the patch, as it allows your body to get used to it, and if it works, it will reduce the side effects.

 

But - as I said, this is advice from a good friend.

 

Mark.

[JanineM]

Okay - while I don't need to use the patches - I have spoken with a good friend who uses them all the time.

 

She says the best thing is to cut the patch in half... this stopped all her side effects, but still provided relief. Plus - they last twice as long!

 

I say try the half first if you have never used the patch, as it allows your body to get used to it, and if it works, it will reduce the side effects.

 

But - as I said, this is advice from a good friend.

 

Mark.

 

This is not great advice ... the product monograph clearly states that you should not cut the patch. If you do, the medication doesn't administer evenly and you can wind up with all kinds of problems. Like touching the edge of the patch then touching your eye - real vision problems!

 

There is a scopolomine pill available, and if you weigh less than 130 lbs or so you may want to ask your doctor about using those instead.

[Scooter-n-GB]

Like WB mentioned, just above...

 

Scopace is the same exact medication that is in the patch, but it is in pill form. I get 30 pills for $15 and it lasts me two cruises, and you have the flexibility to not take it if you don't need it (while on shore for instance). The Rx description states to take it 3x/day, but I've found that I only need 1 or maybe 2 per day. For me works much better than the patch, does not require that it build up in your system, and clears faster than the patch, not to mention no contact dermatitis. :p

[tcs1366]

This was my first cruise.... while I've been on smaller boats ... i have experienced sever motion sickness in "rough" waters. [once in St Thomas on a dive trip, and once on a cruise on Lake Michigan]

 

so i was quite concerned about being on a ship.

 

the first few days, ever morning I took a Bonine. our "waters" were quite calm, which i took as normal until we hit rougher seas and found out those were normal. I did not have ANY issues with sea sickness... there were others in our party that lost an entire day due to the rough seas.

 

but the Bonine worked wonders for me. and I also did not feel drowsy at all.

[hunter2004]

I usually took the pills. I stayed sleeppy a lot so last time (Jan 2008) I used the patch. I still felt a little motion, I believed it's because the rough sea. The only side effect I got was I have a hard time reading, but I can read from far away so when I read the menu, I have to reach my menu our to see it. one patch last three days. But go easy when you take it off.

[cv322]

I used the patch on my very first cruise in 1987 & experienced blurred vision. So the next cruise I brought Dramamine with me "just in case". Well, as it turns out I've never needed anything....apparently I don't get seasick! :D

 

Maybe you don't either!

[martinimadam]

Just remember, we're all posters. Very few, if any, are doctors. Check with your doctor before doing anything!

 

Then have a great cruise!

[mp006]

I used the "patch" during my 2004 cruise to Alaska. It helped with the motion sickness, but I didn't like the side effects of being drowsy. Also, there was a wierd feeling as though there was pressure in the back of my eyes (one of the warnings is not to take this if you are diabetic or have glaucoma). I chose OTC dramamine on my next cruise, and preferred that to the patch.

[blindrid]

We use the patch with good luck with no side effects. I'm not sure as to the people that say there are "many" side effects. It's been a good resource for us.

[Tinkrbell]

My husband uses the patch when we cruise together. He loves them and has no ill side effects. He does have trouble getting them to stick for longer than a day though.

[Shekim]

I wasn't sure how I would do on my first cruise so I asked my doctor to prescribe the patch just in case. Boy, am I glad I did. I was never nauseous but my equilibrium was off. I had read somewhere about cutting the patch in half--I did. I had no problems at all. I could tell when the patch was wearing off...my balance would go haywire. But for me the 1/2 patch lasted about a day and a half. I will take it again on my next cruise.

[suzimack]

Many years ago I took a cruise to nowhere on the "QE2...it was the cruise from hell and back(see cruise list below:eek: ). Old boat , no stabalizers..very sick..went to sick bay for a shot in the ars...worked great...needed cash and I think it was around fifty bucks...just so you know..it was the best $$ i spent on the cruise.....Last year my DD and myself took a cruise from NYC during the hurricane in April. We got the patch from her pediatrican(she's 17)and put it one as directed well before we left. No problems..however the seas were SO bad that we also wore the wristband and they both worked for a while...then it got bad so we took Bonine during the night..good night..in the a.m and the following day we felt really bad and took some Ginger Candy that we bought with us(still wearing the patches and writstbands)..That did the trick!!! This is what we will do and bring with us again this April..and I have been praying for smooth sailing...

[Wubba1108]

1st off....whenever you're talking about a medication that comes in a patch format, DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE THAT TELLS YOU TO CUT IT IN HALF! that disrupts the integrity of the medication's delivery system. you can end up absorbing far more medication in a short time period that recommended. never, EVER cut any type of medication patch unless instructed by a doctor.

 

now...

 

my recommendation to you is to try a few options out in advance. everyone is different. my husband rarely gets motion sick but when he does, an OTC pill works fine for him. whereas, i've tried every OTC medication known to man and they ALL make me incredibly sleepy.

 

which is how i became a patch user. i've had absolutely no side effects whatsoever. and its worked for me on a smaller boat in some pretty impressive swells.

 

so, maybe call your doctor and ask if she can prescribe you one patch. put it on and see how you feel. if you don't get any side effects, great. than that might do the trick for you. if you do get side effects, then try something else (dramamine, bonine, etc) until you find the medication that works best for your body.

[blindrid]

I forgot to mention another method for Scopalamine that we have used when we could not get the patch. A compounding pharmacy mixed the chemical with a gel, put it a syringe (no needle) and we just rubbed the gel on our wrist twice a day. That way, if you need to reduce the dosage for whatever reason, you can. That's another option as we have found it pretty handy.