Sea Sickness

[Phranchise]

Got sea sick today on lake ontario in my kayak...was not a fun afternoon. I have read that chewing ginger and wearing wristbands are good natural remedies and there are certain drugs and patches that can prevent it. Who here gets sea sick and how does everyone go about preventing or relieving it?...me dont want to get sea sick again

[fafaflohi]

I just puke over the side. Never really found anything to fix it

[The Ketchican Kid]

drink a lot of ginger ale! sorry to hear about your sea sickness

[bobert]

Know the feeling!! I had really good results with a pill called bonamine. I know its not all natural but it works. You can get it at your local pharmacy.

[ogliq2]

I have never been sea-sick myself... but my wife uses gravol (Dramamine), but then she goes to sleep as soon as we get home, because it makes her very sleepy.

I have had success with the kids and mint chewing gum, Trident is the best.

Here's a page I found

http://fishinkona.com/seasick.htm

It says:

A fun day out on the water just might turn into one of the worst days of your life. While seasickness is somewhat rare in Kona because of the (mostly) calm seas, sea sickness hits some people even on the calmest of days. If you or someone in your party is prone to car sickness in any way, they NEED to prepare. Sea sickness is 99 % preventable but not very curable. There are many remedies for sea sickness and the most popular of these is the worst. I'm referring to Dramamine ® . DON'T TAKE IT! Not only is it a poor sea sickness medication but the side effect of "sleepiness" can ruin your fun also.

Here's a list of remedies in order of effectiveness:

Scopolamine:

For the hard core "I always get sea sick" and "I get car sick easy" types. This remedy is also referred to as "the patch" and can be obtained by prescription from your doctor. It looks like a little round Band-Aid and is worn behind your ear. There are a certain percentage of people who have adverse side effects to this medication. I highly suggest that if you're using this remedy for the first time, try using one at home first. You don't want to find out that you have an adverse reaction to this stuff when you're several miles out at sea.

Bonine ® :

This is the best pill form, over the counter remedy. Highly recommended! Don't let a doctor or pharmacist talk you into any other kind of pill form. There are no others that are "just like Bonine®". You will need to get this stuff working in your system well in advance of your trip. There's little to no side effect. The biggest mistake people make with pill form remedies is that they take their first dose either right before or right after stepping on the boat. That's too late! Sea sick prone people usually spew these pills out before they can take full effect. I highly recommend taking one dose of Bonine® the night before your trip and another dose in the morning when you wake up. For long trips, don't forget to keep up with the recommended dosage.

Sea Band ® :

These are pressure point therapy wrist bands. Most people discount this remedy because it "sounds" like a gimmick. They work! There is also an electronic shock version but, the non-electric ones work just fine. The nice thing about this remedy is that they can be added along with any of the other remedies without conflicting with them. I try to keep at least one pair around for those that didn't prepare but too often, people walk off the boat forgetting that they have them on. Many drug stores carry these bands as a cure for morning sickness.

Ginger:

That's right. Plain old ginger root. You can get this stuff in pill form, candied, raw, powdered, as a paste, dehydrated, in cookies.........well, you get the idea. Ginger settles your stomach quickly and, just like with Sea Band ® , ginger can be added along with any of the other remedies without conflicting with them. I try to keep ginger candy on the boat and I can cure a good number of people with a combination of ginger candy and Sea Bands. Don't rely on me having either of them though.

Just one more note. Some people have a tendency to "over do" a good thing when they're on vacation. Go easy on the dinner the night before and breakfast in the morning before you go out. Don't stuff yourself. Don't get drunk the night before (hangovers are even worse out at sea) and get a good nights sleep.

[Phranchise]

great post perch fry! I will try out some of those remedies....ughhh i still feel sick

[niagarafisher]

Take a gravol the night before that way you don't get tired while your out on the lake and a shot or two of pepto Bismol before you head out works wonders.

[FishingAddict]

I'd like to take this opportunity to reference Mythbusters. In one episode, they tackled this very idea - that home remedies can "cure" seasickness. If my memory serves me correctly, they tried both Gravol and ginger tablets (among one or two other things in seperate trials) on two participants subjected to seaish motion. Gravol was a complete bust, as it didn't help either of the participants fend off the urge to yak. However, ginger tablets made both of them practically indestructible, and was reinforced by a placebo trial afterwards. In conclusion, I think ginger would be your best bet.

