Travel Sickness

[Akimbo]

I suffer badly with travel sickness. Always did as a child sitting between 2 older siblings in a Ford Anglia with both parents smoking in the front. I always hoped I'd grow out of it, but I can even feel nauseous driving. I can't travel in the back of a car ever, even for a couple of minutes; taxi drivers must think I'm very friendly as I always sit in the front!

When I was little I had "Sea Legs" - they'd have me throwing up before we'd even left the house. These days "Stugeron" sometimes does the trick but I wondered whether anyone could recommend anything they've taken themselves or has worked for others (probably children suffer most often).

At 50 I think I'm probably not going to grow out of it! :sad:

 

[Flying Pigs]

Try sitting on a newspaper - tried and tested for coach travel with large numbers of children.

 

[BusyMum]

Aren't there anti-nausea bands you can buy to put round your wrist/s..I seem to remember hearing about them, tho I never tried them..fortunately I DID grow out of it! Remember very well being dozed with Marzine which made me sick anyway!

 

[Akimbo]

I've heard the newspaper thing before, some also suggest brown paper...at least it protects the car seat! I'm just going to try to sleep in the car when we visit our son this weekend.

I've suffered with vertigo in the past and took stemetil so I might be able to get a repeat prescription, although not all anti-emetic drugs work for travel-sickness. There's definitely a psychological element because I'm already worrying about the journey and feeling rubbish in transit.

 

[Janey]

My late aunt used to swear by ginger!

 

[Sazza]

Sea Bands work really well!

 

[mediastar]

I had to travel into west London for work training, I found one particular roundabout turned my stomach every time and I arrived at the destination flustered and "green" unable to concentrate worried about the return trip. I then tried regular medication and found I was asleep during the journey and drowsy for all the rest of the day meaning I couldn't concentrate properly that way either. In the end the homeopathic tablets were what worked for me and I was well and alert all day and the journey went well in both directions my stomach staying in its normal site under my ribcage rather than trying to climb up my throat! Hope you find something that works for you!

 

[iloveshopping]

I was rubbish in a car as a child but OK on boats (crossed the channel to belgium 6 times a year). Now I'm not good on coaches if I'm feeling tired or I sit over the wheels. Small boats - 20 people or so are bad and I avoid. My sea legs remain for 36 hours or more having reached land. Not airsick. I mainly do the driving and that distracts me. Failing all the other cures mentioned above try hypnosis. Not sure how much that costs now. You may find some self hypnosis tapes on the internet.

 

[Mitzi]

I too suffer from travel sickness when travelling by car, plane, boat or train. I cannot read whilst in motion so my husband has given up asking me to read road signs or a map, so some good comes out of it especially as I cannot tell my left from my right when reading maps. I usually take Stugeron which works for me. I have used the Sea Bands too and they worked, I think mostly as they distracted my attention playing with the bands. I found when on a plane that I cannot even glance at the t.v. screens as the flicker from the pictures makes me feel sick too. I suffer from epilepsy so flashing lights, moving pictures, attempting to read whilst in motion are no goes. Listening to some music helps but it has to be kind of background music that you forget is on, not the head banging or jazz type. I find going to sleep helps.

I used to dread going on school trips and would spend the night before a trip worrying about the travel and during the day trip I would not be able to enjoy the occasion thinking about the return journey.

 

[Akimbo]

I use self-hypnosis to help me cope with migraines and this involves listening to a "new age" cd on endless repeat which has no catchy tunes that I'd get on the brain. The same cd helps with insomnia too so Mr Akimbo is happy to play it in the car for this weekend's trip. (hopefully it won't cause him to drop off!).

I think sleep asap after we set off is the best plan.

For anyone else who suffers (or children) I buy sick bags from ebay, I used to pinch them from aircraft when they used to put them in every seat pocket. They're the best thing for containment and disposal.

 

[BusyMum]

Lol..I use those CDs to help me get off to sleep Jude...and they keep BusyDad awake even tho they're on minimal volume!

 

[Nora]

My friend is 63 and had always suffered from travel sickness, she has to sit in the front seat of a car whenever she goes out. One thing that has definitely helped are the wristbands you can get. She's tried everything else!

 

[sublime]

I have Meniere's disease, which is an inbalance of the middle ear, and I can feel travel sick lying down in bed. It's horrible, I know, and you have my sympathy, Akimbo.

Here are my tried and trusty solutions:
Ginger is fantastic. You can take it in form you like - fresh, and grated into stir fries, or dried in cakes and biscuits, or sprinkled on to cereal, or try [proper] ginger beer. My favourite way of taking ginger is to have it thickly coated in dark chocolate. :wink:

Don't get dehydrated when you travel, try carrying a water bottle and taking small sips whenever you can. I'm far worse if my blood sugar drops - bananas are good for refuelling on the go, so are muesli bars or bags of nuts and dried fruit.

Breathing exercises can help a lot because they keep you steady, but beware of overbreathing and taking in too much oxygen as this makes the dizziness worse.

I have prescribed drugs, but most of them can be bought over the counter at the chemist, even if they have different names. Most pharmacists are a good source of advice.

 

[Akimbo]

Well we got back yesterday (only went from West Sussex to Bristol for 24 hours) We'd only got as far as Chichester (a journey we often do for shopping) and I was sick so I'm sure there's a psychosomatic element. It's a bit like a self-fulfilling prophesy: worrying I'll be sick so I am. This was with the dosage Stugeron recommends - starting with a dose the night before and then in the morning before travelling.

I think I'm just a bit of a puker! Every illness makes me sick, even those that don't usually include vomiting as a symptom: colds and sore throats.

I had a middle ear thing about 10 years ago (lying down was like the room spinning when drunk) so you have me sympathies sublime. Awful trying to find a position that will allow you to get some sleep.