SEA SICKNESS- BEST CURES (NOT GOING TO SEA ISN'T ONE OF THEM)!

[James_Calvert]

One tip I've learned is that if you find yourself at sea and starting to feel sick, don't swallow the sturgeon. Place it under your tongue and allow it to melt/dissolve. The active ingredient is absorbed very quickly and effectively through the mucous membrane under your tongue and relief is much quicker. If someone is being sick then it's difficult to tell if they've actually had a tablet or not if they swallow one and then vom' everywhere. Do you give them another or not? Under the tongue is effective and in dire emergency they can always take it out, vomit and then put it back under their tongue again!

I find sturgeon gives me a dry mouth and makes me sleepy but it cures the sea sickness.

I also find that managing to sleep and then waking up seems to effect a cure. A good sleep and the brain seems to think, "OK this is the new normal; I don't need to make the stomach vomit anymore".

I can go months without being sick and then a long time away from boats, a long passage into the dark in lumpy seas when I'm tired and I'm vomming for Britain again. I also know it only lasts 12-24 hours for me and then I'm dancing off the bulkheads, cooking cleaning, head in the bilge - whatever with no ill effects at all. I know other people take longer to acclimatise.

John that looks like great advice but you need to control your autocorrect.

The image of sticking a big fish under your tongue...

I felt queasy on my sofa!

 

[Zagato]

Sadly I suffer acute motion sickness, I can be heaving within 5 minutes of being subjected to it. I sit at the helm exhaustingly concentrating on the horizon for each passage with sweat running down my face on the verge of throwing up. Whilst on the YBW scuttlebutt cruise and on STUGERON a few years ago I lost half a stone in that week and made the decision that it was too dangerous for me to sail single handed as I came through the Needles on my own. I joined another rally a couple of years later from Chichester Harbour but once again had to pull out and dive into Gosport while they carried on to Cowes. I have done the same many times on my own and on numerous occasions even not being able to get out past West Pole... up go the sails in the swell and I am chucking up, feeling like death and fumbling about and now retching whilst trying to pick up a buoy opposite Sparks Marina. I really love being on a boat and am so envious of people that can sail OK in a swell. I even get sea sick on my motorbike sometimes, feel quite ill but not thrown up yet.

I have improved things by making sure I eat properly and have snacks (interesting what was said earlier) no cheese, no coffee obviously and I spend two days on the boat in Chichester Harbour to acclimatise on my mooring and at anchor. STUGERON has been my life saver however. It makes me feel Iike crap but that is better than sea sickness. My best point of sail is crashing though waves close hauled. I take it a whole day before sailing and it does the trick, I can still get sea sick but it is much better.

My concern with STUGERON is that it basically does what dementia does and disconnects or numbs the signals in your brain, I am not the brightest spark at the best of times and do wonder what long term damage it may do if at all. Alcohol has killed most of what brain cells I started life with, I have to look after the few that are left

 

[Praxinoscope]

Maybe JM has found a new cure and a sturgeon under the tongue may be it, it is a fish after all so theoretically doesn't get seasick. But, wasn't thee evidence that live cod in tanks on board ships did suffer from seasickness?
Maybe JM meant the 'wee' SNP leader?

 

[WoodyP]

When taking Stugeron I have found that I have to plan ahead and take a dose the night before. Any sleepy feeling not a problem as you are in the right place. Then take another dose in the morning.
I had to give up going sea fishing in my teens as it was so badly affected and I only came back to the sea many years later. Mostly I am ok, but it is the most miserable way to enjoy yourself if you do get seasick.

 

[Jungle Jim]

I prescribe the following in order:
Sausage and bacon bap, brown sauce and a latte from Greggs on the way to the boat.
Once on board, stugeron (or a sturgeon if you've run out)
If its going to be really rough, a zantac anti-indigestion tablet
Choccy bars (snickers or Mars preferred) every couple of hours
Keep sipping water, and finally don't get cold. It works for me, although not so good for the waistline

 

[doug748]

AVOMINE tablets have worked ok for two people I know:

https://www.superdrug.com/Health/Stomach-&-Bowel/Travel-Sickness/Avomine-25mg-tablets-28s/p/464650

.

 

[Iliade]

It has to be an oak tree

No, I prefer douglas fir, An oak mast would make for a very wobbly boat.

Sitting under a tree = point of least motion, or thereabouts.

 

[Plymsea]

I am not too bad so long as I am sensible about it. SWMBO on the other hand recently discovered that while fine on a powerboat sailing is not good for her, so this thread is full of good stuff. Thank you so far!

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Speaking, fortunately, as an observer - Stugeron started at least 24 hours in advance. No booze in those 24 hours, no fry-ups either. Regular sensible snacks and still drinks. Keep warm, sit or lie wedged so that the boat isn't throwing you around, and when you do go below, don't hang about, straight to bed, feet forwards and not in the forecabin.

 

[GunfleetSand]

Old sea dog once told me to tighten my belt in as much as possible, never tried it. Just take a couple of Nichola’s with me and don’t look down.

