how to get rid of the sea sickness feeling

[westhinder]

Psychology plays a large part in it all. When I started sailing I got seasick when it was rough and the mere sight of the harbour was enough to cure it. Once I got past the uncertainty and had convinced myself of the fact that the boat was not going to capsize on the next big wave, I was not seasick any more and never have been again, not even with the smell of diesel in the cabin.
When I was seasick, what worked for me was to lie down in the cabin on my back with my eyes closed. That way you shut out most of the conflicting sensations that cause your brain to short-circuit. Your sense of equilibrium and your muscles feed the same info to your brain and seasickness recedes.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Seasickness is definitely contagious. We once went on a boat trip round a Greek island - the one with a wreck on a beach - it was a bit lively but I was fine until someone threw up in front of me. After that I felt a bit queezy.

 

[Seajet]

To actually answer the OP's question re recovery -

During major seasickness - if at all possible get the casualty wrapped up warm on a bunk below, with a bucket handy - music may be a useful distraction.

Keep plenty of water handy as sickness causes dehydration - the mineral water bottles with a teat to suck are ideal so as not to spill, commonly used on light aircraft even if not feeling sick.

Have lots of mineral water - much of it will be lost if the poor person is still vomiting - orange / peach squash like Robinsons can make it a lot more palatable.

As soon as vomiting has subsided administer a tumblerful of water with Dioralyte - 1 sachet per glass - this tops up the minerals and electrolytes lost in serious puking, and is a pleasant mild blackcurrant flavour - I think maybe other flavours available now - from chemists in packs of four, around £4.50

Re pre-seasickness, Stugeron seems to help the majority of people but try it onland first; I knew an experienced sailor who tried it more or less as an experiment, it knocked him out cold leaving me with a big problem getting him into the cabin along with handling the boat in stiff conditions.

Never personally heard of any of the other magic cures working at all, apart from get them below in a sleeping bag with a bucket and plenty of fresh water.

 

[Kukri]

To actually answer the OP's question re recovery -

During major seasickness - if at all possible get the casualty wrapped up warm on a bunk below, with a bucket handy - music may be a useful distraction.

Keep plenty of water handy as sickness causes dehydration - the mineral water bottles with a teat to suck are ideal so as not to spill, commonly used on light aircraft even if not feeling sick.

Have lots of mineral water - much of it will be lost if the poor person is still vomiting - orange / peach squash like Robinsons can make it a lot more palatable.

As soon as vomiting has subsided administer a tumblerful of water with Dioralyte - 1 sachet per glass - this tops up the minerals and electrolytes lost in serious puking, and is a pleasant mild blackcurrant flavour - I think maybe other flavours available now - from chemists in packs of four, around £4.50

Re pre-seasickness, Stugeron seems to help the majority of people but try it onland first; I knew an experienced sailor who tried it more or less as an experiment, it knocked him out cold leaving me with a big problem getting him into the cabin along with handling the boat in stiff conditions.

Never personally heard of any of the other magic cures working at all, apart from get them below in a sleeping bag with a bucket and plenty of fresh water.

Excellent advice. Nothing to add to that.

 

[RobF]

To actually answer the OP's question re recovery -

During major seasickness - if at all possible get the casualty wrapped up warm on a bunk below, with a bucket handy - music may be a useful distraction.

Keep plenty of water handy as sickness causes dehydration - the mineral water bottles with a teat to suck are ideal so as not to spill, commonly used on light aircraft even if not feeling sick.

Have lots of mineral water - much of it will be lost if the poor person is still vomiting - orange / peach squash like Robinsons can make it a lot more palatable.

As soon as vomiting has subsided administer a tumblerful of water with Dioralyte - 1 sachet per glass - this tops up the minerals and electrolytes lost in serious puking, and is a pleasant mild blackcurrant flavour - I think maybe other flavours available now - from chemists in packs of four, around £4.50

Re pre-seasickness, Stugeron seems to help the majority of people but try it onland first; I knew an experienced sailor who tried it more or less as an experiment, it knocked him out cold leaving me with a big problem getting him into the cabin along with handling the boat in stiff conditions.

Never personally heard of any of the other magic cures working at all, apart from get them below in a sleeping bag with a bucket and plenty of fresh water.

Very little to add to that. I find being horizontal really helps. So my advice is horizontal & warm.

