Sea Sickness while diving

[Bubbletrubble]

As far as I know, no peer-reviewed article has been published on the successful treatment of nausea with green apples.
There is a 1998 study published by A. Hirsch and C. Kang in an obscure journal, Headache Quarterly, about the use of the scent of green apples to diminish migraine headache pain. It didn't work in all 50 subjects -- 35 of the subjects didn't like the smell and reported no significant difference in pain.

Considering 2 of my migraine triggers are light and smell and "they" say the scent of the apple didn't help over half of the participants...I have to decline your nonscientific study.

But I will see if my son can do his science experiement on it next year! (But not on me!)

@Surface Interval: I wouldn't be too quick to write off the study.

The authors hypothesized that if certain smells could trigger migraines, then perhaps other smells might reduce migraine pain. Since there were reports in the literature of green apple aroma reducing anxiety, Hirsch decided to test whether the smell might reduce migraine pain. 50 chronic headache sufferers (frequent migraines?) participated in the at-home trial which focused on the next 3 migraines that they experienced.
For headache #1, participants were instructed to rate the headache on a 1-10 scale, lie down in a dark quiet room for 10 minutes, and then rate the headache again.
For headache #2, they were asked to rate the headache and then smell a vial of green apple odorant, rating the smell either "pleasant" or "unpleasant." While smelling the vial, they were told to lie down in a quiet dark room for 10 minutes. After the 10 minute period, they were asked to, once again, rate the headache pain. For headache #3, subjects repeated the instructions for headache #1.

For the 15 participants who found the green apple smell "pleasant," all reported significant reduction of headache pain after smelling the odorant for that 10 minute period. Weird, huh? There's definitely a psychological component of pain that might be accessible to unconventional treatment.

The take-home message for me is that it might be worthwhile to identify a unique smell that you find "pleasant" (not necessarily the odor of green apples) and expose yourself to that smell after the onset of your next headache. It just might make you feel better.

 

[knowone]

Top ten Scubaboard post since I've been around.

quote Kevrumbo
There's nothing wrong with quick & easy somatic remedies/medications for sea sickness, but you can break the dependency on them over time with self-hypnosis/visualization only, building up in the process your own "psychosomatic tolerance".

The motivation is to do all means cognitively to help yourself without any over-the-counter drugs (and the side-effects they can produce), but only seek professional help with prescribed medication as necessary when those avenues, methods of self-help are not viable.

Here again is the method and the logic behind using the cognitive visualization technique which I've posted about in few boards including several threads in the past here on Scubaboard:


Most people don't get motion sickness while driving a car or piloting a boat/plane; the reason being because you're directly effecting the action of the vessel, you see what actions you have to take to steer a clear passage, you anticipate and react to the dynamic forces that result from such actions. Your mind/body kinesthetics are synchronized, your vestibular senses unconfounded, and you don't develop the nausea associated with motion sickness.

Here's how to achieve that state as a passenger on a diveboat:

Look not only at the Horizon, but also at the railing of the boat in the foreground --and see how it all moves relative to each other as the boat makes way through the swells. Memorize that movement and close your eyes, feel the boat's rhythm moving through the swells, and "see" that railing/horizon movement in your mind's eye. Anticipate where that railing/horizon orientation will be when you open your eyes . . .and finally open your eyes to see it and confirm it. Convince your mind and inner ear that you are in dynamic motion based on your sense of balance, tactile/kinesthetic feedback, and coordinating-synchronizing it all with the movement pattern of the railing/horizon which you just memorized. . .

In other words . . .don't anticipate being seasick --anticipate being in control, knowing & feeling what the boat's motion is going to be. With practice of this simple visualization, you can even "quell the queasiness" in the roughest sea conditions --all without any medication of any kind.

Again --All you gotta do is look at the horizon, see how it moves relative to the boat's motion and memorize that pattern, and then get a feeling for the rhythm of the swells and synchronize it with horizon's motion. Now when you go down belowdecks, just play it all back in your "mind's eye" as you begin to feel & anticipate the boat's apparent motion --or even imagine the boat belowdecks is transparent and you can actually see the horizon & swells in sync with the boat's apparent motion-- it's all just visualization without medication and it works!