 

[Liamba]

I suffer a bit with sea sickness but have found that Kwells work a treat. Stugeron don’t seem to do anything but I’ve never been sick when taking Kwells. You also only need to take them 20 mins before as opposed to hours or poss the night before for Stugeron.

The local Boots had run out recently so I bought their own brand which according to the box is identical to Kwells. I can’t work out my why but makes me feel lousy before even getting on the boat

I used to dive regularly around the UK. Always amazed me how once I was in the water, I only needed to descend a couple of meters for instant relief (from seasickness!).

 

[chrishscorp]

Ginger has an effect they dont know how, and Vit C helps.... very interesting article based on a survey from ARC sailors and well worth a read

What are the best remedies for seasickness?

 

[Daydream believer]

I sail SH 95% of the time & I get sea sick 25% of the time. Sometimes so bad I can barely move.

Once, when I had a contract to supply & fix a staircase to the exterior wall of Carrisbrooke Castle, I was on the IOW ferry with my operatives & a lorry load of stair parts. I was stressed out due to the lorry not arriving on time & nearly missing the ferry. I actually chucked up on the ferry crossing, to the amusement of the others.

What annoys me is that my wife ( who hates sailing so rarely comes with me) will stay below in F8 & read, or play patience. She often goes on the club committee boat & is the only one who can go below to work out the race results. I am unable to stay on the boat at anchor, so in the 17 years that I have had the current boat I have only anchored 5 times & 3 have been in emergency.

For a few years I found that the electronic watch helped but that seems to have worn off.
I have a canvas that fits in the cockpit hatchway, rather like a deckchair, where I sleep underway. My feet are in the cockpit. My head is just below deck height & I can see aft for quite a wide horizon. If I sit up a bit I can turn & look forward. I find that laying in that helps recovery. It also traps my body so I do not have to brace myself against movement so I can relax my muscles. That helps me sleep off ill effects
Ginger etc does not work. Lots of water is important especially once I start vomiting,which I can do 8-9 times in a session.
I did try the patches subscribed by the doctor. I put one on at work the day before departure & within 3 hours I ended up stretched out in the sick room chucking up for all I was worth.
I am a migraine sufferer as well & my vision goes at the same time. So I have to be very careful& I have set procedures on boat setup etc to cope if I feel it coming on.

 

[[163233]]

No booze in those 24 hours, no fry-ups either.

Dear god that's hard core.

Wouldn't it be kinder to just let them chuck up in a bucket for a day or two until it passed?

 

[deep denial]

There was a nurse who was a member of a sailing club that I used to belong to who wrote an (almost) thesis on this. One of the conclusions made was that the symptoms of mal de mere are very similar to low blood sugar. The suggestion was to eat every couple of hours (along with staying hydrated) to keep the blood sugar up, the author claimed a reasonable level of success with this approach (obviously not scientifically proven) and I have had success with this approach myself so maybe there is something in it

It might have worked for her, but I think it is most unlikely to be anything to do with the blood sugar, as the body is so adept at keeping the minimum blood sugar level constant.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

There was a nurse who was a member of a sailing club that I used to belong to who wrote an (almost) thesis on this. One of the conclusions made was that the symptoms of mal de mere are very similar to low blood sugar. The suggestion was to eat every couple of hours (along with staying hydrated) to keep the blood sugar up, the author claimed a reasonable level of success with this approach (obviously not scientifically proven) and I have had success with this approach myself so maybe there is something in it

Diabetics need not apply!

 

[Buck Turgidson]

the best cure is to man up, keep hydrated and sail until you don't feel sick anymore. or quit sailing.

 

[deep denial]

One tip I've learned is that if you find yourself at sea and starting to feel sick, don't swallow the sturgeon. Place it under your tongue and allow it to melt/dissolve

allowing for the fact that we're talking about a tablet, not a fish, I think this advice is misleading. Ordinary Stugeron (12.5mg) is designed to be swallowed - I don't know if it is absorbed from the mouth at all, or just that you have to swallow the saliva in the end so it will get to the stomach. There is an absorbable version of stugeron called buccastem (3mg) which is designed to dissolve and be absorbed from inside the lip. Best not to guess at medical things!

 

[deep denial]

the best cure is to man up, keep hydrated and sail until you don't feel sick anymore. or quit sailing.

I think this is a very stupid remark, suggesting that those who suffer from seasickness are just weak. I can assure him that the actual feeling of wanting to vomit is a minor aspect only - the devastating nature of seasickness is overwhelming apathy, malaise and despair, quite impossible to overcome by 'manning up'. It can also strike experienced sailors out of the blue. One day he will get properly seasick, then might understand.

 

[deep denial]

I can actually give a tip which worked for me, and for a friend. All seasickness advice is of course very individual, but I found this worked like magic and enabled me to carry on sailing while previously I had been a severe sufferer. I also don't find much in the way of side effects apart from some muzziness and sleepiness, although caution might be advised if you suffer from any medical problems. It is simply this: stugeron on the night before, no alcohol, and Kwells on the morning, and during the day. Those meds did nothing for me on their own but the combination has been dramatic.