<p>I’m signed up to go on a cruise with my mother and sister. Problem is, I’m very prone to motion sickness. What meds have worked for you? </p>
<p>I’m dubious that Sea Bands would do a thing for me, and I prefer a drug that doesn’t induce a dry mouth.</p>
<p>I wear wrist bands which puts pressure on your wrist to prevent motion sickness. You could get that in any drug store. I am also prone to motion sickness, and they work very well for me.</p>
<p>Wrist bands are the Sea Bands that I’m skeptical of. Placebo effects are real, but in my case, a placebo isn’t going to do the trick.</p>
<p>Scopolamine patch - put on before you have symptoms. Once symptoms start it is very difficult to cure. Motion sickness on a cruise is much worse than dry mouth. Even seasoned sailors that I know use them if they’re going to be at sea for more than a day or in questionable conditions.</p>
<p>Have you tried ginger?</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, gusaspara. Quite likely I’ll go with the patch. It’s not that I don’t want a dry mouth; the problem is, because of an autoimmune condition I already have a dry mouth, and I’m worried that with scop my mouth would be like the Sahara. However, better to constantly sip water than to constantly have a headache and queasy stomach.</p>
<p>Let me clarify: when I say I’m prone to motion sickness, I mean serious motion sickness in the face of relatively mild motion. For example, if I try to read something while riding in a car, I will get motion sick in less than two minutes. (Don’t ask me to be the navigator!) Being in a car or bus on twisty roads is a horror for me, even if I blindfold myself, which I now know to do. It’s definitely not my imagination, because when I was a baby, I’m told, I would scream during car trips. Ginger and sea bands are not going to do the trick. I need the heavy pharmacological weaponry.</p>
<p>My DH is prone to motion sickness. He takes Bonine at night before bed each night during the cruise (actually starts a night or two before the cruise) and has no trouble. </p>
<p>The patch has a lot of potential side effects other than dry mouth that he was wary of. Many people do okay with it, but do check it out fully before going that route.</p>
<p>Bonine is great. IT doesn’t make you tired, you can take it every 12 hours without any real side effects and it comes in a ‘yummy’ raspberry flavor… Have used it on various forms of transport with great success!</p>
<p>Okay, here’s my remedy:</p>
<p>Book on a cruise when you know the seas will be rough and the ship will pitch and roll alarmingly. While that is going on, saunter up to the outdoor buffet on the sun deck. Make sure you eat a healthy portion of coleslaw. Put down your plate and let the slaw do its thing.</p>
<p>In no time you will be violently ill and vomit (hopefully, overboard!) everything until you think your innards will be next. Stop vomiting, take stock of your surroundings, relax…you suddenly feel much better – great, in fact, – and will never feel seasick for the remainder of the voyage. A failsafe cure!</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, you won’t be able to LOOK at coleslaw again for about nine years…</p>
<p>What you had was food poisoning, not motion sickness. You are sick with motion sickness even if there is nothing in your stomach… joy.</p>
<p>I also suffer from motion sickness and have used Scopolomine successfully. However, I did have trouble with blurred vision. I was told that one side effect is dilation of the pupils so you need to be careful in the sun - protect your eyes. Someone else said that I must have rubbed my eyes after handling the patch so I’m not sure what happened, but I went to a doctor in Grand Cayman because I thought I was going blind. It was great that I was able to enjoy boating excursions while I was there. Ordinarily I would either be leaning over the side of the boat of sitting by myself concentrating on nothing except not throwing up. I also feel ill almost immediately if I read in the car.</p>
<p>Bonine worked for me. </p>
<p>(How do you pronounce that? Bo-9, or Bo-neen? 
)</p>
<p>I have used both the patches and ginger. The patches make me loopy. Premedicating with ginger hours before the cruise sets sail and until it hits calm seas has really worked.</p>
<p>Friend has had blurry vision from patch too. Can’t control dosage of it.</p>
<p>I’ve used Bonine (over the counter) along with seabands on more than half dozen cruises. </p>
<p>I take Bonine every AM and PM. No need to start prior to trip. Days in port I have not taken any. I am very prone to motion sickness and have had great success with the Bonine. My first cruise I wore seabands all the time- at sea, at port, at the beach…) now I wear them at the start of the cruise and take them off at some point. </p>
<p>Hints for cruising- Book a room as high up as possible (and affordable) and closest to the center of the ship as possible. Imagine a sea-saw. The middle stays put but the ends go up and down… that’s what happens in rough seas… </p>
<p>Have fun!</p>
<p>roby,</p>
<p>This was aboard the Grace Liner, SS Santa Rosa, that serviced the Caribbean (along with her sister, the SS Santa Paula) in the 1950’s. It was a highly respected line, impeccably clean in all respects. I doubt the slaw was tinged. </p>
<p>It’s not like today, where cruising is a mega-industry and high-quality service/food is not a sure thing. This was a small ship (less than 500 feet) with only 300 passengers, all first-class. The emphasis was on service, rather than gaudy entertainment and nauseating (pun intended) actvities.</p>
<p>So, no, I think it was not food poisoning.</p>
<p>Mythbusters did a show on seasickness rememdies, ginger pills really worked. </p>
<p>They didn’t test any prescription drugs.</p>
<p>You can always cut the patch in half and use half. Cut the foil pouch and open carefully. Cut the patch in half. Place the unused half back in the pouch. Fold the open edges of the foil end over two to three times to seal and place a paperclip over it. You don’t want the med to evaporate off of the half you keep. Put on just a half. Add the other half to the other side if needed.</p>
<p>And if you keep your hands off of the patch while wearing,and don’t touch/rub your eyes, you will have less problems with your pupils dilating.</p>
<p>I use Bonine, but sparingly, I don’t like the way it makes me feel. Using it the night before seems to work better for some people because once sea sickness sets in it’s hard to get rid of it.The patch makes me dizzy. Ginger Trips are great. We were given them while on a dive ship on the Great Barrier Reef. They are my go-to meds for seasickness. You can take as many as you need.</p>
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<p>I’ve never been on a cruise, but I go ocean fishing (New England) with my H all the time. I get motion sickness and found that the patch was really helpful.</p>