<p>Ginger is reputed to work for nausea, but what about the headaches? For me, the headache of motion sickness is just as bad as the nausea and lasts longer.</p>
<p>I am prone to severe vertigo (like violent motion sickness even when there is no actual motion), and never know when it might hit. The treatment is motion sickness pills and, on my doctors advice, I carry them with me at all times. The originally prescribed med when I first got vertigo was meclizine. Doc told me to buy an OTC bottle of meclizine to carry with me. You can find it at the pharmacy for considerably cheaper than the name brand motion sickness pills. (Bonine is just a brand name for meclizine, at a much higher price).</p>
<p>I’ve been to several cruises and unless you’re going on a small ship on a rough voyage, it’s not likely to be an issue. Modern ships have amazing stabilizers that keep things, well, stable…</p>
<p>The patch seems to help, but also good cabin selection (center of ship, lower rather than higher). Check out the Cruise Critic or other sites for what works.</p>
<p>^People say that about large cruise ships but every one I have been on there are passengers who are sick. Indeed, I’ve had a few brief bouts on each cruise. Unless the water is like glass you can feel the rolling to some degree and if you have any inner-ear sensitivity, you may feel it more than the average person. On our last cruise, Holland America on the Baltic Sea, we had two passengers have to leave the dinner table and it didn’t feel that bad to me at all. Everyone reacts differently. Best to be prepared. I take Bonine the second I feel any queasiness in order to stop it before it sets in.</p>
<p>Having said that, hubby has never experienced a second of seasickness on any of our cruises, so it really does depend on the person.</p>
<p>Cruise critic dot com is the best cruise forum out there. Definitely check it out.</p>
<p>I once got “seasick” standing on a dock, watching the boats bob up and down!</p>
<p>I have been on two cruises and tried a variety of things. The Scopolamine patch worked for a few days, albeit with dry mouth and chemical taste in my mouth, but I had to take it off when my vision got blurry. </p>
<p>Seabands haven’t worked for me at all, however, a Relief Band was fairly effective. It looks like a wristwatch but sends electrical signals that somehow interfere with nerves that cause nausea and motion sickness. You put a gel on the inside of your wrist to help with conductivity and can adjust the strength of the stimulation to 4 or 5 settings. It runs on watch-type batteries than can be replaced. It reminded a little of the TENS unit my physical therapist used for my shoulder pain.</p>
<p>The Relief Band wasn’t a miracle worker. I still felt queasy at times, but it was a lot better for me than anything else I’ve tried. For some reason they discontinued it, but when I did an internet search I came up with a replacement called a Reletex. </p>
<p>You can Google “Relief Band” or maybe check out this link.</p>
<p>[ReliefBand:</a> Best Motion Sickness Remedy Yet](<a href=“http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/reliefband/index.html]ReliefBand:”>http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/reliefband/index.html)</p>
<p>I second the recommendation for cruisecriticdotcom. There is a wealth of information on their boards, and it is another site that is quite addictive!</p>
<p>If you use the patch, be aware some people experience rebound nausea after the patch is removed, so keep it on until you get home so you are in a safe place for that.</p>
<p>I have vertigo/motion sickness & I am able to assist my adjustment to the motion some times by focusing on sharp lines like the horizon, etc. A bit of mind over matter helps minimize the worst of it. As every one has stated above, have your arsenal and don’t let it start, watch for the slightest symptom and hit them hard. </p>
<p>I was told I would be fine on a cruise “you won’t feel it move” and was sick for my entire honeymoon. Years later we earned a cruise and I really had to psych up to enjoy that reward, I will never seek out a cruise, but I can survive one now without being miserable.</p>
<p>Fang, different remedies work for different people and I don’t know that there’s any way to know in advance what will work for you. The good news is that they’re inexpensive, so we took all three on our cruise – wristbands, candied ginger and OTC medication (as a last resort). The ginger worked like a charm for me and the wristband worked for D. Never had to open the medication.</p>
<p>Only thing I have to add is that you should NOT wait for symptoms. Once it starts, with even the slightest symptom, it can take days to cure. I don’t know about rebound nausea, but some people remain sick even on land (for example when you go on a land activity) once they get hit. Prepare and have fun!</p>
<p>I would suggest the Bonine approach, starting a few days early. I also get seasick and had a terrible reaction to the scopolomine patch. I am about 5’4 and I think the dosage was way too strong. It actually made me seasick and I had to have a shot from the ship’s infirmary to counter it. Then I lost 24 hrs. sleeping…not too excited to go on another cruise as a result, but I think I would have been fine on the Bonine which I used after recovering from the patch!! Alaska cruise, by the way…</p>
<p>I’m with LasMa, take a couple different things with you. We had one child with a tendency toward full out, throw up then pass out motion sickness and we’re “boaters” so it was a never ending battle to keep him from getting sick. We always kept several different things (ginger, patches, OTC Bonine) as each trip he would react in different ways.</p>