That's the visualization technique you gotta practice, and unfortunately it's difficult to do if you're concentrating on something else like setting up your gear, reading a book, watching a video, worrying about running out of ginger pills/dramamine/bonine etc. But once you get good at it, you can hold the malaise to a reasonable level even in stormy seas --a "four" for instance on a scale from 1 to 10, with "ten" being projectile vomiting, extreme nausea, hugging the rail and begging for someone to shoot you . . . (In my thirty hour passage from mainland Costa Rica to Cocos Island, I was cognitively exhausted using the technique over an extended period, and just simply fell asleep naturally). . .

Thanks Kevrumbo


The forever fix. Smart.

Commensurate with a lifetime of diving in the upper echelon.

and cheap too.

 

[friscuba]

Meclizine Hydrochloride, (bonine, generic, dramamine less drowsy, whatever) taken in advace as others have suggested will work for nearly everyone. I've only seen three people throw up on it (if taken properly in advance) in 11 years of working dive boats. Seen a fair number of people throw up or complain of side effects on the patch, and lots of people losing it on original dramamine (take a look at it's active ingredient, then take a look at the active ingredient in both benedryl and sominex).

For fast temporary relief, the ginger works for some, there are pressure point bands that work for some, and check into "QueasEASE" which is a wonderful smelling inhalent developed to fight post surgery/anethesia nausea.

 

[greta-inbaja]

My husband even gets ill after snorkeling 20 minutes or so. He has tried all the pills, Sturgeron worked the best without side effects for him but it is not available in the states. When using the others he is either tired or wired. He now uses scopolamine. He is 5'9 about 170 lbs. He cuts about 25% of the patch off. After many yrs, that works best for him. He also has to put it on the night before. If you are only on the 1st day and it falls off, either cut the next patch or wait a day. The combined drug in your system plus that of a whole new one is high and can cause some pretty wild dreams. (understatement) My husband learned this one day in COZ. Also , if you are insured and you dive a least once a yr, most insurances cover 1 month worth of a drug. So have your MD write the presciption for 10 patches. That way you have them for the future. They are a bit expensive. Our copay is 50usd so that way we get the most for our money. Just a thought. They last about 3 yrs according to the date on the boxes we have gotten. Have fun, the first time he dove with patches was on a liveaboard in thailand. He did wear one at home first to check for side effects.

 

[Surface Interval]

@Surface Interval: I wouldn't be too quick to write off the study.

The authors hypothesized that if certain smells could trigger migraines, then perhaps other smells might reduce migraine pain. Since there were reports in the literature of green apple aroma reducing anxiety, Hirsch decided to test whether the smell might reduce migraine pain. 50 chronic headache sufferers (frequent migraines?) participated in the at-home trial which focused on the next 3 migraines that they experienced.
For headache #1, participants were instructed to rate the headache on a 1-10 scale, lie down in a dark quiet room for 10 minutes, and then rate the headache again.
For headache #2, they were asked to rate the headache and then smell a vial of green apple odorant, rating the smell either "pleasant" or "unpleasant." While smelling the vial, they were told to lie down in a quiet dark room for 10 minutes. After the 10 minute period, they were asked to, once again, rate the headache pain. For headache #3, subjects repeated the instructions for headache #1.

For the 15 participants who found the green apple smell "pleasant," all reported significant reduction of headache pain after smelling the odorant for that 10 minute period. Weird, huh? There's definitely a psychological component of pain that might be accessible to unconventional treatment.

The take-home message for me is that it might be worthwhile to identify a unique smell that you find "pleasant" (not necessarily the odor of green apples) and expose yourself to that smell after the onset of your next headache. It just might make you feel better.

I can see where possibly this could work. I have also considered acupunture and other homeopathic methods. However, I wonder if the intensity of the migraine may also have something to do with it.

I wonder why GREEN apples. I much prefer red delicious! (and honeycrisp are my new fave).

 

[highlandfarmwv]

I always use the wrist bands. My daughter calls them "magic arm bands". For whatever reason they do seem to help.

 

[bracko]

haven't read the whole thread, but on the liveaboard i went on a lot of people had the patches behind their ears which all commented worked very very well. not sure what the drug was, but the slow release seemed to make everyone hurl free.

