Seasickness and stillness illness.
April 4, 2006 2:16 PM   Subscribe

Are there any known and proven preventions and/or cures for seasickness and stillness illness?

About a year and a half ago, I went deep sea fishing off of Key West. I had a great time until I went to use the bathroom down below in the boat's hold. Seasickness crept in, but I was able to hold it off a bit by sitting outside, in the back of the boat and stared off at the horizon. I was still feeling pretty queasy though, but no puking. From what I've heard, puking makes things a whole lot worse when it comes to seasickness.
Also, later that night, I had the terrible feeling of being back out on the boat in high waves. I felt a perpetual "up 'n down" motion even though I was on dry land. That was an awful feeling because I didn't think it would ever go away.
Any known preventions and/or cures?
posted by NoMich to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)
 
You might try this thread: http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/35601. It was already a fairly recent topic on AskMe.
posted by mikeh at 2:19 PM on April 4, 2006


See here. I've been told, independent of the link, that ginger sometimes works.
posted by subtle-t at 2:25 PM on April 4, 2006


Yes, get on deck and watch the surroundings. Seasickness is caused by the disconnect between the movements your body detects and what your eyes see. Best solution for this is to watch the movements. Second best solution is to lie down and close your eyes so you don't get conflicting messages through them.

When I spent a lot of time ferrying and boating in Greece the local Marias used to swear by sniffing a cut lemon. I have no idea whether this works since i'm lucky enough not to be prone to seasickness, but I saw a hell of a lot of them doing it on long, rough crossings.
posted by Decani at 4:52 PM on April 4, 2006


Dramamine
posted by Ken McE at 4:57 PM on April 4, 2006


What Ken said. Just go down to your local drug emporium and get some dramamine.
posted by bim at 5:37 PM on April 4, 2006


I recently watched a Mythbusters which indicated that ginger is the best (most effective) natural cure (Dramanine has lots of unwanted side effects).
posted by muddgirl at 7:11 PM on April 4, 2006


Also, later that night, I had the terrible feeling of being back out on the boat in high waves. I felt a perpetual "up 'n down" motion even though I was on dry land. That was an awful feeling because I didn't think it would ever go away.

That happens to everyone, I think. Now that you've had it once, I doubt it'll be as bad in the future - you'll be used to it. The best thing to do is lay back and enjoy the (mental) ride.
posted by muddgirl at 7:12 PM on April 4, 2006


My Navy father always used to say that having an empty stomach (ie trying to "beat" the nausea by not having anything to spew) before boarding a boat is worse than having some food in your stomach (some, not a lot). Something to do with all the stomach juices sloshing around and having something to absorb them.

Not sure if it gets rid of the nauseous feeling, but it's supposed to at least help keep your cookies down. It works for me, but I'm not usually that susceptible to seasickness.

Sorry for the somewhat graphic nature of this comment.
posted by toomanyplugs at 10:22 PM on April 4, 2006


Be very well hydrated: any lack there will make it significantly worse while being well hydrated may prevent you having any effects. I saw this as a glider pilot, something that involves a lot of disquieting motion.
posted by polyglot at 11:13 PM on April 4, 2006


If you decide to use dramamine, try it out before you go on the boat. The stuff puts me right to sleep. The trip's no fun if you sleep through it!
posted by clarahamster at 12:39 AM on April 5, 2006


If you decide to use dramamine, try it out before you go on the boat. The stuff puts me right to sleep. The trip's no fun if you sleep through it!

My husband spent 10 years in the Coast Guard. Their standard treatment was to hand out an assortment of Dramamine pills and ephedrine pills. Take one, stop puking. Take the other, wake up and get back to work. Repeat ad nauseam (sorry, couldn't resist).
posted by scratch at 6:32 AM on April 5, 2006


Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'm just going to assume that if I have no problems on sea, I'll avoid the stillness illness phenomena.
I asked because I'm thinking of going to Isle Royale for some hiking/camping in June and it's a very long trip on the boat. I've been on Lake Michigan a lot in my life, but have never been on Lake Superior so I don't know how choppy the water will feel when I'm on it. Lake Michigan has always been rather calm so I've never had any problems.
posted by NoMich at 12:12 PM on April 5, 2006


« Older Why do you enjoy shopping?   |   Too sexy for my... Yeah, whatever. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.