Seasick treatment

[whitby_p]

Can anybody recommend an effective seasick treatment, either of the pharmacutical variety, or even of the "Old Sea-dog" recipe type. Must be suitable for young teens as well as their Mums and Dads ?? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[AIDY]

recommend giving the kids ginger... in the form of cake or gingersnaps. Or try seabands worn round the wrist.

lots of the drugs you can buy from the chemist make you very tired. so not that good if you need to stay alert.....

for the best solution you need to try a few things. different things work better / worse with different people.

drink lots of water.

 

[Mirelle]

I don't suffer but my wife and two boys all do.

Different pills work for different people. try several. One very valuable tip given by James Jermain on this board was to try half a Stugeron tablet if a whole one sends you to sleep.

 

[iangrant]

I've always found the fruity indigestion tablets work. They seem to stop the rising acid feeling that people have which generally make them feel sick due to the boats motion and sometimes nerves.
Ginger biscuits is another one oh and fizzy frinks.

Ian

 

[moodycruiser]

Hug an Oak tree ! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Mirelle]

Ginger biscuits

and crystallised ginger are good. We carry huge quantities of both!

It is not true that babies are not seasick.

The main message is "take the tablets a couple of hours before first going afloat, and keep taking them".

 

[LeytonC]

Porridge! sweeten with honey if rquired, take once a day before sailing.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Fortunately I don;t suffer, as long as I don't get hungry. I have to eat along the way - if its rough, this usually means just grabbing a couple of slices of bread whenever I feel the need.

Avoid alcohol - seems obvious but its surprising how many people think they can handle it, either before or during a passage, then find out the hard way that they can't.

 

[Ben_e_Toe]

I'd second the ginger recommendation, but I think you need to find stem ginger to get the maximum effect. Ginger marmalade or proper ginger biscuits (with lumps in them) are very good. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Other remedies are the obvious things like keeping the crew on deck, busy and looking out to the horizon - nothing like being head-down over the leeward winch to bring the nausea on......

 

[flyingjunior]

I will go with the others on the ginger front ginger nuts and crystelised ginger seam to work well on the few times I felt quesey (diseal engine fumes).
The other thing I have herd reccomended is to keep to dry simple food.

 

[absit_omen]

Flyingjunior, hope you spell checked your disertashun!

 

[sphero]

Seasickness (or any motion sickness for that matter) is due to messages to the inner ear and the eyes not being "co-ordinated". Seeing the horizon as a point of reference prevents it - eg doing a trick on the helm, or being the car driver. It's unusual for car drivers to be sick, but small kids in the back suffer because again they can't see the horizon. We find Stugeron the most effective drug if taken before the trip, but it can cause drowsiness.

 

[Alastairdent]

Cronically prone to it, me.

I tried crystalised or stem ginger on recommendation of friend.

Never been seasick since, include when I had to hang half upside-down in an engine bay, dealing with an engine prob.

 

[FergusM]

As other respondents have said, different treatments suit different people. Stugeron does nothing for me. Hydroscene hydrobromide (Kwells and Boots Travelcalm) does help a bit. I have tried a patch, bought from Boots, that was quite effective. It looks like a small circular elastoplat, and you stick it on the skin behind your ear.

When I am at sea, I am sick for the first 24 hours or so, and then better.

I will try the ginger. Where do you buy it? In a health-food shop?

 

[Sybarite]

Apples. Easy to digest and provide moisture. At least that is what a French specialist recommended.

John

 

[Alastairdent]

Supermarkets will sell ginger in the baking section.

Longest trip I've undertaken was 48 hrs, London to Grimsby. No problems.

 

[pragmatist]

Water and Rich Tea biscuits

 

[Santana379]

Re: Seasick treatment - Cocculus 6

I think I've spelt that correctly.

Different remedies (Stugeron, Wrist Bands, Ginger Nuts etc.) seem to work for different people.

A friend who sails regularly with me suffers dreadfully - on one channel crossing he reached the point of being unable to give a response. He discovered Cocculus 6, a herbal pill, available from chemists, including larger Boots branches, and hasn't looked back. Unlike Stugeron they can be taken every 2 hours, don't have to be taken hours before casting off, and don't have the side effect of drowsiness. Apparently when the two hours is coming up you can feel the effects wear off, and are ready for the next dose.

I met an offshore racing crew who suffers dreadfully, and has anti-sickness patches on prescription.

When crossing the North Sea we have been quite pleased with the effects of Stugeron on the kids - they sleep on and off for the entire passage and arrive in Holland or Belgium quite rested. When I say "Holland or Belgium" it isn't a matter of chance - we deliberately point at one or the other. If you could see me you'd realise I eat a lot of precautionary ginger nuts.

Avoiding tomato soup is apparently a good idea on the basis that too many people are sick afterwards - maybe its the acid? Otherwise all the stuff in the books is important - keep warm and dry, have food in your stomach, maintain a visual horizon (if you have to be below decks lie down if possible, maybe even move around below with your eyes closed, preumably cautiously). Don't let the kids go up to the sharp end on passage where the movement is greater. As soon as some-one seems to be sickening, give them the helm - this usually works wonders.

As skipper in our family boat (self-appointed?) I often take a lot of these precautions even though I haven't actually been sick. I would not like to become incapable on a long or difficult passage whilst responsible for my loved ones. I minimise my time at the chart table, where position fixes are very quick anyway using the Yeoman Plotter. I'll often take Stugeron before a long passage if the forecast says its going to be lumpy.

Francis Fletcher

 

[ColdFusion]

In order of preference:

1) Helming.
2) Root ginger. Trouble is I can't stand the stuff. Does anyone know if you can get it in chocolate flavour?
3) Half a Sturgeron tablet (a full one sends me comatose).

Scopolamine (sp?) patches are also supposed to be effective although I've heard they can cause hallucinations. Not tried them (think they're only available of prescription) but would be willing to take part in an experiment /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Rob_Webb]

Ice

I've also heard that ice cubes and/or icy cold drinks have a numbing effect on the stomach reducing chances of puking.