I never really realised how many people get sea sick until i started diving.... now i really appreciate the fact that while everyone else is bringing up breakfast I'll continue reading my book ;-)

 

[Crush]

haven't read the whole thread, but on the liveaboard i went on a lot of people had the patches behind their ears which all commented worked very very well. not sure what the drug was, but the slow release seemed to make everyone hurl free.

I never really realised how many people get sea sick until i started diving.... now i really appreciate the fact that while everyone else is bringing up breakfast I'll continue reading my book ;-)

Welcome.

In general it is polite to read the whole thread before posting, especially if it is only two or three pages long.

 

[johnbeckham192]

Bonine is a good one for me also. Dont forget once you get your sea legs and no longer need the meds,in a day or 2, once you get back to shore you will have the joy of waiting for the ground to stop moving.While not as nasty feeling as sea sickness its still a weird feeling.Have Fun

 

[Kevrumbo]

Top ten Scubaboard post since I've been around.

quote Kevrumbo
There's nothing wrong with quick & easy somatic remedies/medications for sea sickness, but you can break the dependency on them over time with self-hypnosis/visualization only, building up in the process your own "psychosomatic tolerance".

The motivation is to do all means cognitively to help yourself without any over-the-counter drugs (and the side-effects they can produce), but only seek professional help with prescribed medication as necessary when those avenues, methods of self-help are not viable.

Here again is the method and the logic behind using the cognitive visualization technique which I've posted about in few boards including several threads in the past here on Scubaboard:


Most people don't get motion sickness while driving a car or piloting a boat/plane; the reason being because you're directly effecting the action of the vessel, you see what actions you have to take to steer a clear passage, you anticipate and react to the dynamic forces that result from such actions. Your mind/body kinesthetics are synchronized, your vestibular senses unconfounded, and you don't develop the nausea associated with motion sickness.

Here's how to achieve that state as a passenger on a diveboat:

Look not only at the Horizon, but also at the railing of the boat in the foreground --and see how it all moves relative to each other as the boat makes way through the swells. Memorize that movement and close your eyes, feel the boat's rhythm moving through the swells, and "see" that railing/horizon movement in your mind's eye. Anticipate where that railing/horizon orientation will be when you open your eyes . . .and finally open your eyes to see it and confirm it. Convince your mind and inner ear that you are in dynamic motion based on your sense of balance, tactile/kinesthetic feedback, and coordinating-synchronizing it all with the movement pattern of the railing/horizon which you just memorized. . .

In other words . . .don't anticipate being seasick --anticipate being in control, knowing & feeling what the boat's motion is going to be. With practice of this simple visualization, you can even "quell the queasiness" in the roughest sea conditions --all without any medication of any kind.

Again --All you gotta do is look at the horizon, see how it moves relative to the boat's motion and memorize that pattern, and then get a feeling for the rhythm of the swells and synchronize it with horizon's motion. Now when you go down belowdecks, just play it all back in your "mind's eye" as you begin to feel & anticipate the boat's apparent motion --or even imagine the boat belowdecks is transparent and you can actually see the horizon & swells in sync with the boat's apparent motion-- it's all just visualization without medication and it works!

That's the visualization technique you gotta practice, and unfortunately it's difficult to do if you're concentrating on something else like setting up your gear, reading a book, watching a video, worrying about running out of ginger pills/dramamine/bonine etc. But once you get good at it, you can hold the malaise to a reasonable level even in stormy seas --a "four" for instance on a scale from 1 to 10, with "ten" being projectile vomiting, extreme nausea, hugging the rail and begging for someone to shoot you . . . (In my thirty hour passage from mainland Costa Rica to Cocos Island, I was cognitively exhausted using the technique over an extended period, and just simply fell asleep naturally). . .

Thanks Kevrumbo


The forever fix. Smart.

Commensurate with a lifetime of diving in the upper echelon.

and cheap too.

You're very welcome . . .In another sense, all the above is again just a form of self-hypnosis. . .

You can do it people! And it really does work!
At least try the visualization technique while taking your meds, and then slowly taper down/wean yourself off the drugs. . .

btw, I've heard of one diver here in SoCal who's built up a drug tolerance to the Scopolamine patch after frequent usage over the years; in-other-words the regular & original dose is not providing relief anymore from the motion sickness symptoms. . .