Seasickness explained

[peteandthira]

To those who suffer from seasickness, here is an explanation for motion sickness (same thing) given to me many years ago from the aviation medics.

Motion is detected by 2 bits of you - eyes for one, inner ear sensors for another (the bit you use for balance control). Motion signals from both sensors go to brain. Brain analyses them. If you are SEEING the same things that you are FEELING, then brain is happy and all should be well.

If the signals differ, (eg seeing an apparently static navigation panel down below, but ear sensors detecting rolling and pitching) then brain assumes you have been poisoned and tries to chuck out contents of stomach to protect you. This is a throwback from the old days of eating berries in the wild.

So, best solution for seasickness PREVENTION is to stay on deck and keep horizon in sight, thereby balancing the movement signals to yer brain.

Once you start to feel ill, it is difficult to override brain attempts to make you throw up, which is where drugs can help but not always. If you can afford the luxury, attempting to go to sleep can cure you, since the brain stops worrying about it a bit then and you can usually recover.

You can also get land sickness after a long period at sea, where brain has bocome used to the confusing signals and regards them as normal. Once on land again, brain wakes up to changed signals and for a while is confused, possibly trying to get you to throw up again. Happens especially in places like a cubicle bog in a pub, which seems to be pitching and rolling as you sit there contemplating.

So - stay out on deck or cockpit, be aware of the horizon or any distant scene for reference, go below for very short periods only, and emerge again at the first sign of discomfort. I have never been seasick "outside", but will only last long enough to make tea if in a rough sea.

Hope this might help the pukers amongst you!

Pops

 

[tome]

Worth adding some factors which exacerbate the condition:

Cold, anxiety, motion.

Cold - If you are susceptible then make sure you KEEP WARM. Be pro-active- don't wait until you get cold, get those extra layers on in good time. It's hard to warm up once you start feeling cold and you'll start to feel sick as your core temperature drops.

Anxiety - Try to avoid the conditions which make you anxious which could include sea state, darkness, an over-ambitious passage or just a cavalier skipper

Motion - A rolling motion seems to be the worst so avoid following seas. Whatever the circumstances, avoid greasy food or alcohol before a passage.

If in doubt, take a motion sickness pill in good time (4 hours before you cast off) and let your skipper know that you are susceptible. If you start to feel ill or clammy, get down below and straight into a bunk. Close your eyes - it won't cure you right away but your condition won't deteriorate.

Sea-sickness is a miserable affliction which affects all but the chronically deaf to some extent. It can also be dangerous if you start losing too much fluid, which can lead to shock.

Hope this helps the pukers amongst us!

 

[graham]

I dont think there is a guaranteed fix for mal de mer but what seems to work for my wife and son is to go below and snooze for an hour.

Goes against all usual advise but works for them.

What allways amuses me is the macho men who swear they never get sea sick then do for the "first time" about an hour out. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[fireball]

get over short term seasickness

What I find (he types as he eats his lunch) is that if I start to feel a bit sick, is that if I go down below and make it worse (come back up for the actual event) I get over the seasickness thing much quicker ....
The alternatives include - making sure you've had a good solid breakfast/meal before setting out (early mornings with little/no/liquid breakfast don't agree with me!). Never resorted to drugs ... (yet!)

 

[dulcibella]

The drugs are better at prevention than cure. However, if you unexpectedly feel trouble coming, dissolve a Stugeron tablet under your tongue instead of swallowing it - this greatly increases the speed of uptake.
Otherwise, the only sure remedy is to lie down under a tree.

 

[tome]

Hee hee, agree about the 'first timers'!

With me, it manifests itself as mild lethargy and I've only once (to my recollection) felt nauseous. This was with just SWMBO and myself onboard so I fought it and eventually felt ok.

However, lethargy is a step down the slippery slope and I manage it by recognising the symptoms and fighting off the urge to delay an action - putting in a reef is a good example. SWMBO suffers far more, but again she can manage it with a mixture of pills and keeping warm. A recent discovery is that if she helms as soon as we clear port she delays the onset.

 

[[10753]]

Don't suffer too badly myself as long as I limit the time below and keep popping my head up.

However, if I manage to avoid thinking about it I don't seem to have a problem.

My kids can stay below whatever the weather, they read, play etc. and are fine.

Makes me sick !

 

[tome]

After 6 weeks on a dry ship, you'd get pretty seasick!

 

[Stemar]

[ QUOTE ]
After 6 weeks on a dry ship, you'd get pretty seasick!

[/ QUOTE ]No, that's sick of the sea - there's a difference /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

What makes me seasick is not eating, and food is a surefire (so far...) cure. SWMBO's usually fine as long as she stays on deck, but going below, except to lie down is a guaranteed queasymaker

 

[RupertW]

I'm with the snoozers and the idea of saying that you shouldn't go below doesn't really work past a few hours - you then get into fatigue which makes things much worse.

I find that if I wake up on a boat at sea then I won't be seasick again that trip, no matter how long it takes. The trick is to get to sleep down below in the first place - quickly and securely without spending ages struggling with boots and waterproofs.

My preferred way is to always set off on long trips with a massive hangover. Tire myself out hoisting the sails , say "call me if there's a problem" and dive into a "wet" bunk with a good lee-cloth, fully clothed and ready to come on deck in a moment.

