Seasick Remedies

savageseadog

savageseadog

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I'm not talking about the hocus pocus stuff, I'm talking about drugs, pills etc. I'm taking some seasick prone crew on a longer trip, anyone anything positive or negative to say on the following:

Cinnarizine/Stugeron
Dimenhydrinate/ Dramamine
Promethazine
Prochlorperazine
 
We find Ginger Nuts work (or a slice of ginger) for those that suffer.

P.S. and much cheaper and can be munched with a brew by all the crew.
 
Stugeron for me. Take them in good time i.e. hours before departure. I sometimes notice a dry mouth but generally the side effects are trivial compared to feeling queasy.

I've tried wrist bands and even those glasses with the liquid in the rims, to little avail.
 
I too would recommend Stugeron, Dramamine can be very drowsy making, no personal experience of the other two.
 
Sturgeon, every time commence dose before stepping onto boat, and maintain regular regime.

Beware of the tablets sold in French pharmacies, they seem to have a much higher cinnarizine content.

With standard UK pills if you suffer side issues, dry mouth, funny dreams or sleepiness try cutting tablet in half, IME still effective.
 
Yes, Stugeron hours in advance, it's no good taking it when already sick; however I have known some people - experienced sailors - conk out unconscious having taken it !

Solpadeine is another way of reducing anxiety.

If someone is being really sick ' Dioralyte ' ( available on request from chemists ) is a good way of replacing the lost electrolytes etc, and a welcome taste, and a mineral water bottle of the type with a teat to suck is very handy if one is being rocked around.
 
I took the advice of a friend (thank you VO5) who suggested drinking at least 2 litres of water everyday for several days before sailing. I also took Stugeron once a day beginning 2 days in advance of casting shore lines. It worked :). First time ever that I've not felt awful for the 24 hours or so after a few winter months tied up in a marina.
 
Seajet said:
If someone is being really sick ' Dioralyte ' ( available on request from chemists ) is a good way of replacing the lost electrolytes etc,
Click to expand...

You can also buy generic and much cheaper versions from Superdrug and (I think) Boots. They are good for people who aren't seasick too, as you often sweat a lot on boats but don't feel hot, so you don't notice that you are losing sweat/salts.
 
I get seasick pretty bad. I have tried cinnazarine tablets and scopolamine patches. I didn't find either made me drowsy but the scopolamine were unpleasantly mind altering. The cinnazarine can be left to dissolve under the tongue which can be convenient. My experience is that they do not get rid of the queasyness or indeed the incapacity however they do significantly reduce the number of times that I puke up. After 48 hours I begin to function normally again and the reassurance that sealegs do eventually develop helps enormously when hanging in there. When I haven't taken any medication I find that getting drowsy is part of the whole seasickness experience. So I suggest that before you draw your conclusions about drowsiness or any other changes to mind try the drugs on a regular day on dry land.
 
Kwells for me, work in less than 20 mins if you start feeling queasy, no need to take hours beforehand and then find a calm sea. Only side effect is a slight tendency to pee more often, but no drowsiness.

Also find they have no effect on whisky consumption.;)
 
No personal experience, but I've seen prochlorperazine (in the form of Buccastem tabs/patches that adhere to the gum inside the top lip, hence don't get spewed out again) work wonders in people who are already badly seasick. A doctor I know also self-prescribes them against nausea caused by disorientation in white-out conditions when skiing.

I carry a couple of packs on board but have never needed to use them.

(I also have promethazine because it came in the MCA cat-C pack I used as a base for my on-board first-aid kit, and Stugeron because people are likely to be familiar with it. No need to be ill on my boat! :) )

Pete
 
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Sit under an oak tree. No hocus-pocus. It works! :D

More seriously, I am trying out some hocus-pocus wrist bands. They have done the business on one longish passage in fairly lumpy rolly conditions so far. Yes, I know it seems like quackery but I can only report my own limited experience of them. Previously I have used Stugeron with mixed results, and I have an un-opened pack of Kwells on board (because the bands have worked so far).
 
No personal experience of seasickness drugs, but a long time ago I was told if suffering from seasickness the best remedy was to sit under a tree;)





it's too warm for a coat, so I'll just feck off.

beaten to the punch line above
 
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I don't suffer, but having skippered boats with up to twelve crew a lot, I always told them to start taking Stugeron 24 hours in advance. I also told them that I knew that were side-effects for some, after the first one, but they reduce over 24 hours. Backed that up by telling them that I would continue to smoke cigars no matter how they felt.

Usually worked.

There have been a few that told me that they hadn't continued because they didn't like it. I had little sympathy when they succumbed.
 
Nico said:
You can also buy generic and much cheaper versions [of Dioralyte] from Superdrug and (I think) Boots...
Click to expand...
Even cheaper if you make your own using LoSalt.

I was going to link to this, but easier to copy...

Dioralyte contains glucose, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and disodium hydrogen citrate. I think the latter is just an antioxidant. LoSalt is sodium and potassium chlorides, but isn't quite the right proportion, so I add normal salt to boost the sodium content. If you look at a sachet, it tells you the proportions of each, as does the LoSalt pack. Having said that, the original formula for rehydration fluid was "a handful of sugar and a pinch of salt", so I don't think it is critical.

[Later]

Dioralyte per sachet: Sodium Chloride (NaCl) 0.47 g; Dextrose Anhydrous 3.56 g; Potassium Chloride (KCl) 0.3 g; Disodium Hydrogen Citrate 0.53 g

LoSalt is a blend of at least 66.6% potassium chloride and up to 33.3% sodium chloride.

So Dioralyte has 1½ times as much NaCl as KCl, and LoSalt has 2 times KCl as NaCl. To get the proportions right you need to add more NaCl. Too early in the morning for sums.

[Later still]

Ignoring molecular weights...
3g LoSalt is 2g KCl and 1g NaCl
add 2g NaCl (normal salt)
Total 2g KCl and 3g NaCl, which is correct ratio for Dioralyte, and enough for half a dozen sachets with the addition of about 20g of glucose. I think the disodium hydrogen citrate is optional, but perhaps someone knows better.

The problem is that it doesn't mix evenly, so I just mix a tiny quantity with a mustard spoon when I need it, in ratio 3:2:20
 
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