Sea sickness and Hyoscine

[matt1]

One for the medical experts..

Throughout my teenage and 20's I used to suffer seasickness and the only thing that worked, without causing drowsiness, was Scopoderm patches. I hated the associated dry mouth, but they worked reliably for me. Fast forward many years later and I took a Kwell returning from Cherbourg a few weeks back and had to work very hard to stay awake as I entered the Eastbound shipping lane! Not good as I was singlehanded!

I thought the magic ingredient in Scoploderm was "Scoplamine" but this turns out to be none other than Hyoscine (the same as in Kwells). I don't recall the Scopoderm causing me drowsiness (even though that is listed as a side effect). Any thoughts on why? Could it be the 1mg ingestion per 72 hours?

The other peculiarity is that I have I previously taken Cinnnarzine on a daily basis for a vestibula condition, didn't feel drowsy, but co-incidentally never suffered sea sickness. Cinnarzine is listed as a "drowsy" antihimstamine.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Throughout my teenage and 20's I used to suffer seasickness and the only thing that worked, without causing drowsiness, was Scopoderm patches. I hated the associated dry mouth, but they worked reliably for me. Fast forward many years later and I took a Kwell returning from Cherbourg a few weeks back and had to work very hard to stay awake as I entered the Eastbound shipping lane! Not good as I was singlehanded!

I thought the magic ingredient in Scoploderm was "Scoplamine" but this turns out to be none other than Hyoscine (the same as in Kwells). I don't recall the Scopoderm causing me drowsiness (even though that is listed as a side effect). Any thoughts on why? Could it be the 1mg ingestion per 72 hours?

I have had precisely the same experience. I think it's because the patch continuously infuses just enough to combat nausea without triggering drowsiness which the pill has to give one big hit.

 

[MarkCX]

Cinnarzine is listed as a "drowsy" antihimstamine.

Cinnarizine doesn’t seem to make me drowsy either and works well for me.

 

[capnsensible]

Have done quite a lot of 'experimenting' with sea going Guinea pigs over the last twenty something years. I kinda got cured of seasickness years ago just by persistance, but that allowed me to have some sympathy whilst watching the effects of various cures.

I would say that probably about half of our students or crew get seasick. Most get over it after two or three days. Some longer, a rare few never.

Of all the remedies I tried, I would say Boots Travel Calm (hyoscine hydrobromide) were the best by far, but not universally effective. Always carried some stugeron just in case. Interestingly, the pills required to be carried in the first aid kit for coded boats is hh. No idea why, but Boots pills from a packet, when shown to the victim, sorry , casualty seemed to have a placebo effect too compared to the ones out of a plastic bottle?

I sailed quite a bit on service yachts many tides ago, where the ultimate weapon was a seasick remedy applied as a suppository. The threat generally worked.......

 

[Yngmar]

You must absolutely not mix Kwells with alcohol - even a very small amount (like eating a Mon Chéri) will cause you to get really tired and it'll be very difficult to resist falling asleep. Might that be what happened?

Apart from that, it seems to be what works best for both of us, with the least side effects, having tried the alternatives.

 

[Leighb]

I generally find that Stugeron works OK for me and no drowsiness, I tried Scopoderm many years ago on a North Sea crossing which was quite rough, and I felt that I might just as well have stuck it on the wall. No help at all. My wife tried it once also and she felt incredibly dizzy at home, let alone on a moving boat.
However, I get sick if the movement is bad enough whatever I take.