Boat trip vs. motion sickness

[California Girl]

My personal experience has been with Bonine, or meclizine, (for Meniere's disease); it has few side effects, comes in an easy to take chewable, and is inexpensive.

Now that you mention it, when I was experiencing intense motion sickness due to a vertigo attack, the doctor in the emergency room gave me Meclizine. It worked really well.

[cocosmom]

I too get motion sickness. Dramamine and Bonine make me sleep..for hours!!! I have used the wristbands for 26 years. Love them I have been on the Lewes Ferry crossing from Deleware to NJ right after a storm. People couldn't even walk without hanging on to something. Wristbands worked perfectly. We have done a full day with New Horizons and used the bands..no problem.

[Hawaii]

Hi - Our family will be coming to STJ this summer and hoping to take a private charter. I do not do well at all on boats. A few years ago we went to Nova Scotia from Maine on the CAT Ferry. This is normally a very smooth ride - not that day. Before we left I visited our pharmacist who told me to take Bonine. When I say the majority of the people on the boat were getting sick - I am not kidding. The bathrooms were full so people were just using the bags. Not a pretty site!!! Our poor kids were sick - my oldest who at the time was 10 only once but I lost count at about 8 with my daughter. Anyway, to end my story I was fine - maybe a little queesy from wathching people get sick but I only took half a pill. On the way back we all took the medication and were fine - of course the ride was smooth on the way back. This was a 5 hour trip - so I will definitely take bonine again. Good luck - I know how you feel.

[lawmom]

Be careful about the patch. I wore one for a week on a cruise and was not seasick. Came home, took it off and was horribly unbalanced and queasy for two weeks. Never again. I've used Bonine from then one with no problems.

[datwaymon]

Another vote for Bonine. It's cheap and effective. While I don't suffer from motion sickness, my wife and several of my friends do and Bonine has always worked well for them.

My wife takes Bonine when she wakes up every morning we're in the Virgin Islands regardless of what we have planned for the day. It helps with boat rides, it helps with snorkeling in rough water, it even helps with the jeep ride around all the hilly, winding roads.

Whenever I'm making a sea passage and taking along someone that hasn't been at sea before I have them start taking Bonine a couple of days before we set sail just to get it in their system, and then have them take a dose each of the first three days until they've gotten their sea legs. So far, no one that's followed that regime has feed the fishes.

[chicagoans]

Datwaymon makes a good point about taking medication ahead of time. We got the same tip before a sailing trip in Kauai: we took Bonine the night before and again about an hour before sailing. Taking it ahead of time helped more of it absorb into our systems.

And definitely stay up top and watch the horizon as mentioned earlier.

[SCMako17]

Another vote for Bonine. I take it every time I go offshore fishing. One right before I go to bed the night before and one on the way to the dock. Once we pull back the throttles and start putting out the lines, I crack open a beer and try to drink it rather quickly. I'm sure the label would advise against drinking while taking it but it works well for me. It does not make me drowsy. The only side affect is that it stops me up a little bit but that's not such a bad thing while being on a boat all day

With that being said the cat would be the prefered choice vs the monohull in a sailing vessel. In powerboats, I don't think it makes as much of a difference.

[California Girl]

I'm sure it's not advised, but I've pretty much always mixed Bonine with alcohol because, well... I'm on a boat and it's party time! I've never had an adverse reaction from the mix. Maybe a little drowsy, but I get over that.

[Pickle]

Not sure if I can try different meds and ensure credible results prior to the trip. I can try them and see how I do riding those winding roads once I get to the Virgin Islands - we'll be on St. John for a while, so if we are to book a charter boat, we can try to book it for towards the end of our trip. Otherwise, I'll probably just have to gamble on picking a med and hope for the best (Bonine seems to be mentioned most often here). I'll ask my doctor and friendly pharmacist for their advice.

It's just that it's not easy to make up our minds about booking a costly charter when I don't know if I'll do well or not. But unless I try it, I'll never find out. I've been a wimp for too long, already.

Appreciate all your suggestions. I can always count on you folks!

[California Girl]

You're not a wimp! As one who spent most of her childhood car sick on vacations, I completely understand what you are saying! That's a lot of money to spend for the privilege of barfing in the ocean! But I really think Bonine will work well for you!

[seagrape]

I am prone to motion sickness, but never felt sick on Capt. Brandi's boat. We were in Anguilla a few years ago and were on a sailing charter. I felt ill almost right away and didn't have any meds for it. The captain told me to take a shot of rum. I know it sounds weird, but it worked! Maybe I was just having fun and forgetting about my stomach. Enjoy the beautiful scenery and try to forget about the bumps. Have fun!

[jwwj]

I do a lot of offshore fishing and have found that ginger capsules work very well. I use to use dramamine but didn't like the drowsiness. Ginger has no side effects that i know of and are cheap and available in the grocery. I was recently on a fishing charter and one of the passengers was feeling very sick and looked like she was minutes away from loosing it. I have her a couple ginger pills and in about 20 minutes she was up and fishing.

[KTinTX]

Not meds, but a couple of things to consider:

1. Type of boat, as was mentioned earlier can be a HUGE factor. My wife got a little queasy on a monohull sail to Jost Van Dyke, but in rougher conditions a small catamaran ride while sitting on the trampoline was fine.

2. Snorkel stops. If you are prone to motion sickness and your boat stops in a spot that has some swells and current this could be a recipe for sickness, too. When the reef appears to be moving 3 feet nearer and further away every few seconds, it can get a little disconcerting...same thing for boarding a bobbing boat via ladder. If it's rough and you're prone to motion sickness, probably wise to either not get in or stick close to the boat.

3. Swallowing seawater...yeah, I know goes without saying, but 3 foot swells and trying to board said bobbing vessel in #2....#&%( happens!

#3 will make anyone sick and you can't dilute the saltwater with rum or beer either!