Sea sickness

[k374]

Is Bonine recommended to prevent sea sickness during boat dives? I ask because one of the symptoms apparently is drowsiness!

 

[azchipka]

Personally i tell all my students to use Ginger candy. Works just as well for most and no side effects or chemicals in your blood.

 

[adurso]

Bonine is popular amongst divers, it has fewer side effects than dramamine. There are other remedies ranging from ginger to scopalamine patches available. There have been many threads abou them.

 

[Scott L]

It's the diesel fumes that get me. I went out this afternoon on a charter I had never used and yak'd my guts out during the SI with 1/2ft seas and 3-4kt breeze. Luckily the newer engines do not emit near as much fumes. This boat had an older model. :shocked2:

 

[Bubbletrubble]

DocVikingo wrote an informative article about seasickness remedies.

Personally I use Bonine. As with all of the over-the-counter and prescription meds, try them out first on a non-diving day while going about your everyday activities. You'll be able to evaluate the side effects and see whether they are tolerable.

 

[BKP]

Triptone worrks for me, ginger snaps for my wife... Only issue is with Bonine or Triptone, is they tend to dry you out a bit when you should be hydrating even more...

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Only issue is with Bonine or Triptone, is they tend to dry you out a bit when you should be hydrating even more...

@BKP: I thought that Bonine (meclizine) and Triptone (dimenhydrinate) only gave people dry mouth/nose/throat due to the anticholinergic side effects. Do they also affect hydration status? I've never heard of that.

FYI, another side effect of anticholinergics is the thickening of mucus in the lungs. Drinking plenty of fluids might help thin out those secretions and allow better clearance from the lungs. I've heard that this happens with dimehydrinate more often than with meclizine. YMMV.

 

[Abaco24]

I'm a med device guy, just put on a "patch" it lasts for 3-7 days behind your ear and you'll be fine, check out various names but its this basically.

here ya go......
http://www.drugs.com/cdi/scopolamine-patch.html

 

[BKP]

@BKP: I thought that Bonine (meclizine) and Triptone (dimenhydrinate) only gave people dry mouth/nose/throat due to the anticholinergic side effects. Do they also affect hydration status? I've never heard of that.

FYI, another side effect of anticholinergics is the thickening of mucus in the lungs. Drinking plenty of fluids might help thin out those secretions and allow better clearance from the lungs. I've heard that this happens with dimehydrinate more often than with meclizine. YMMV.

I have absolutely no idea what the medical foundation is behind the drymouth, Bubble. I simply know, after diving with both for years, that I dry out faster using them, and over-hydrating mitigates that to a degree for me.

You sound like you're much better versed on the actual chemical indications. As for me, when my mouth turns dry, I drink more...

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I have absolutely no idea what the medical foundation is behind the drymouth, Bubble. I simply know, after diving with both for years, that I dry out faster using them, and over-hydrating mitigates that to a degree for me.

You sound like you're much better versed on the actual chemical indications. As for me, when my mouth turns dry, I drink more...

@BKP: Sorry about that. I was just making a distinction between a med that affects actual hydration status and one that gives dry mouth. (It's possible to have dry mouth and not be dehydrated.)

You're doing the right thing, though. Even if it is just dry mouth alone, there's no harm in drinking lots of fluids. Heck, it's good practice for staving off DCS.