 

[Seajet]

And another reason for at least one proper seagoing berth on small boats with a leecloth to hold people in !

A friend was already very ill with the Big C I'm sorry to say, she wasn't seasick but slept across Poole Bay like this, she'd had a hard life and was then very poorly indeed - had never sailed before - but she loved being gently rolled as we trundled across the bay in perfect weather.

So along with the seasickness stuff I'd add ' and have a leecloth on any suitable bunk. '

 

[BelleSerene]

Learn how to keep your upper body (from pelvis upwards) perfectly upright and only move the lower part with the boat. A lot of people who are new to boats tend to keep themselves rigid and with the muscles of the abdomen tensed.

+1.

Advice on looking out is most powerful when looking ahead - not easy on a cockpit bench, so get behind a helm and face forward. PTMD’s advice above, which I find hugely important, is easiest in this position too.

Don’t read anything. At all. Don’t even think of going down below. Don’t smell food.

If you can get a chewable Meclizine tablet down you without throwing up (have ’em ready; did I mention don’t go down below?), I find they work best and soonest - but this might be personal to me.

By all means, throw up - you will always feel better afterwards. But have some water ready so you don’t get dehydrated.

please don't vomit over the side it is not easy to clean

or if you must, do so downwind. It has always seemed to me that the Judao-Christian incantation from the book of Chronicles “All things come from you and of your own do we give you” is an echo of what the previous Gods of the Wind and the Sea had long been cursing under their breath to chundering seafarers.

 

[duncan99210]

Relieving the feelings of nausea can be achieved by turning the autopilot off and handing the wheel to the casualty, provided it’s in the early stages. That focus often stops the progression of the nausea into vomiting. However, nothing to add to the advice below once vomiting has started.
I know I’m likely to suffer from seasickness so always take Stugeron or similar if the winds likely to be above f5. Take it for two or three days and then halve the dose and then stop taking it. If nausea reappears at any time, start taking the pills again. I always chew the pills and wash down with a small quantity of water, minimising the absorption time.

 

[Resolution]

To actually answer the OP's question re recovery -

During major seasickness - if at all possible get the casualty wrapped up warm on a bunk below, with a bucket handy - music may be a useful distraction.

Keep plenty of water handy as sickness causes dehydration - the mineral water bottles with a teat to suck are ideal so as not to spill, commonly used on light aircraft even if not feeling sick.

Have lots of mineral water - much of it will be lost if the poor person is still vomiting - orange / peach squash like Robinsons can make it a lot more palatable.

As soon as vomiting has subsided administer a tumblerful of water with Dioralyte - 1 sachet per glass - this tops up the minerals and electrolytes lost in serious puking, and is a pleasant mild blackcurrant flavour - I think maybe other flavours available now - from chemists in packs of four, around £4.50

Re pre-seasickness, Stugeron seems to help the majority of people but try it onland first; I knew an experienced sailor who tried it more or less as an experiment, it knocked him out cold leaving me with a big problem getting him into the cabin along with handling the boat in stiff conditions.

Never personally heard of any of the other magic cures working at all, apart from get them below in a sleeping bag with a bucket and plenty of fresh water.

I suffer badly and would agree with all that Seajet suggests. Additional advice:
1. I find the scopaderm patches more effective than any of the usual available pills.
2. Essential to start taking medication at least 12 hours ahead of setting off.
3. If using pills, place under the tongue and let them dissolve there. Quicker into the bloodstream I believe than via stomach.
4. It may be worth trying lying down below with noise-cancelling headphones on, playing soothing music.

Best of luck to all fellow sufferers!

 

[john_morris_uk]

No. It needs a couple of hours to act, during which time you will have vomited it.

Throw up, go below, lie down, keep warm and you may well be OK when you wake. If not, repeat for three days. If you are still throwing up at the end of the third day at sea, take up dinghy racing.

First paragraph only true if you swallow the stugeron.

The little known trick is to put a stugeron tablet under your tongue and wait. Enough gets absorbed through the mucous membrane as it dissolves to become effective. The technique works brilliantly and whilst I agree that taking the tablets ‘properly’ a couple of hours before sailing is better, the trick is worth knowing about. I’ve used the method many many times on myself and others. If they’re sick and lose the tablet you know what’s happened and can start again. (Hardly every happens.)

And don’t believe people who say that the drugs don’t work. On most people they work very well. I agree that they make some people a bit dozy but it’s better than wanting to die.

