Seasickness

[lowviz]

...//... The problem is that for some people, myself included, meclizine is not strong enough. ...

I like it for calm days, but it does nothing for me on the rougher ones.

I need stronger stuff, and scopolamine (Kwells) is the strongest stuff I've found.

Ask your doc for Promethazine in 12.5mg tablets. They are scored so a half tablet is 1/4 of the usual dose. Get doctor approval to take a half tablet at the first feeling of unease on the boat while wearing a patch or on Kwells. I add half tabs as needed. If you take the full dose, you will become extremely tired. I don't recommend going that far.

Discuss this with your doctor, both drugs have strong side effects.

 

[unicyclematt]

As a long term sufferer I have found the following help:
Anti motion sickness meds
Raw ginger
Being properly hydrated
Focussing on the horizon when on boats

And these things make it worse:
Being too hot
Tiredness
Dehydration
Kelp that is swaying in the current
looking at anything inside a boat

 

[Ardy]

It is the same as the Kwells, hyoscine.

Take 1 or 2 meclazine the night before. It may make you sleepy but you are going to sleep anyway. Take the hyoscine (Kwells) the next morning. Works for me and I have big problems with this.

There was some research done by a diving doctor BoB Thomas of Brisbane and his suggestions are similar to yours. Take any sea sick pill (do not rely on herbal remedies, pressure points etc) the night before and then if average weight you should be OK until about 3pm.

Taking pills before you dive is not useful as they do not have time to get into your blood stream. The other advantage is that you do not feel groggy during the dive and you get a great nights sleep before you dive.

If going on a multi-day boat trip - 2 the night before and one a day taken at night should keep you OK.

This has worked for me over the last 10 years.

 

[DolphinWannabe]

I have had a terrible time with this myself, between dive boats and swell. More times than I care to remember I have "fed the fishes" both from the boat and while underwater. (If you barf under water, do not panic! Your purge button is your friend.) Hell, I barfed coming up from the last dive of my advanced open water cert.

Many divers swear by Bonine, but I found it left me very mentally fuzzy.

A divemaster in Bermuda recommended Stugeron, and I picked some up there. Unfortunately it is not available in the US, so if you are American, try to pick some up on one of the British Caribbean islands. It is reportedly the seasickness drug of choice in the British navy.

I've only gone out with it once, on medium chop, but it really did the job. Have yet to try it out on a more severe day.

Good luck. Keep trying!

Hello,

I am a new diver and got certified (PADI) last month. My main issue is with seasickess. I got sick on ALL four dives from my course. Diving from shore. No boat involved.

On the second day, I took two Kwells tablets, and still got sick. Took two more. Got sick again.

I am so frustrated that I will probably just give up diving. How come I get sick by diving from the shore, even after eating almost the whole box of medicine?!?

Anyone with similar experience? Is there a solution?

Thanks,
Gabriel.

 

[mikeycanuk]

I disagree on taking Mezicline too early. Last trip we took them with breakfast, it kinda worked. Switched to taking them at the dive store while suiting up and had zero problems.


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[Ardy]

There was some research done by a diving doctor BoB Thomas of Brisbane and his suggestions are similar to yours. Take any sea sick pill (do not rely on herbal remedies, pressure points etc) the night before and then if average weight you should be OK until about 3pm.

Taking pills before you dive is not useful as they do not have time to get into your blood stream. The other advantage is that you do not feel groggy during the dive and you get a great nights sleep before you dive.

If going on a multi-day boat trip - 2 the night before and one a day taken at night should keep you OK.

This has worked for me over the last 10 years.

BTW I did not make it clear in my post. You HAVE to take 2 pills the night before. 1 pill is not enough if diving in the morning.

 

[Crowley]

DivemasterDennis touched on this on his post above - possible other medical condition.

Before I go any further I feel that I have to point out that "Frequent or severe suffering from motion sickness (seasick, carsick, etc.)?" would constitute a "yes" on the RSTC medical form, and therefore must be checked out by a physician prior to diving.

