Our doctor prescribed the patch, scopolamine transdermal patch for motion sickness. The side effects are pretty scarey. Has anyone taken this while cruising and what were your experiences with it? Thanks for your help.
I wore the patch when we were on Mariner in March. I had virtually zero side-effects on the ship. I put the patch on 4 hours in advance (a FULL patch - did not cut in half as my DR said this was not a good idea). We were on a 7 day cruise, so I had to put a fresh patch on 3.5 days later.
For a very brief period I had some dry mouth, but that dissipated quite quickly (within 3 or 4 hours). When the patch was wearing off (on day 3), I experienced some nausea, so I ate a ginger candy and that took care of it. I slept quite well at night, but didn't feel tired like I would with Bonine, Dramamine or Gravol. I also didn't feel any adverse or enhanced effects after having a cocktail or two or three.
Now AFTER the cruise I felt like I was on water for 4 or 5 days. I would be standing still and find myself lurching to grab a counter top ... apparently this is a common side effect. It wasn't a horrible side effect, but made the first few days off the ship a bit uncomfortable.
Another experience --- my niece wore the patch on a cruise 1.5 years ago and she temporarily lost sight in one eye. She took the patch off and sight was back in about 36 hours. Instead of wearing the patch, she ate ginger candies for the rest of the cruise and had no problems.
We're going out again in September, and I will wear the patch again. However, I will also carry sea bands, Bonine, ginger tablets and ginger candies - just in case I have trouble with the patch. And since we're likely to have rougher seas at that time of year, I thought the candies might be helpful without adding any medication.
We sailed Disney Wonder in 2002 and the 4 of us took Dramamine for seasickness and i couldve slept the whole entire trip! We are sailing Enchantment June 10, and i am thinking the patch has got to be better than Dramamine. Maybe it reacts differently on different people? Ive never heard about any side-effects w/ the motion sickness patch till now!
My wife wears the patch and swears by it. Even works in heavy seas. A few times she wore it a few days after the cruise until she got her land legs back again. Except for a little dry mouth, she has no side effects.
I guess everyone's body reacts differently. We took Bonine once a day in the morning and never had any sleepiness and we went all day long on the go. We also found Ginger capsules at our health food store and took them with meals as they are a natural digestive supplement. We never even felt the least sea sick on our trip, and we actually didn't have any problems getting our legs back on once we landed. Good luck.
Even the same body can react very differently at different times. I have used Bonine on all my cruises since discovering it, and never felt sleepy until this last time, earlier this month. I suspect it's because I took it when I didn't really need to. I may go with both Bonine and ginger capsules next time, and use the ginger if it's not particularly rough.
I was going to use Ginger exclusively, but my wife reminded me that the Bonine was proven preventative measure....so I did what she said . Anyway, I guess we were lucky that the water was calm. Looking forward to our next cruise, maybe next year in May.
Thanks for your input. I think I'll have the prescription for the patch filled in case we decide to use it, but bring ginger capsules too. I hesitate to use the patch in case one of us does experience the disorientation, etc. that the patch can cause. Love2Cruise, you might want to check out the patch on the internet. Everyone who responded seemed to have a positive experience using the patch, I wouldn't rule it out entirely.
Do you need a prescription for Bonine? If not, where can you purchase it? Does the ship sell the patch or should we get a prescription for it, if we decide to go in that direction? Thanks.
. Anyway, I guess we were lucky that the water was calm. Looking forward to our next cruise, maybe next year in May.
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