Sea Sickness Study - need participants

[Arbutis]

As some of you know, I’m a dentist – and also a fisherman who has been using this great forum for a number of years. From a medical point of view I have been studying a method to avoid vomiting after suffering from the effects of sea sickness. I am in the process of writing a paper for the Journal of the American Medical Association and I was hoping to get help from some people on this forum.

For the paper I need to get testimonials and case studies. It’s basically a method that a person does to avoid the vomiting part of sea sickness. It helped me a lot over the years and could help others too. If you, or someone you know suffers from sea sickness followed by vomiting, please let me know if you are interested in participating in this study.

Send me an e-mail saying you are “interested in the sea sickness study” as well as a short description of your problem with sea sickness. I will send you more information as I gather a list of participants. Email: drp@littlesilverdental.com

I thought this information would be particularly helpful to charter and party boat captains who have customers suffering from sea sickness. Your participation would be valuable for gathering data for this study as you are in the best position on a regular basis to offer help to these people.

Thanks. And thank you Gerry for allowing me to use this forum to solicit participants for this study.

[Madcrab]

On every trip I go out fishing I take 1/4 of Promethazine 25mg. On offshore trips I will 1/2 dosage. I have been taking it for the past 3years, during those years I haven't got sick.

I tried the patch but it always fall off. It works when it stay on.
The wrist band works sometimes.
Putting pressure on the wrist did not work.
Dramamine never work for me.

[Fin Reaper]

No heavy drinking or crazy eating the night before. Reg 1/2 day or 3/4 day inshore stuff I take a Bodine or Dramamine at least one hour before leaving the dock. REALLY rough conditions, long trips and offshore I break out the RX Scope patch but that does cause some serious cotton mouth... In either case if I still get a bit green I stay outside, the fresh air and breeze is usually enough to keep me from chumming.
PS in the past I would bring some candied ginger ( King Arthur flour has some really good stuff) that would squash mild queeziness but it can really put your digestive system into overdrive so experiment at home pre trip.

[Jpell15]

Bonine and ginger ale

[AndyS]

Marijuana believe it or not is the best. You ever see anyone stoned getting sick, nope ! They are laughing at 12 ft waves coming over the bow.

[Super]

Personally, an adrenaline rush was the only thing that ever kicked sea sickness once it started. Tuna making a reel scream fixed me right up.

[teddysclaw]

Marijuana is a bad idea. It throws off your sense of timing and balance and will make you feel sicker. I've actually seen plenty of stoned people getting sick.

Scop Patches only work if they were placed on 3 hours before the trip. Otherwise, it's not that great. Additionally the side effects are more severe than other meds.

Ginger, like others have said works for mild nausea, however, it does cause some gastrointestinal distress so it's not for everyone.

Dramamine ,seems to be more effective in making people drowsy than actually preventing nausea.

Promethazine I've seen patients use for nausea unrelated to motion sickness, such as chemotherapy, bowel obstruction, etc. I am unfamiliar with it's uses for sea sickness unfortunately.

Personally, nothing seems to really work for me. Additionally, for most of the patients i know suffering from seasickness, there does not seem to be a significant portion of them who try to avoid throwing up. Majority of the people I know who suffer from seasickness usualy try to get whatever they have in their stomach out.

Can I ask, what purpose this study is for? Are you looking to find a more specific targeted therapy for the vomiting aspect, as opposed to just nausea prevention? Additionally, this doesn't seem to really fall under the field of a dentist, are you simply doing this due to your love of fishing? Best of luck in your study.

[Arbutis]

Thanks for your questions, and thank you to the people who have already e-mailed me with interest.

Can I ask, what purpose this study is for?

The purpose of this is primarily to obtain case studies and testimonials of people who are able to successfully avoid vomiting using my method. In doing so, I hope to publish my findings in a medical journal so that the knowledge is made available on a much larger scale.

Are you looking to find a more specific targeted therapy for the vomiting aspect, as opposed to just nausea prevention?

