Sea sickness and liveaboards

[Neilwood]

I have to say that, in my experience, there are two main factors with regards to seasickness: mental and physical

My OH suffers with seasickness but I am sure one of the main reasons she does is the fact that as soon as anyone mentions a boat, she thinks about seasickness. She does have a slightly higher physical tendency to motion sickness with regards to flying etc though so it is not all in the mind.

I have only ever suffered once and that was my first time diving off a day boat. I made the mistake of gearing up during the transit time rather than being ready to dive as soon as I was on board. Done two weeks of live on boards since with some dicy conditions (boat rolling in three dimensions by about 20-25 deg due to three currents meeting) with no issues. One thing that helps me (as mentioned above) is the mental image - I can see the image in my mind of exactly what the boat is doing.

Another thing to do is watch your food and drink - eating something like dry toast (no butter) will help to stop stomach juices sloshing about while making sure you don't drink anything too strong can help. Ginger can help with sickness so a ginger beer might not be a bad thing (or Irn Bru if in Scotland!).

 

[KathyV]

I have suffered motion sickness all my life, and many times it has taken me by surprise when I wasn't thinking about it at all - so it is not a mental issue or brought on by the fear of getting sick.

Here's an example, I used to take the commuter train to work everyday for years. I was quite used to it and didn't have any issues with motion sickness but one day the only open seat was facing backwards. I took the seat without giving it a thought and didn't have motion sickness on my mind at all, but suddenly I felt hot, sick, and nauseous. I had to abandon my seat and stand looking forward before the symptoms started to decrease.

I have also been caught by surprise when in a car and trying to follow a map or read directions. At those times I am thinking about where I am going and how to get there - not about motion sickness - but suddenly the symptoms appear without warning and I have to pull over.

Regarding Scopolamine, I tried the patch once and suffered severe side-effects. I lost my near-vision and couldn't read or clearly see anything up close. It took a day or more after I removed the patch before my vision started to return to normal, it was very scary!

I also had vision issues years ago when taking over the counter Bonine or Dramamine. I learned (after permanent damage was done) that it was because I also take allergy medications - and the motion sickness agents are similar and taking them in combination can increase the pressure in my eyes. It resulted in "floaters" in my vision. There are now little shadows and dark spots that float across my eyes, especially in bright light or sunlight, and they will never go away.

I do my best to avoid sea sickness by watching what I eat and drink, and I stay up in the fresh air and I do take some medication but try not to overdue it, but I still get seasick sometimes!

 

[Manneca]

I suffer from sea sickness. Bonine, dramamine, etc put me to sleep and I sleep for 36 hours. I use scopolamine patches, but I still find that I always feel a little flu-ey. I've been on a couple of live aboards and I basically just do land based. I'll dive on the Damai or if there is no alternative (like Cuba) but I really don't like it. Everyone who doesn't have sea sickness has a remedy but people are different and some work for some people and not for others. Good luck!

 

[LiveaboardCom]

@lowlysubaruguy Another few tips for coping with seasickness:

Lie down when queasiness strikes. I used to work as a dive guide in rough seas (plus I get seasick VERY easily) and I found that worked really well for a lot of my guests when looking at the horizon didn't work. Lying down between dives also works for when you don't want to miss the dives but can't bear to be upright due to seasickness....even in a RIB.

Eat something sweet. This one doesn't sound logical for sea sickness but I've found eating a small amount of chocolate helped a lot of my guests and it has also worked well for me. Alternatively, a small amount of plain food such as oatmeal works well to reduce nausea.

Ginger sweets. There are ginger sweets for sea sickness and they also work reasonably well to reduce symptoms.

Acupressure bands worn on the wrist are good but I don't find them as effective for severe sea sickness.

I tended to use those techniques rather than take medication as I was at sea long-term.

In terms of liveaboard options, have you considered diving Turks & Caicos? The waters there are known for being calm. Another option for calm waters is the Gili Islands in Lombok.

 

[lowviz]

...//... Lie down when queasiness strikes. ...

I might add that side-to-side rollers are what kill me.

Seek the centerline of the boat, topside, for this kind of boat motion.

 

[TGIF]

I react similarly to your wife. I tried Dramamine, Dramamine with ginger additives and I finally moved on to the dissolvable Zofran. I have tried both the pill and the dissolvable version of Zofran. Both work, but I have found that the dissolvable version of Zofran will stop my nausea and lasts for 8-10 hours per pill.

In addition to the prescription, I've found that it helps to keep something in my stomach the whole time. I get into trouble when I'm hungry or stuffed, so I tend to eat a lot of small meals throughout a dive trip. As other people have mentioned, ginger tea or ginger chews help a little, but they won't stop me from being sick.

 

[Kimela]

I wonder if hypnotherapy might help? It helps with smoking cessation and eating disorders. IF there is a psychological component, it's worth a try. Someone earlier in the responses noted that having their deviated septum repaired helped a great deal. I guess if I loved diving and was suffering that much it would be worth exploring all options.

 

[Nikole]

I haven't done a liveaboard but I've done one week cruises.. I've been on long ferry rides.. Etc... Long bus trips and I have motion sickness problems.
What works for me is Bonine.

For flights during clear skies, calm water, bus trips that do not go uo hills and constantly stop and go, I take 1 tablet 2 HOURS before the trip.

For rough seas, cloudy flights, o I'm I'm on a bus going through mountains I take 2 Bonine tablets 2 hours before the trip.

The key is to time it right so that you're not taking it so early that it wears off during your boat dive, and not too close to the trip that it doesn't work, and you still gets sick because it hasn't kicked in yet.

For the one week cruises when the medicine feels like it's trying to wear off, I take another one. Which for Dramamine is like every 6 hours I think I took a Bonine about the same time too. Every 6 or 8hrs

 

[hang10dive]

Working in the dive industry for over 20 years it seems to be the trend in all natural drug free remedies, Ginger specifically for motion sickness. Fortunately for me, I do not get motion sick, however a lot of people do, so all I have to go on is what I hear from others experiences.

For years I recommended Sailors Secret as it seemed to work well for the majority of people. Then for some unknown reason it seems to be no longer available. Knowing the success many people had with it, I started recommending that people could get ginger tablets at the local grocery. Since then it seemed like ginger was no longer a good natural remedy as so many people came back saying it didn't work.

After some quick research, I found studies saying that an adult needs approx 900-1000mg of ginger to prevent motion sickness. Looking at most major brands, the recommended does is 1 or 2 capsules daily and each capsule only contain about 200mg of ginger plus many of them have all sorts of fillers. Candies are even worse as they have as little as 2mg of ginger. I even found one that said it helped with upset stomach from motion and it had no ginger in it, only ginger flavoring.

With this info, it makes since why SS worked and the others may not have. If you followed the package directions on SS, recommend dose of 4 capsules would get you to the 1000mg. During my search in comparing ginger products I found one called Potion For Motion which is a ginger capsule enriched with Vitamin B. The package says you only need to take 2 capsules which get you 900mg. There are a few people that I know who used these last week on a trip to Belize. They came back and said that Potion For Motion worked extremely well and that you could smell the ginger when they popped them out of the package.

Ginger maybe still a good alternative as long as it is in the right amount and of a good quality.

 

[ystrout]

Zofran