Best Motion Sickness Advice

Hey everyone! I don’t recall having motion sickness advice on this forum, but thought it would be good to share what works/doesn’t work for you regarding prevention and relief.

I easily get motion sickness in the car and most rides. I try to prevent it by taking medicine before going on anything, as well as eating. In the past, I have used Dramamine and Bonine, and both make me sluggish when I go to the parks. In general, I avoid spinning rides, but ride the rest. Last year, I took Bonine and had these no-medicine bracelets that press on your wrists to prevent motion sickness. Regardless of my attempted precautions, I rode the Hulk and got really sick. Not fun.

What do you guys do?

Also, has anyone ever heard of Relief Bands? Do they work, and are there side effects?

This is the one I am talking about. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00PG4NUOS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1520892284&sr=8-3&keywords=relief+band&dpPl=1&dpID=41t%2Bme-dCHL&ref=plSrch

The wrist relief bands have been shown to be beneficial merely from a placebo effect. There is nothing scientific that justifies their use. (There are some studies that were shown they could be effective, but those studied were flawed). It is merely a case of mind over matter.

Dramamine works well for my wife. I haven’t used it myself, although I’m starting to think I need to any more. The older I get, the more I seem to suffer from motion sickness.

I can’t give you much help from a personal perspective. I get mild motion sickness, but I find that wearing Sea Bands and making sure I am on a full stomach have helped when going on rides. However, I do remember seeing conversations on Lines where Liners have said that the Relief Band has helped even the worst of motion sickness issues with no side effects. Hopefully someone who has used it can chime in and give you more specific information.

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I have very bad motion sickness but recently did a combo of things that worked well for me. I try to make sure I have something in my stomach all day. I take Dramamine in the morning on the way to the parks and then again later in the afternoon if we are staying much longer. I don’t have issue with drowsiness so I just take the regular one. My new addition this year was Gin-Gins (https://gingerpeople.com/products/). I tried a few but liked the taste of the spicy apple the best. I ate them before any ride I had any concern about (which is basically anything with more motion than the Jungle Cruise) but not more then 4 or 5 a day. I didn’t try EE or anything like that but I was fine on Soarin’, BTMRR, and even the teacups. I did have my sea bands in by bag just in case I was a mess but didn’t have to use them. Not sure if this was just a lucky experience or a placebo effect but I honestly felt great and didn’t have to miss out on hanging with my family.

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What do you guys mean when you say placebo effect?

Meaning, you feel better because you think you did something that helped. A mental fix more than a scientifically proven physical fix.

Got it, thanks!

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Yes. In other words, the bands don’t actually do anything at all. The whole pressure point thing has been disproven. HOWEVER, the placebo effect can be quite powerful, which is why most scientific studies must use a placebo. The idea is that if you THINK you are doing something that helps, your brain convinces yourself it is true and sometimes actually DOES make things better. But it isn’t the bands themselves doing it…instead, it is your BELIEF that the bands are doing something. :slight_smile:

I know you say that Dramamine makes you sluggish, but my wife has used the non-drowsy version and found it somewhat helpful. I don’t think it’s as effective as the OG Dramamine, but maybe worth a try?

I believe the non-drowsy version is actually ginger-based. It doesn’t use the same active ingredient.

This might be a silly question, but here it goes. If I took Dramamine or Bonine the night before, would it still work the next day, or is it better to take in the morning? Normally, I just take it in the morning, but since they make me feel sleepy, I’m wondering if taking it before bed would be better.

I’ve always heard that a good rule of thumb for when you’re about to go on a boating trip is to take two Dramamine before bed, and one in the morning. It might work!

Also, I got super motion sick on both minions and the forbidden journey. I wasn’t feeling super great for a while after FJ… Maybe skip those? (Actually, I kept my eyes closed on a lot of rides… those two, and also Kong and Spider-Man.)

It’s not, actually! The non-drowsy Dramamine is an anti-emetic (ie stops you from barfing). It definitely doesn’t work as well as OG Dramamine, but it’s good if you don’t want to feel like you’ve just taken 5 Advil PMs…

I double checked. The non-drowsy Dramamine uses ginger, as I remembered.

But there is an all-day, LESS drowsy formula that is not ginger based. It is not advertised as non-drowsy, however.

That might actually be what she used… the “less drowsy” version.

Oooooh — I’ve only ever seen the LESS drowsy version and assumed we were talking about the same thing. Huh! Well, you learn something every day…

I do maintain that the LESS drowsy formula works, but definitely not quite as well. I’ve never tried the ginger-based one, but ginger is pretty amazing, so. Try them all!

Actually, the one I’ve used was the less drowsy one, and that was the one that made me tired. I don’t think I’ve used the regular one, but could only imagine how tired I would be. If the regular one works better, maybe I should test it out one weekend to see if it makes me feel tired or not. I’ve never, ever seen the non-drowsy ginger one, which store can you buy it from, and is it the Dramamine brand?

Edit—I DID see and try the non drowsy one, but I found out it has pork gelatin in it, when I had an allergic reaction to it.

To follow up this question for posterity’s sake, I found it at my local Kroger when trying to find Dramamine for my wife. There were several forms of Dramamine there.

Regular Dramamine will definitely make one drowsy. My wife has been known to use it as a sleep aid on occasion (similar to how the active ingredient in Benedryl also is the same active ingredient that’s found in Unisom or such).

Eek yikes!! That’s no good.

If the less-drowsy made you sleepy, I think it’s likely that the OG will make you verrrrrry sleepy. When I take it I’m basically out of commission for 6 hours. It does work incredibly well though. (You could always try taking half a pill and see what that does.)

But Dramamine and Benadryl make some people really hyper, so I guess try it and see what happens!

Hmmm, maybe taking a half pill could work. I’ll have to test it out. You’re right about the benedryl having the opposite reaction, and making some people hyper, so i guess I have to test it out on myself.

Do you guys know if there are side effects to prescription motion sickness medicine, or those patches that people sometimes get for it?