Hope it helps!

[maka]

I have always used a product called trip-tone. It is the best i've used

[Dan Andrews]

The more you get out the less you'll feel it. Confidence in knowing that is half the battle because if you go out worrying about it you will get sick. I find keeping an eye on the waves helps to. If I spend too much time looking down or tieing lines I get woozy but If my rigs are all pretied and I give that little dip of the paddle to get me over the humps then I am generally pretty good.

[kevin]

Yes, being out on the water often does help, but it doesn't cure it! I can tell you from experience, if you are caught out on Erie when a storm blows up, there is NOTHING that will cure seasickness or white knuckles. There are many charter captains out there who still get it if the wind blows up hard enough.

Seasickness is caused from your inner ear equilibrium being thrown out of whack due to a mixed signal between what your eyes see, and what your ears sense. Bonamine works well, it slightly numbs your inner ear, making you less susceptible to motion sickness. I keep it on my boat, and if I'm taking someone out that suffers from seasickness, they take that and it pretty much always works. And on those days where I have to coast back to the ramp in 8fters, I've even had to take it.

The more I read up on Ginger root pills though, the better they're sounding. At least it's not chemical based.

[AwolRJ]

Outta all the time I have spent on the water. I have only got it once, after a hard night of drinking while I was retying after we snagged bottom.

[Luvevolution]

+1 for what Kevin said. that's exactly what motion sickness is and it is as unique in every person as a fingerprint. in other words, no two people feel it the same way. there's lots of medications for it, but most have some pretty nasty side effects. here's some home remedies for it.

first one is gingerroot. it absorbs acid in the stomach and also stops it from getting into the gastointestinal tract. two capsules of gingerroot powder is often more effective than a dose of Dramamine.

second is Olives and Lemons. once motion sickness comes on, it's further triggered by production of excess saliva that dribbles down into your stomach, which makes you sicker. Olives and Lemons have tannins in them, which will dry your mouth out and stop this saliva from getting into your stomach. simply chew on the Olives or suck the Lemons and this will dry out your mouth.

third is Soda Crackers. most contain bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar. these both work to settle the stomach

lastly, there is Coke or any cola product. all cola products contain a concoction of chemicals that are wll known to combat motion sickness. I know it sounds wierd, but if you try it, you'll find that it works.

hope that helps you out a bit.

Rich

[Phranchise]

thank you everyone for your advice!

[Sirfishalot]

Once you got it there is no real way to stop it only lessen the agony. Coke, gingerale works. Also keeping ypour head up and watching the horizon helps . If I know it is going to be bumpy I take a gravol before bed to get it in the system and one just before heading out. Haven't been sick since that fateful day about 10yrs back.

[Tom Chopin]

There are two types of Gravol, the regular which makes you drowsy and their natural Ginger that doesn't make you drowsy. Both work great in my opinion. I find if I can stand up and take the waves with my legs and keep my head from going side to side it really helps. If you sitting your head is moving side to side and is more likely to cause motion sickness. If it's going to be rough I take a ginger gravol before I leave the house and one at the ramp before heading out. It's definitely not fun.

There is a new product out called Quease-ease which is an inhaler of mint and ginger that you take a couple of big sniffs of and it's supposed to suppress queasyness. I saw it at Fising World, not sure if its sold locally. Here is the link.. http://www.soothing-scents.com/ I got a sample but haven't had a need to used it yet.

[emenius]

if possible pick a point on shore that is stationary and keep an eye on it, if there is no way to see shore just watch the horizon and dont go below decks. only ever been sick once and not sure if it was sea sick or brown bottle fever.

[DarkEdge]

I've got the ultimate cure for seasickness. I fish from shore. Works every time. But what do I know?

[dr_feelgood]

the best thing I know of is to keep your eyes on the horizon

[miller]

i dealt with it for the first time today, was out on a friends boat and the water got rough 4-5ft waves while i was leaning over setting up a rod. sat down leaned over the side and just let it go. felt great 5 minutes later lol.