preventing motion sickness?

[rollercoastersky]

so as i prepare for my flight from jfk to seattle today in what promises to be a mostly bumpy flight (thanks to tb_neg for the info) especially due to the current wind advisory, i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for air sickness. i usually take dramamine (NOT the 24 hour kind which actually increases my motion sickness symptoms) and ginger. since this is a longer flight and one that i'm concerned is going to be a little rough, i'd like to have some extra back-up. i've heard that benadryl is better than dramamine. true? also, do the acupressure bands actually work?

thanks for any suggestions!

[skadanks]

so as i prepare for my flight from jfk to seattle today in what promises to be a mostly bumpy flight (thanks to tb_neg for the info) especially due to the current wind advisory, i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for air sickness. i usually take dramamine (NOT the 24 hour kind which actually increases my motion sickness symptoms) and ginger. since this is a longer flight and one that i'm concerned is going to be a little rough, i'd like to have some extra back-up. i've heard that benadryl is better than dramamine. true? also, do the acupressure bands actually work?

thanks for any suggestions!

If you have the ability to sleep on planes, which I don't, I think the best remedy for motion sickness is simply going to sleep. Maybe stay up the night before, then take some sleeping medication right before the flight and hopefully when you wake up, you'll be landed.

I remember as a kid, I had fallen asleep in a plane. My mom told me that we went through some awful turbulence, but being dead sleep it was news to me.

[tb_neg]

I think it helps if you do the following:

1) Over wings or towards front. The back is just miserable.
2) Aisle seat. Closer to the center of the plane (you feel more at the extremities, like a record turning faster at the edges.
3) Look out the window towards the horizon. Don't look down at your feet.

[christy]

I don't suffer from motion sickness, but my aunt (who's a nurse) swears by Bonine--same idea as Dramamine, just a different formulation. She also claims you should start taking it the week before you actually want it to work.

I do usually drink ginger ale on flights, because I find it helps settle my stomach--again, don't know about motion sickness though. I have a coworker who suffers from motion sickness, and she prefers to sit by the window so she can watch the horizon. I'm sure it's different for everyone; you just need to find what feels best for you. Good luck!

[tb_neg]

Wikipedia actually has some great information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness

If you are having a ginger ale, I recommend Vernors. It's extra fizzy which may help (and delicious)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernors

I don't suffer from motion sickness, but my aunt (who's a nurse) swears by Bonine--same idea as Dramamine, just a different formulation. She also claims you should start taking it the week before you actually want it to work.

I do usually drink ginger ale on flights, because I find it helps settle my stomach--again, don't know about motion sickness though. I have a coworker who suffers from motion sickness, and she prefers to sit by the window so she can watch the horizon. I'm sure it's different for everyone; you just need to find what feels best for you. Good luck!

[pinworm]

Many people don't know this, but closing your eyes eliminates 1/3 of the motion sickness problem. Motion sickness is caused by a disagreement between the information your eyes give your brain (visual refrence), the information you ears give your brain (balance,motion), and the information your extremities give your brain (location). When on a boat, in a car, or in an airplane, the ears say you are moving alot, the body says you are moving a little, and your eyes see very little motion at all. Your brain assumes (because it did not evolve to fly!) that the disagreement is the result of a toxin, and responds by starting the vomit sequence to purge whatever toxins it has.

Dramamine inhibits some of the receptors involved in that cycle. But closing your eyes elminates much of the disagreement between the senses and leaves the brain with just the ears and body. You can try to watch the horizon, but you are looking out the window, perhaps at a wing through a window frame, all moving differently. And sometimes you cannot see the horizon for low visibility. So keep your eyes closed. Personally, the only time I get queasy is when I have my eyes open during turbulence and I fly at least 6times a month. I have gotten near sick twice, both times looking around the cabin on a bumpy approach.

In addition, during bumps keep your head off the head rest...as you bounce around your brain is taking information from your nerve endings about the position of your body. Keeping your head level and your eyes closed should slow the progress of motion sickness.

And ginger works wonders...it's clinically proven to be about as effective at stopping or reducing ALL kinds of nausea including flu, pregnancy and food poisoning as well. But you have to use REAL ginger, and most ginger ale doesn't have it..go to a health food store and get ginger pills. Take two about 30 minutes before your flight..

I use a combo of ginger and dramamine. If the TB forecast says it will be smooth, I use 1 dramamine and two ginger pills..if it's going to be rough I take 4 ginger pills and two dramamine...that knocks me out! That combined with closed eyes and an upright head should keep you from getting sick

[skadanks]

Many people don't know this, but closing your eyes eliminates 1/3 of the motion sickness problem. Motion sickness is caused by a disagreement between the information your eyes give your brain (visual refrence), the information you ears give your brain (balance,motion), and the information your extremities give your brain (location). When on a boat, in a car, or in an airplane, the ears say you are moving alot, the body says you are moving a little, and your eyes see very little motion at all. Your brain assumes (because it did not evolve to fly!) that the disagreement is the result of a toxin, and responds by starting the vomit sequence to purge whatever toxins it has.

Dramamine inhibits some of the receptors involved in that cycle. But closing your eyes elminates much of the disagreement between the senses and leaves the brain with just the ears and body. You can try to watch the horizon, but you are looking out the window, perhaps at a wing through a window frame, all moving differently. And sometimes you cannot see the horizon for low visibility. So keep your eyes closed. Personally, the only time I get queasy is when I have my eyes open during turbulence and I fly at least 6times a month. I have gotten near sick twice, both times looking around the cabin on a bumpy approach.

In addition, during bumps keep your head off the head rest...as you bounce around your brain is taking information from your nerve endings about the position of your body. Keeping your head level and your eyes closed should slow the progress of motion sickness.

And ginger works wonders...it's clinically proven to be about as effective at stopping or reducing ALL kinds of nausea including flu, pregnancy and food poisoning as well. But you have to use REAL ginger, and most ginger ale doesn't have it..go to a health food store and get ginger pills. Take two about 30 minutes before your flight..

I use a combo of ginger and dramamine. If the TB forecast says it will be smooth, I use 1 dramamine and two ginger pills..if it's going to be rough I take 4 ginger pills and two dramamine...that knocks me out! That combined with closed eyes and an upright head should keep you from getting sick

In addition, I have found that lifting your feet off the floor during bad turbulence takes half the sensation away. For some reason, looking out the window during turbulence makes me feel even more nervous. The most nervous feeling for me is when it's clear air turbulence and plane is bouncing around even though there's not a cloud in the sky. That feels eerie to me. At least if there's clouds we're going through, I can see what it is that's causing the turbulence. But not knowing what's causing it makes it feel worse to me.

[pinworm]

Agreed, the lifting of the feet off the floor reduces the motion input from your nerve endings to your brain. I find it only reduces the sensation by about 15%, but it helps.