I get sick the first day out sometimes. It’s a nuisance as I know that after a day or two at sea I’ll be wedged in a corner down below when off watch reading a book while the boat rolls and corkscrews as violently as it likes. Stugeron certainly helps me through the first day if needed.

Your second paragraph I entirely agree with. I’m usually 100% cured if I have a proper sleep and then wake up with the boat still moving. It’s as if the brain says ‘ok this is the new reality...’

 

[Kukri]

First paragraph only true if you swallow the stugeron.

The little known trick is to put a stugeron tablet under your tongue and wait. Enough gets absorbed through the mucous membrane as it dissolves to become effective. The technique works brilliantly and whilst I agree that taking the tablets ‘properly’ a couple of hours before sailing is better, the trick is worth knowing about. I’ve used the method many many times on myself and others. If they’re sick and lose the tablet you know what’s happened and can start again. (Hardly every happens.)

And don’t believe people who say that the drugs don’t work. On most people they work very well. I agree that they make some people a bit dozy but it’s better than wanting to die.

I get sick the first day out sometimes. It’s a nuisance as I know that after a day or two at sea I’ll be wedged in a corner down below when off watch reading a book while the boat rolls and corkscrews as violently as it likes. Stugeron certainly helps me through the first day if needed.

Your second paragraph I entirely agree with. I’m usually 100% cured if I have a proper sleep and then wake up with the boat still moving. It’s as if the brain says ‘ok this is the new reality...’

Thanks for the tip.

 

[superheat6k]

Taking up golf is quite effective too, and is also a good cure for quite a few other nautical problems, e.g. engine failure, failed stern seal or seacock, (reluctant !) female crew, unexpected bad weather.

 

[Jungle Jim]

What has worked for me after 12 hours of a rough night crossing (trying to read the AIS data while helming then going below to the heads finally made me feel nauseous) was to take a Stugeron then immediately go back up to the cockpit. Once there take all my wet weather gear, boots, lifejacket off while I could see the horizon, then dive down to a bunk, into a sleeping bag and close my eyes as fast as I could.

That was probably enough but I added a little mantra, saying "calm,calm, calm" to myself and forcing myself to relax.I felt immediately better, slept for about 40 minutes and got up fresh as a daisy.

I like the idea of keeping your eyes closed while going below, I'm going to give that a go next time.

 

[Dougal]

As for there being some psychology involved, i dont disagree, but try telling that to all the dogs we've had that get seasick

 

[[163233]]

Couple of friends, fishermen/lifeboatmen, never been sick went on the survival course at the Robert Gordon centre, twenty minutes in a closed liferaft at sea and everyone was sick.

Well, in a confined space when one goes off it's going to get grim fast,

It's said that lying below with a bucket is the best cure once it sets in, but that might well render below to be too much for the rest of the crew, so I'm undecided on that strategy. My parents always insisted we stayed in the cockpit when I was a kid, it didn't reduce the seasickness but it did at least keep the interior usable..

 

[Oldfellah]

For many years I could never go below in anything other than a calm sea due to dizzyness and then nausea. I tried various seasick remedies but other than sending me to sleep none of them were up to much, well for me anyway. I then tried Avomine and now happily will do chart work, make tea and generally handle going below in any sort of sea. It has been a real find and transformed my time at sea. Having said that I can feel a tad queezy on a long passage when I find a lump of crystalized ginger works wonders or even a ginger biscuit with my cup of tea.

 

[geem]

ginger (at least in my case), before and during, doesn't help at all....

I once read that Chinese merchant seamen would chew raw ginger root for three weeks before they went to sea. We make ginger ale on the boat and drink that as an alternative to other soft drinks. Wife is prone to sea sickness but much better if she has been drinking dark n stormies....

 

[maby]

As for there being some psychology involved, i dont disagree, but try telling that to all the dogs we've had that get seasick

Well, don't discount psychology for dogs (or cats) either! We are talking about something quite primal here - the various stimuli being received through your senses don't fit in with expectations that have been learned over a long period of time - it does not take complex reasoning ability to sense that and to become disoriented.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I think if I suffered from sea sickness, I'd take up a new hobby such as golf!

 

[macd]

I think if I suffered from sea sickness, I'd take up a new hobby such as golf!

You could maybe find a playing partner in superheat6k (post #32).