Motion Sickness On Track

Marvin McBride · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:07 pm

A little free advice from the doc:

Most antihistamines have some anti-nausea effect, but all have some degree of sedation - whether you are aware of it or not (honestly, occifer, I only had 2 beers!). The products commonly marketed for this indication are meclizine (sold over the counter as Bonine and by prescription as Antivert) and dimenhydrinate (sold over the counter as Dramamine). However, other antihistamines, such as chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton and others) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl and others) work, as well. They all work better when used in advance, rather than after you start to feel bad. How well they work, and how much sedation they cause varies from person to person, drug to drug, so it's a really individual thing.

Transderm Scop is "the patch" - available only by prescription. A box of 4 costs about $30.00. Typical instructions are to put it on (just behind your ear) the night before - it lasts 3 days. It can cause some drowsiness, but not usually as much as the oral antihistamines. It does cause a reduction in saliva production, so most folks experience some degree of dry mouth. If you get some on your fingers when you're putting it on and don't wash your hands well and rub your eye, your pupil will dilate and your vision will be blurry. There is the usual list of warnings and contraindications, but these aren't very different than the antihistamines.

I've used the bands, the oral antihistamines, and Transderm Scop when going offshore to scuba dive, and have had the best results with the patch. You do need a doctor's prescription and it's pricy.

Marvin McBride · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:21 pm

Zofran is a very effective prescription anti-nausea drug. It is only approved by the FDA to prevent nausea/vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as to prevent post-operative vomiting. Of course, once it is released to the market, a doctor can prescribe it for anything they wish. The tablets come in 4 and 8 mg strengths, last about 8 hours, and cost $15-20 each.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:36 pm

I thought the Busted CRX was a cure for motion sickness!

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:38 pm

Jason Mauldin wrote:

I thought the Busted CRX was a cure for motion sickness!

Not exactly. Ryan is sick of working on it. Rice would have never made it this far. Maybe he did make a wise choice. :roll:

Phil Wehman · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:44 pm

If you go with the patch try one out a week before the event to make sure you can tolerate it. The cure might be worse than the sickness!

I get motion sick on airplanes and tried one out the night before an international flight. I woke up with room spinning, couldn't open my eyes, totally dried out, dialated pupils, etc. Even after removing it had a rough 8 hours ahead of me. My doc says that happens to some people - kind of a dramamine overdose!

YMMV, but I wouldn't try it out right before the event.

PS - I didn't get motion sick, but it might have been preferable!

Diane Hall · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:54 am

One of the guys at Car Guys would always bring Ginger Cookies to the events. (His wife made them, they were yummy.) They were reasonably effective on his motion sickness as an instructor (and seemed to settle my stomach a bit as well, though I've suprisingly never had a big problem wioth motion sickness while instructing). Ginger is supposed to be effective for nasuea. Might be worth a try. And if it doesn't work, you at least have yummy cookies to share at lunch time.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2005 3:07 pm

Diane Hall wrote:

Ginger is supposed to be effective for nasuea.

Ok, the Ginger reference made me think of another idea. For women who are experiencing Nausea due to pregnancy, Ginger is a common thing to try. Another (that worked well for my wife) is a combination of the Antihistamine Doxylamine and Vitamin B6. Usually this consists of taking a specific amount of Unisom (make sure it is the version that uses Doxylamine and not one of the other ingredients) and a Vitamin B6.

Of course as already mentioned we are talking about Antihistamines that are commonly used as a sleep aid for use for HPDE, TT, Racing, etc. I would definitely not try this for my first time on track to see if it put me to sleep!!

Anyhow, if interested, Google "Doxylamine", "B6" and even "Diclectin" and/or "Bendectin". The combo above is sold in Canada as "Diclectin" and here in the US it was known as "Bendectin", but was pulled from the US market a number of years ago (voluntarily) due to some unwarranted rumors about it causing birth defects.

It might be an option, but I would talk to a Dr. first before giving it a try.

Marvin McBride · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:33 pm

The doxylamine, like the antihistamines I mentioned earlier, has some effectiveness for nausea, and some degree of sedation. The effectiveness of B6 for nausea has never been proven, though as a water-soluble vitamin it's unlikely to cause any problems - you should see some very yellow urine as a result.

I forgot about ginger, Diane, thanks for reminding me. This has been shown to have some anti-nausea effect, and is generally well tolerated. Ginger ale or ginger snaps are good sources.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:18 pm

Marvin McBride wrote:

Ginger ale or ginger snaps are good sources.

Read the ingredients on any Ginger Ale you buy. For some, it is hard to determine if they actually have "Ginger" in them. My wife had to resort to some "premium" brands before she found some that actually listed Ginger vs. "natural flavors" (Ginger? Maybe, maybe not).

John King · **Posted:** Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:30 am

My daughter got a wrist strap thing with a little metal button on it that worked for her on a cruise (mind over matter?).

Wes Eargle · **Joined:** Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:47 am **Posts:** 3683

Get your hands on Blenheim ginger ale. The "hot" one with the pink cap. That'll git 'er done!

THSCC Forums

Motion Sickness On Track

Who is online