Feeling Sick!!!

[pathalla]

Originally Posted by codprawn

I have never been sea sick but I have come pretty close afterwards - lying in bed and the whole room is moving - i assume this is normal???

Have had what we affectionately call "boat lag" after spending 2 or 3 days on the water when It's kicking up. Get off the water and Sit down in a quiet place and it feels like you are still out there... kind of cool really, still moving up and down, up and down. Two remedies that seem to work ok are downing a bunch of dry popcorn, no oil, or if someone is getting queasy have them lie flat on their back on the deck and close their eyes, it helps if there is air circulation. This makes the motion somewhat different, and your eyes are out of the equation. Going down into a cabin is the kiss of death usually if someone is getting sick! If someone is getting sick I will offer to take them to shore immediately as it is an awful feeling, Boating should not be associated with awful feelings! If it's rough enough anyone can get seasick, my pops told me during the big one (ww2) some guys got so sick they would move them off the "tin can" he was on to a larger ship as it can become life threatening if you are constantly heaving and can't keep anything down, some people would get that ill!

[codprawn]

Another thing I get is that when I have been out in really big seas afterwards when I close my eyes I can still see the rollers coming towards me - scary!!!

Don't worry though my shrink thinks it's the least of my troubles......

[taurus]

Keep looking at the horizon or fix your gaze on something outside the boat, unlikely to be connected to any ear/balance problem, unless you are aware of one already without being on a boat. Better to be the pilot and, oh, the faster you go the better! Work through it.

[CJL]

Seasickness is caused by conflicting messages in the brain.

As the boat goes up and down the fluid in the ear is moving and therefore the message is passed to the brain that the body is moving. Unfortunately the eyes pass a conflicting message to the brain as what they see is everything around them isn't moving. (your body is moving the same as your surroundings effectively cancelling each other out)

It is the conflicting message that causes the sickness.

You can aleviate it a little bit by trying to stop the conflicting messages. An example would be to watch the horizon. This means the fluid in the ears and the eyes are both reporting obvious movement (the horizon is a reference point for the eyes and movement is noted and passed to the brain)

Tiredness can contribute to seasickness as the conflicting messages are not effectively processed by the brain causing the brain to be confused earlier.

Alcohol, drugs, dehydration also contribute.

Looking down in bucket in the bottom of a boat or going bellow deck to sleep it off is the worse thing you can do.

Chris

[CJL]

Just found this at seasickness.co.uk

Chris

Seasickness happens when the body, inner ear, and eyes all send different signals to the brain, resulting in confusion and queasiness. It is a problem generally attributed to disturbance in the balance system of the inner ear (vestibular) system. Your sensory perception gets out of synch as these nerve fibers attempt to compensate for the unfamiliar motion of the ship moving through water.

The movement of a boat on a fluid sea creates stress in the portions of the brain responsible for balance. Perhaps that stress causes the brain to start malfunctioning as the land based environment it understands is suddenly not behaving as it should.

The visual stimulus is misleading as it reports things like cabin walls, and furniture, in such a way that the brain interprets these things as stable when they're not. Your brain is being told by the vision system that the world is stable, while the inner ear is screaming that it's not.

The good news for sufferers is that the condition often disappears without medical treatment within a few days. As your brain learns to compensate for the swaying and pitching of the boat you will get your “sea legs”.

One unfortunate aspect is that after a prolonged period at sea it may take a while for you to adjust to being on terra firma again.

[Tim M]

I used to suffer with really bad car and sea sickness when I was younger. I used to take these little pink pills called Joyrides (whilst they might sound like I bought them off a bloke in a carpark called Darren they are in fact avalible from most chemists). They were wonderful. Prevented and cured all forms of travel sickness.

[Boatnomad]

Seasickness? And 50 Ways Professional Mariners Tackle It...

What is Seasickness? And 50 Ways Professional Mariners Tackle It! - gCaptain Maritime & Offshore News

[Max...]

Wow, that's some 'Holy thread resurrection Batman!' record for the forum surely?!

[kerny]

They've had 8 years to get over it

[sorabain]

Originally Posted by BOG RAT

Hi All
Any one got a good cure for sea sickness, (apart from staying at home.)

I dont get sea sick very often, but when I do I really have to go back to shore, 10 mins after landing I'm fine???? (& I never ate a dodgy curry either). But I know that if I go out again, I will be HONKIN UP again. forced to stay on the beach & watch. (not much fun watching)

Next day , no probs at all, can stay out all day, even in the roughest sea,

WEIRD or WHAT does any one else get affected like this? or is it just me?

Is this on a RIB? I get seasick now and then, but usually when the boat is rolling rather than just pitching, and if i cannot see the horizon for some reason. If you stop the boat somewhere (e.g. fishing) then the rolling can set you off, particularly if you end up concentrating on something close to you rather than the horizon (e.g. baiting up, reading something, etc)

Some things that help me are staying close to the centre of the boat (less pitch/roll), and even taking control of the helm (I can get pretty carsick when someone else is driving, never when I am).

If there are no special circumstances involved you could give some Stugeron a go. This sometimes makes me drowsy so watch out if you're in control or need to drive home later etc.

I've read somewhere that there's a fair bit of psychological involvement in seasickness (just believing you will/wont be seasick can change the odds so quite a dodo effect), so find some cure that you can believe in and go out there with confidence as well.

-- DOH, missed the resurrection--

[seasdes]

Tracacalm tablets have been proven many times on my boats. Need to be taken before you get on board.