Now - in light of that - the diver may not have known they got severely sea-sick before trying to take up diving and therefore declared "no" on the medical. If somebody is getting sick from just looking at a boat bobbing up and down in the water, however, then I would class that as "severe motion sickness" and refer them to a doctor. It might be nerves, which is understandable, in which case I'd recommend going out and doing some serious snorkeling to get somebody used the being in the sea, but there are physiological issues - particularly with some of the gubbins in the middle ear - which can cause sever motion sickness.

It could be other things along with the nerves - dehydration, and the OP mentions the wetsuit is too tight around the neck which is certainly a problem as anything too tight around the neck can cause blood pressure problems and there are medications - Lariam, for example, which is an anti-malarial, which specifically cause nausea underwater and aggravate sea sickness above it (quite common when I was in Indonesia).

KevinNM mentions talking to DAN and I'd certainly recommend that - it's free for a telephone call even if you're not insured by them.

The good news is that you don't get sick when you're actually underwater, but I'd certainly investigate the problem further, as you seem really keen to get in the water, but keep getting sick. As an instructor I would have to suspend training until I could be certain that there was not some other underlying medical problem which was triggering the nausea as a result of diving, and if the doctor finds there is nothing physiologically wrong with you then perhaps this might go some way to reassuring the diver and calming the nerves. It's psychosomatic, to some extent: If you think you will get sick, then you will get sick!

Good luck and I hope whatever it is improves and doesn't keep you out of the water.

C.

 

[Gabriel Torres]

Hello guys,

I know that I opened this thread six months ago, but I wanted to give you some feedback regarding all suggestions you guys gave me (and I appreciate all comments).

As I write this, I am in French Polynesia and so far I did eleven dives, from those, I only got really sick in two, and I got dizzy on one, so I am getting there.

Taking Kwells the night before as suggested helped me. I tried a different medication, based on dimenhydrinate (I hope I am spelling it right) but man... it works like a sleeping pill for me... Can't use it!

So, there is definitely the physical factor, but the emotional factor plays an important role. When the instructor that is diving with me is a friendly person and acts in a protective way towards me, I usually don't feel sick. But if the person is one of those "I don't care, just give me your money" kind of person, then I tend to not feel comfortable, so I don't relax and I get anxious, and I usually feel sick... Because I think I will get sick!

Therefore, there are the two components involved.

One trick is discussing my problem before getting on the boat, so when we get there, I am the first one to gear up and enter the water, and on the way back, I am the last person to go back to the boat.

Another trick is to carefully select the dive spot and ask about the sea conditions... And not dive if I don't feel comfortable with either the conditions or the instructor...

I am still to try one of those bracelets or patches, several people recommended them to me saying they work. I will try them and post a follow-up here.

Once again, thank you everybody for helping me with this issue. I feel much more comfortable diving now with the support from people like yourselves.

Best regards,
Gabriel

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

Different strokes for different folks. Try a different medicine.

I only use Kwells and find it very effective. In fact, I get it shipped from AU to US. With any sea sick medicine it's only effective if taken before you begin feeling sick. I like to take mine a few hours before. Not sure if you did that or not?

I have been trying to find Kwells for years after my Australian live aboard. It is the only thing that seems to work for me. Can you send me the email that I can order it from?

---------- Post added September 19th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ----------

There was some research done by a diving doctor BoB Thomas of Brisbane and his suggestions are similar to yours. Take any sea sick pill (do not rely on herbal remedies, pressure points etc) the night before and then if average weight you should be OK until about 3pm.

Taking pills before you dive is not useful as they do not have time to get into your blood stream. The other advantage is that you do not feel groggy during the dive and you get a great nights sleep before you dive.

If going on a multi-day boat trip - 2 the night before and one a day taken at night should keep you OK.

This has worked for me over the last 10 years.

Your post is a little confusing to me. You said "taking pills before you dive is not useful". The way I see it you have only two choices take before or take after.

 

[Gabriel Torres]

I have been trying to find Kwells for years after my Australian live aboard. It is the only thing that seems to work for me. Can you send me the email that I can order it from?

I live in Australia, that is how I get it. I will be back in Australia around Nov 10, PM me and I will be happy to help you.