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Motion Sickness


jgiardulli

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Hi Everyone...Hope you are all well.  Taking my wife and 7 year old son on our first Cruise next March (after lots of convincing) and was wondering what people have used for motion sickness (especially for kids)...What's better, sea-band, patch or OTC drugs?  Curious to hear what has worked for you and your families and any other tips you might have.  Travelling on Independence of the Seas - March 4-9, 2019

 

Thanks,

JG

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Great question! This has been a topic of conversation several times on this forum. One of the more detailed sets of responses is here:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/940-seasickness-motion-sickness/&tab=comments#comment-8480

Ultimately, the effectiveness of treatments vary from person to person. I actually have a vertigo bag prepacked for cruising, with sea bands, motion-ease oil (essential oil that goes behind the ear, much like scopolamine patches), and meclazine (OTC). I haven't tried the ginger chews yet, but they work for some people. 

 

Sheri at CruiseTipsTV has put together several videos on this topic. She and Matt work together on helping get the word out to people on everything cruise related.

https://youtu.be/oS-4lc2WizU

Definitely consult with your physician/pediatrician before taking any over the counter medications, as some medications do no interact well with others and it is important that your son use the right dose and medication.

Hope this helps. Happy cruising!

 

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My 7 year old daughter gets motion sickness (cars, planes and occasionally ships).  I had hoped she would grow out of it, however, last week on an airplane, she once again proved me wrong.  ?  

While I'd love for the more natural remedies to work, I worry about kids taking them plus my DD is a really picky with smells and food.  Things like ginger chews won't work for her as she won't go near the flavor.  We use a kids size Sea Bands which she wears the entire cruise (the kids version is available on Amazon).  I honestly don't know if it helps or if it is a mental thing for her (they didn't work on that plane ride last week but she won't travel without them).  On a ship, she usually is ok unless the ship really rocks.  At that point, I start giving her children's dramamine.  I may start off with 1 tablet and try to keep about 1/2 dose in her for about 24 hours and then she's either adjusted or the weather is better. Children's dramamine doesn't make her tired and I try to give her as low of a dose as possible.  Needless to say, I used children's dramamine on our way home last week and she had no problems with either the drive or flight.

My 18 yo older daughter also gets mild sickness and loves the Dramamine Ginger formula.  It can be taken by children ages 6-12 and can be sprinkled on food.  It is something I will try on our next flight in a few weeks.  I'll still be prepared with my bags just in case.

 

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9 minutes ago, rjac said:

Have you tried Bonine? It's an over the counter and no drowsiness whatsoever. :27_sunglasses: 

Bonine is only approved for children 12 and over and I haven't found a kids version of it.  Check with your pediatrician before trying this to see what they would say.  Mine are pretty conservative and so won't allow it for my DD.

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I suffer horrible motion sickness and for years refused to go on a cruise because of it.   I finally bit the bullet two years ago and tried a cruise for the first time.   I had scopolamine patch behind my ear, motion bands on my wrists and use one half of a Bonine tablet the first two days.   By the third day I was feeling fine and the ear patch was coming off, so I never put a new one on.    Didn't use Bonine again and just kept my wrist bands on.   I was so pleasantly surprised that I felt no motion sicknes at all.     

The cruise was all I had hoped for as far as not being sick, so I am going on another one!   

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11 hours ago, chicagokris said:

Thanks for the information on the patch.  I will try to get my dr and pharmacist to order now.

I hope you are successful. I was told it has been unavailable for at least 6 months and no one knows why or when it will be back on the market.

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Having sailed Portsmouth to bilbao and back on a mini cruise and it being like a mill pond going and a awful storm coming back, we used the sea bands and can highly recommend them. It was on an old P&O ship the pride of bilboa which was tiny compared with the cruise ships 

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I just spoke with my pharmacist and doctors office.  There IS a generic and THAT is what is not available.   My pharmacist does have the regular one in stock and said that it is not on back order anymore.  I live in New Jersey about an hour south of New York City)     The problem is that most insurance will not pay for the regular because of the generic being out there.and that the regular is expensive.   I am waiting to hear back from the pharmacy to see if my insurance will cover it.     I know they did 2 years ago.  

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/15/2018 at 11:40 AM, jgiardulli said:

Hi Everyone...Hope you are all well.  Taking my wife and 7 year old son on our first Cruise next March (after lots of convincing) and was wondering what people have used for motion sickness (especially for kids)...What's better, sea-band, patch or OTC drugs?  Curious to hear what has worked for you and your families and any other tips you might have.  Travelling on Independence of the Seas - March 4-9, 2019

 

Thanks,

JG

I will chime in with my personal experience.  On my first cruise (a 4 night Bahamas cruise), I took dramamine non-drowsy every day...knowing ahead of time that I tend to get motion sick...and I didn't want to be sick on the cruise.  I was MISERABLE the whole time...not with motion-sickness, but just generally feeling "off".  I did NOT enjoy that cruise.  I just didn't feel like myself.  I even told my hubby and the others we were with that when i tell them, somewhere down the road, "Oh, it wasn't THAT bad...we can go on another cruise..." I want them to remind me how I felt on that cruise. 

So two years later (LOL) last December...hubby and i went on another cruise (6-night Western Caribbean) ONLY after I did some research...I read somewhere that taking the non-drowsy dramamine might have been the whole problem.  So, on our second cruise I didn't take it each day.  I just went and packed some to take with me "just in case".  The only time I ended up feeling sick was after an excursion day in port where we rode a charter bus all day.  That evening, back on the ship, I was a bit sea sick...So, i took dramamine and was perfectly fine the next morning.

We're cruising again 12/6-12/10...Let's see how this goes.

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My husbands doctor gave him a prescription for the Transderm-Scop Patch.  We had no issue filling the prescription and we just cruised two weeks ago.   My teenagers would use the Walmart generic of dramamine when they felt any nausea ($4.97 for 100 tablets).  We use essential oils for anxiety and my migraines so we bought one for motion sickness but no one ever needed it.  

 

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On 10/15/2018 at 5:01 PM, chicagokris said:

I suffer horrible motion sickness and for years refused to go on a cruise because of it. 

This is me also. I've never cruised but would so like to try one. I had a prescription for the patch in the past but never tried it as I read it had Sulfa in it, and I'm allergic to Sulfa (at least I was when I was younger, would get a rash).  I think I'm just going to have to go and see what happens! 

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