Thread: Scopolamine Patch vs. Dramamine

Hello to everyone. I'm embarking on my first cruise in about six weeks (Norwegian Sun, Santiago to Buenos Aires). I have an inside cabin on a lower to mid-level of the ship. I have felt motion sickness in a car on occasion, but it usually resolved itself, i.e., slept it off, had some 7-up, have never actually tried dramamine for those reasons. It was just a mild annoyance.

So I've heard the waters around Cape Horn can be really rough, and that seasickness is more prevalent. I went to my doc the other day and got a prescription for Scopolamine transdermal patches to place behind my ear for 72 hours at a time. But he said some people have gotten sick from the patches themselves. I've never heard of that problem before. Is it common? Is dramamine just as effective as the patch to begin with?

Just looking for advice... thanks!
Sandi

You might want to consider Bonine. It is essentially a lower dose Dramamine without the drowsiness side effects. My wife swears by Bonine.

PE

Alot of people have great results with ginger pills - they're cheap and easily obtainable at the drug store. Between those and the non-drowsy dramamine, you should be fine.

Pete

Scopolamine has side effects you must consider. 67% will have dry mouth. 50% will have blurred vision. 33% will experience mental confusion. Some will experience all three.

Dramamine is an antihistamine with significant sedative effect. Bonine is a totally different chemical compound and has significantly lower sedative effect. Dramamine II has the same compound as Bonine. My wife uses Bonine with good results. Ginger capsules work well for some. A mechanical device called a Sea Band (this is a brand name, others available by other names that work the same way) which is an elastic band about 3 cm wide with a plastic hemispherical button about 9 mm diameter that presses on a point on the underside of the wrist about the width of three fingers from the wrist called the "nei kuan" nerve junction. I don't know how it works but I have seen my wife as green as a piece of lettuce, put on her sea bands and eat dinner thirty minutes later.

How's THAT for more than you EVER wanted to know?


Charlie

Boy... those side effects sound terrible. Think I'll pass on the Scopolamine. Thanks for the info.

I'll check out those other options.

I got deathly ill my first cruise when we had 30ft seas for about 10 hours. I did not have the Scope patches for that one AND SO WISHED I HAD!
I have worn them on the past 2 cruises we have gone on and had NO ILL EFFECTS. I did notice a dry mouth and a slighly odd taste. I highly recommend them.

Aw, you guys. You're scaring me! Is gravol an option?

There's also ginger... you can take along a pack of ginger candy. works really well for a lot of people.

I had horrible side effects from the Scopolamine patch. Blurry vision, mental confusion, headaches and it took 10 days for it to leave my system and for me to feel better. Next time I will do the ginger pills or dramamine.

It seems like different remedies affect people differently. It looks like sandi has already gone on her cruise, but I do think it's good to discuss the various remedies to try (after discussing with your doctor if needed).

On her one cruise, my mother, who gets motion sickness at the turn of a bus key, wore the patch and said she had no problems. But someone else could get socked with all of the side effects and be miserable.

What I recommend (as a fellow motion sickness sufferer) is to try out some of the remedies before your cruise, at home and maybe on a car or bus ride. See what doesn't make you drowsy (you don't want to be sleeping through most of your cruise). If you are currently on a medication regime you may want to check with your doctor to make sure there aren't any counterindications (for example, ginger may interfere with some treatments).

Narrow down your list to a few types of remedies and bring with. That way, if one thing doesn't work under real conditions, you have a backup. You can buy some remedies on board in the ship's store, but will cost a lot more than back home.

As for me, I took candied ginger and ginger-flavored Altoids on my Hawaiian cruise, which does involve some rough seas. Some people will get ginger pills or buy many ginger ales from the ship's bars. Saltines and green apples are reportedly good for a bad sea tummy. Some people also like licorice (needs to be the real type)...when my stomach is having problems because of a current problem I have, I chew on some Good and Plenty or black licorice.

One tablemate on our last cruise, wore the seabands. Didn't have any problems.