If I wasn't clear in my original post, I am specifically looking for participants who are vomiters. That's the key.

"Additionally, this doesn't seem to really fall under the field of a dentist, are you simply doing this due to your love of fishing?"

A little of both. I am doing this and I have stumbled upon this due to my love of fishing (and my hatred of a lifetime of sea sickness). Because I am a dentist I am curious about the physiological process that goes on in the body. More specifically I am targeting a neurotransmitter that is secreted from a salivary gland in the mouth that I suspect to play a major role and being a dentist, this gives me a somewhat unique point of view.

Many replies to this post have mentioned a variety of drugs from Dramamine to marijuana. I would just like to add that my method involves absolutely no pharmacology whatsoever and therefor no side effects.

Please continue to send me emails if you are interested in contributing to this study. Thanks.

[Madcrab]

Promethazine I've seen patients use for nausea unrelated to motion sickness, such as chemotherapy, bowel obstruction, etc. I am unfamiliar with it's uses for sea sickness unfortunately.

You should try it. It works for me and my friends. You can check with your pharmacy, an experience one.

Scopace another tablet that I used to take but it was banned because it was use as a date rape drug.

Forgot to mention that I take it just minutes before the boat leaves the dock. Sometimes I forget to take it and the seasick hits me. I would just pop a 1/4 of the tablet. 20 minutes later I'm ok.

[Bass Specialist]

As a youth I never had sea legs. I would get sick any time I went out on a boat even if it wasn't that rough. Throughout the years I got a little better but still would get sick if it got choppy. I tried Dramamine but that would make me so drowsy I was too tired to even fish. Then I tried the transdermal scop patch. It works wonders. Take a shower the night before your going out and put the patch on after you dry off. Put it on about 12 hours before you go out and you should be good to go.

[Arbutis]

My experience with the patch was that it made me feel lousy for the entire next day. Same with dram.

[Capt. Debbie]

I used to get sick in roller coaster drop seas. Over time I built up a tolerance. Still take 2 Dramamine before a Canyon trip ... just in case. But nothing later. Mental security blanket.

Busy will snap you out too. That's I've seen with many people.

[Bass Specialist]

I used to get sick in roller coaster drop seas. Over time I built up a tolerance. Still take 2 Dramamine before a Canyon trip ... just in case. But nothing later. Mental security blanket.

Busy will snap you out too. That's I've seen with many people.

Right on Capt. I've never gotten sea sick when we were steady catching. It's the non catching days you really get sick

[Finprof]

Be very careful what you eat before you go. Eat bland food.
We lost our navigator on an offshore sailing race (Montauk to Martha's Vineyard) after he ate pickled eggs and fried chicken the night before. Fried chicken is the worst for me.
I don't typically have a problem with seasickness, but if it starts I eat unsalted saltines - a lot of them. When I deliver sailboats across the Grand Bahamas Banks there is a beam sea for two days. I will eat a whole box a day.

[ScowardNJ]

Seas under 2' nothing
2'-5' one Bonine Chewable
over 5' predictied/offshore/multi day----Transderm Scop Patch
Email sent, glad to help

[Tony Cav]

One of the approved ailments for medical marijuana in New Jersey is to treat the nausea brought on by chemo. I can attest to its effectiveness for nausea in general. However nothing cures nausea better than a drug called Zofran. A magical drug as far as I am concerned.

[Arbutis]

Zofran is not for preventing nausea or vomiting that is caused by factors other than cancer treatment or surgery - or that's what the label says anyway. There is also a long list of potential side effects and a few drug interactions to be aware of.

Apparently, marijuana has its good points as well as some not so good. And without a prescription for chemo treatment or a drug dealer on hand, it's still not readily accessible.

I'm not deliberately trying to shoot down these methods - just trying to get the point across that there is a way to avoid the vomiting without taking any meds or altering your eating habits.

Thanks for the info

[Arbutis]

Anyone else?