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<p>There is nothing unique about coleslaw which can cure sea sickness with one episode of vomiting. If you are prone to sea sickness, you will vomit whatever food you have in your stomach. And you can continue to vomit or have dry heaves for a day or more.</p>
<p>My DH has been very sea sick on cruise ships which do have stabilizers, so while many people do well on modern cruise ships, you absolutely cannot count on this, especially if the ship hits rough seas.</p>
<p>I have a friend who has severe motion sickness (she gets motion sick in cars if she’s not driving). She was going to China and part of her trip was a cruise, which scared her to death. I bought her a Relief Band and she was shocked how well it worked. No sea sickness at all. And she uses it on planes (she gets horribly sick if there’s any turbulence) with great results.</p>
<p>I just did a search and it turns out they’ve discontinued Relief Bands but have new, improved wrist bands called Reletex bands. Check them out.</p>
<p>And there’s nothing to prevent you from taking medication, eating ginger, and wearing a band – all at the same tiime. All the bases are covered, and there are no interactions. :)</p>
<p>My daughter and I both get motion sick very easily. I can’t look for a pen in my purse without feeling nauseous. Daughter threw up everytime she flew even as an infant. The bands work and they are not placebos. Spend $10 on the band and try reading while someone drives. We were amazed. </p>
<p>For cruises we wear bands 24 hrs a day and take ginger. We bring dramamine and bonine. The patch made me feel horrible for a week. Kinda like double dose of dramamine for my system. We did fine on the cruise most of the time. When we felt bad we went for fresh air. The cruises we’ve been on seem to have one room that we can’t handle and its the large auditorium that they do the stage shows. We did find that if we sit at one of the lowest levels it was more manageable. Don’t know if it’s the lights or being lower in the boat.</p>
<p>Just a reminder, that tossing one’s cookies in public on a cruise ship may be a bad idea because of Norovirus and other such maladies :-). So, duplicate the experiment on balcony staterooms only…</p>
<p>Also, try Cunard (they’re not THAT expensive depending on time of year) since their ships are about the only non-bathtub deeper keel designs that are more ‘stable’. The typical Princess/Royal Caribbean/EtCetera has very little ship below the water line so stabilizers or not, it will shake, rattle, and roll.</p>
<p>Being lower in the ship does help. Princess had the bright idea to put a specialty restaurant on Deck 18, which moves quite a bit regardless. Not a good idea if you’re prone to sea sickness. Center of ship, lower levels would work the best.</p>
<p>Good reminders- I am going sailing in a few weeks. I don’t care for the patch. I also never found the wristbands to work. I find Bonine works the best.
Also fresh air. Sitting facing forward. As much as you want to crawl in your bunk try to resist the urge.
I would be interested in trying the ginger. What should I look for?
I H swears by eating sunflower seeds when he feels sea sick. He thinks the salt and concentrating on opening the seeds distracts him. Granted he rarely gets seasick.</p>
<p>On our first cruise I got so sick that I wound up going to the onboard doctor. I received an injection and anti anti nausea pills. The doctor explained that one of the contributing factors in seasickness is a reduced amount of oxygen in the blood. Another cause is the inner ears’ lack of ability to adjust. Twenty minutes later I was fantastic. And yes, the doctor asked about general health, possible exposure to the flu etc. </p>
<p>Yes, I asked the doctor if it was a placebo. No. And every cruise thereafter I have made the trip down to sick bay.</p>
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<p>I got mine at Whole Foods, but probably mainstream grocery stores have it too. It was packaged like candy – a crinkly plastic bag. It’s candied, bite-size pieces. If you’ve never eaten ginger, it’s very spicy and will clear your sinuses in addition to settling your stomach. :)</p>
<p>Nrdsb,</p>
<p>Tongue in cheek…</p>
<p>turbo,</p>
<p>You are so right about the baffling design of contemporary ships – or should I say floating apartment buildings?! When did they stop using naval architects to draw up plans? Now it is just make them bigger, irrespective of proportion and balance. </p>
<p>I feel so fortunate to have sailed on ships of an earlier era, where it was quality over quantity. I refer to the SS Constitution, SS Santa Paula, SS Santa Rosa, SS Independence and the SS United States. </p>
<p>There must be some ships today that don’t look like glorified container ships – such eyesores!</p>
<p>I don’t like boats so I will likely never take a cruise. I do love to snorkel and scuba dive, however, so being on a boat is a necessary evil for getting where I want to be. If I’m on an excursion in which someone gives instruction while we sit in the boat, I always ask if I can jump into the water as soon as we stop but promise to listen from the water. No one has had a problem with that because I guess they know the alternative. On rare occasion, I have gotten sea sick in the water floating on swells so I spend most of my time underwater.</p>