After-the-fact motion sickness? Is this a thing?
June 21, 2015 6:12 PM   Subscribe

I almost never feel motion sickness while a vehicle is in motion, but I am often queasy starting 2-6 hours after a long trip has ended. What gives?

Things that might be relevant:

-This can be any long car trip or flight, with a general greater likelihood with a longer trip. I'd say I feel crummy about half the time after a trip that takes more than 4ish hours. I'm one of those folks who can read in the car and be comfortable on swaying boats, so it's not an in-the-moment sort of thing.
-I may feel queasiness, diarrhea, intestinal cramping, sometimes all together. I almost never throw up but I almost never throw up in the first place. In general my digestion is fine; a very mild dairy and carrot intolerance. My overall health is unremarkable.
-I can't think of anything I only eat or drink on trips, though obviously I'm eating less home cooking, and probably greasier food as a result.
-Symptoms usually start by the end of the day, a few hours after I've arrived somewhere. I'll feel crummy for a day or two.

The timing seems too fast for picking up an actual bug, too slow for motion sickness. It sucks to write off a whole day of a trip, or need a whole day to recover after getting home, especially when I'm travelling for work and need to Be On.

Anybody have anything similar, or have any suggestions of what might help? I'm thinking of trying Dramamine, but when? Before the trip starts, or once I arrive?
posted by tchemgrrl to Health & Fitness (2 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I used to get a really severe version of Mal de Debarquement (vicious vertigo, once lasting ten days after the drive- I was terrified that it would be permanent). I had to make long 10 hour drives regularly and I finally figured out that if I closed my eyes for 5-10 minutes during each hour of the trip, the symptoms were far less awful and on shorter trips I didn't get them at all.
posted by mireille at 5:09 AM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


Dramamine is great for this - so is bonine. Test both when you're not going anywhere to see which one makes you drowsier (for most people it's dramamine, but I know enough exceptions to this rule to suggest you test it out for yourself.) When to take it is trial and error, though. Next time you're on a trip, try it during the travel and see if it helps. If not, try it about 45 minutes before the trip is over so it's taking effect as you disembark your mode of transportation. If that doesn't work, try it before bed the first night. If none of those work it's probably not the method for you.
posted by gloriouslyincandescent at 1:57 AM on October 29, 2015


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