 

[BobOwen]

An interesting post and some interesting answers. Keeping an eye on the horizon has always worked for me if I've felt a bit queasy. In fact, the one time I was very sick was when a fog descended and I couldn't see the horizon, in rough weather.

I believe the comment regarding anxiety contributing to feeling sea sick is often a major factor. My wife, in this, her first season of living aboard our boat has suffered the early stages of sea sickness quite a bit, often remaining hovering at that point, feeling uncomfortable and nauseated but not actually chucking up.

A very experienced German skipper told us he still gets it occasionally, and his advice was to take a quick mouthful of wine as soon as you felt the first signs. He emphasised the mouthful - not a glass as its too much. He found it worked most times for him.

Well my wife's initial reluctance to try it has been overcome and its worked 3 times out of 3 for her. For her and I suspect many others, it is brought on by the motion, and anxiety (Which she struggles to control). The quick slug is thought to just ease the tension slightly and thereby relieving the sea sickness.

It certainly popular with her now and must be worth a try for those out there who suffer.

Only trouble is, she swears she's sea sick even at anchor now and reaches for the bottle /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Aeolus]

I used to be one of those 'macho guys' so I thought I'd add my penny's worth. I had never in my life been seasick; in very rough weather on cross-channel ferries when the other passengers were puking all over, not me! I took up sailing, did a competent crew course, sailed a bit - never a twinge. Then 1st day of day skipper practical, Poole to Solent, F7 against tide, bleughhh - projectile stuff! Lesson learnt!

I have found that a combination of travel bands (available from Boots) that apply pressure to specific points on the wrists, and munching crystalised ginger (a traditional seasickness remedy) seem to help. The ginger allegedly reduces the tendency of the brain to tell the stomach to abandon ship. So far, the combination seems to work. It may be that only the bands or only the ginger would work, but I'm in no hurry to experiment.

Jonathan

 

[snowleopard]

Various posters have mentioned sleeping. It ties in with the original post: Sickness is caused by conflicting messages from balance organs and eyes. Keeping your eyes on the horizon synchronises the two but closing your eyes also eliminates the conflict.

So - go below and lie down but keep your eyes closed.

 

[ex-Gladys]

I used to suffer very badly as a youngster, and canidentify with many of the symptoms here; tiredness and yawning being an early precursor along woth feeling cold. I used to stay up on deck looking at the horizon as long as possible, but then was told about getting the head down. This was great for me, and there are two effects; firstly the motion below is usually vastly reduced.

Since soming to a yacht though (touch wood) I haven't been afflicted. I try early in the year to sit on the boat a lot at the mooring whilst down below, and that seems to help acclimatisation. The down side is that most Monday mornings at least my PC monitor is rocking gently to and fro

 

[peterb]

[ QUOTE ]
The trick is to get to sleep down below in the first place - quickly and securely without spending ages struggling with boots and waterproofs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. Down below, flat down on the back in a berth without waiting to take off clothing. But one point we've found important is to tie a bucket close to the berth. Otherwise the 'patient' keeps thinking about sickness, on the lines of 'What will I do if.....'. Giving them a bucket removes the worry and it's then unlikely that the bucket will be used.

PS If you're having to work below with a tendency to be sick, it's surprising how useful it is to have <u>two</u> sinks in the galley!

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
But one point we've found important is to tie a bucket close to the berth.

PS If you're having to work below with a tendency to be sick, it's surprising how useful it is to have <u>two</u> sinks in the galley!

[/ QUOTE ]
unless you enjoy removing sticky, half-digested sweetcorn from the washing up!

 

[hocus]

Good points well made but 2 others are pertinent, hypoglycaemia & hangover. The hypoglycaemia doesnt just affect those of us with Diabetes but people with normal physiology who are hungry, have missed meals, just snacked since departure etc. As to hangover, we all know that can induce nausea on terra firma & despite anothers posters advice, I strongly advise against setting off hungover, it definitely does increase your risk of "Active Motion Sickness" as the Americans put it. Although a mouth full of wine when underway may help reduce the anxiety, be careful please , the last thing you want is a drunken sailor dangling over the leeward rail discharging gastric contents, or he may discharge himself

 

[Aeolus_IV]

Hey - that's my name /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Personally I have found that time and experience have got me over sea sickness 99% of the time. As a child I was always sick - these days, well, I can only remember being sick once in at least 10 years, possibly more.

Having said this, I know people who never put it behind them. Sleeping in a bunk does seem to work - I've watched one crew member sleep for 24 hours while getting over sea sickness .. after that they were fine!

Regards, Jeff.

 

[phanakapan]

It seems to me that women seem to be more susceptible than men- but maybe it's not a physiological reason but a psychological one. For instance I very easily get sick (sometimes to the point of not caring whether I slip over the side and die!) when crewing but rarely when skippering. As Tome said, his SWMBO can delay the onset if she helms straight away... I think the more you have to think about and the more you have control of the better you will feel.

 

[tome]

I'd go along with that. Over the years, SWMBO has become less susceptible and hasn't actually been sick for a long time. She has gradually become much more involved, so that fits your theory.

Perhaps the level of sea-sickness reflects how inclusive we've made the sailing for our partners?