Sea sickness could change your best day to your worst night 

Posted By: Jim Thatcher

Article by Richard Clement MD

This was the best day of Paul's life. He married Maria in a wonderful ceremony at the Catholic church in Coconut Grove, Florida. They had been in love for a year and he had proposed two months ago. A white Rolls Royce took them from the church to the family gathering. Two hundred family and friends assembled under a tent on Paul's parents' property. They were all very nice people who smiled, danced and laughed all evening. The food and champagne were plentiful.

The married couple escaped to board a cruise ship in Miami Beach. They had the best cabin and the newly wed Maria lay on the bed surrounded by flowers and presents. Maria's shoes and stockings were removed by Paul and he started to undress her as the ship left the shores to the sea.

A few minutes later, Paul was no longer with Maria. He was on the lower deck, his bow tie hanging on the side, his white shirt half-undone. Paul's suntanned face had turned to green. He was hanging on the riggings having the worst case of sea-sickness you can imagine. He was dizzy, his mind was foggy and he was vomiting the three course meal from the reputed French chef his parents had hired for the wedding.

It was Paul and Maria's worst night.

Many people experience sea-sickness or motion sickness and it is a normal response to conditions similar to those found on high seas during stormy weather. Individuals can get nausea, malaise and other unpleasant symptoms while on a boat, in a car, on a plane, in space or even in an elevator. Space motion sickness is a well-recognized problem for space flight and affects 73% of crew members within the first 2 or 3 days of their initial flight. Illness severity is variable, but over half of the cases are categorized as moderate to severe.

Some people actually get "seasick" after returning to land after being out on a boat for an extended period of time. To experience motion sickness, one must have a normally functioning vestibular, or balance, system. Most people adapt fairly rapidly to motion, and after a few days at sea, for example, no longer experience the symptoms.

Most medications used for prevention and treatment (e.g., anticholinergics and antihistamines) induce unwanted sedation. Furthermore, no one drug is completely effective or preventive.

Some of the medications used for sea and motion sickness are:

Antihistamines

Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine?) or diphenhydramine (Benadryl?) 25 - 50 mg. every 4-6 hrs. According to a comparative study with transdermal scopolamine at the Israeli Naval Institute, dimenhydrinate adversely affects psychomotor function

Meclizine 12.5 to 25 mg. every 24 hrs. Up to 25 mg. every 6 hrs. This is available over the counter (OTC) as Bonine? and Dramamine II?. The prescriptive form is called Antivert?. Antihistamines may be contra-indicated. Contraindications and cautions are: High blood pressure, glaucoma, prostatic enlargement. Side-effects include drowsiness, dry mouth, goose bumps, blurred vision, chills, urinary retention and hallucinations.

Scopolamine

Transdermal Scopolamine consists of patches that are placed on a clean, dry, hairless area behind the ear. Transdermal Scopolamine should be applied 4 hours prior to when its effects will be needed. The patches usually last for 3 days. Drinking alcohol should be avoided when using these patches as increased drowsiness and dizziness may result. Scopolamine may in fact cause dizziness, drowsiness or blurred vision and has been involved in cases of toxic psychosis. According to a 1996 article published in Ear Nose Throat Journal, long-term use of transdermal Scopolamine patches carries a risk of chemical dependency.

Acupressure

The Pc-6 point on the wrist is well known to all Oriental medicine practitioners. The PC-6 point is located on the palm side of the wrist. To find the PC-6 point, place your middle 3 fingers on the inside of each wrist, with the edge of the ring finger on the wrist crease. The PC-6 point is just under the edge of your index finger (i.e. 1.5" to 2" from the wrist crease) between the two central tendons.

An Acuband worn on the wrist or forearm decreases the symptoms of motion sickness and the gastric activity that usually accompanies motion sickness

The Relief Band? Device is a watch-like apparatus worn on the underside of the wrist. When turned on, the device emits a low-level electrical pulse across two small electrodes.

Ginger

Ginger is well known in the form of ginger sticks or ginger ale. The efficacy of ginger rhizome for the prevention of nausea, dizziness, and vomiting as symptoms of motion sickness, as well as for postoperative vomiting and vomiting of pregnancy, has been well documented. It is more likely that any reduction of motion sickness symptoms results from the influence of the ginger root agents on the gastric system.

Homeopathy

While the homeopathic literature describes several homeopathic remedies for sea-sickness and/or the symptoms associated with motion sickness, very few well designed studies are available. One German medication, Vertigoheel? was compared to SERC betahistine hydrochloride, a vertigo medication used in Canada and Europe. Both remedies reduced the frequency, duration and intensity of vertigo attacks during a 6-week treatment period. In a previous study with the same homeopathic medication vertigo-specific complaints were significantly reduced in both treatment groups. Statistical evaluations showed that the different vertigo and nausea symptoms as well as the trigger mechanisms of vertigo and nausea (i.e. getting up, turning the head or gazing aside), highly significantly improved due to the therapy.

One homeopathic medication suggested for sea-sickness is Nux vomica (poison nut), a well known remedy in the homeopathic literature. It is indicated for irritability, nervousness and digestive conditions, nausea and vomiting, vertigo, with an intoxicated feeling and headaches. It seems to trigger an adverse attraction to alcohol and to be safe in homeopathic dilutions even in children.

Another homeopathic remedy, Bryonia (wild hops), is indicated for all symptoms that are worse from motion and specifically for symptoms of vertigo and nausea.

Tabacum (tobacco) is indicated for incessant nausea which is worse from the smell of tobacco smoke, also for seasickness and when the skin may be cold and sweaty.

Cocculus (Indian cockle), Conium (Poison hemlock), Petroleum (Crude rock oil) and Theridion (Orange-spider) are indicated for vertigo with nausea and vomiting on the least motion.

Besides the conventional and non-conventional methods of treatment for sea-sickness, common sense measures are suggested such as staying on deck and fixing a point at the horizon (or a star in the sky at night) which is not moving.

As far as Maria and Paul are concerned their marriage did not last. They divorced the following year. Paul re-married with Shirley and took his new wife on a boat ride on the Gondolas at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.