motion sickness

The older I get, the easier I have become prone to motion sickness. I use to ride anything, but now find flat rides are off limits. Lately I've experienced some motion sickness on coasters.
I am about to take a coaster trip and would like some advice on what I can do to help with motion sickness. Any helpful suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Steve, I went through that in my late 20's early 30's. I had a few summers that Dramaine was my friend. Then whatever phase that was passed and i was okay.

I wish you luck!

Dramamine or a motion-sickness patch would be my suggestions, however dramamine gives some people a nasty headache or makes them feel drowsy. A good substitute is Bonine. Also, ginger root (found in ginger ale) works for some people. The above meds and beverage you should find them all at Walmart, Target, or your local pharmacy.

Make sure you eat breakfast but keep it simple. A bagel or toast is good. Avoid eggs, anything acidic (tomato & orange juice, for example) and cereal with milk...anything that won't look pretty should you not be able to keep it down, lol.

If you find yourself getting dizzy mid-ride try focusing on something in the car/train that is moving at the same rate. Even something as simple as holding onto the grab bar in front of you and focusing on your hands can help. Avoid looking at other parts of the ride that may be moving in other directions, the ground, or anything that isn't moving.

But most important: if you have a doctor ask what she/he suggests.

I stop riding spinny rides about 5 years ago. They make me feel crappy.

I had a period of severe vertigo that lasted a month. The Doctor prescribed Antivert, a medication that was similar to Dramamine. It helped me a lot, even though my problem isn't anything like yours.

I'm just talking...lol

^That happens when you get old ;)

See a vertigo specialist if you find yourself prone to episodes of vertigo. Seriously. I see you live in Texas, Steve, which means the Cleveland Clinic is probably not particularly accessible for you, but they have a guy there who was "bored" with being a structural engineer and became a doctor and specialized in it. My wife has BPPV, which is caused by crystals in the ear that break loose and freak out your brain by messing with the nerves.

What I've read since then suggests that everyone with age may experience similar problems caused by a wide range of things from genetics to diet.

But good specialists can come up with good treatment and physical therapy if it becomes a serious problem. The trick in this country is getting to the right doctors.

My specialist didn't give it a name, but he did mention the crystals floating around in my cochlea. I felt like I was on a everlasting Tilt-A-Whirl. It was maddening. It got completely better after about a month.

I just want to mention, the problem that vertigo is totally different from not being able to tolerate spinny rides.

And you should know, Moosh, seeing that you are-what-20 years older than me? ;)

Just to add on a few things to what Moosh said. I've had this problem off and on the last few years, and I've found ways to minimize the nausea.

First off, avoid spinning rides early in the day. That will completely blow your day if it upsets your stomach. If you do them later on, you're basically towards the end of your day anyway. Secondly, if you get this feeling on coasters as well, ride toward the front of the train and avoid the back, especially coasters with strong positive gs, followed by strong negative (for instance lots of repeat hills on B&M hypers, or the pretzel loop of a flyer).

Finally, make sure to get 7-8 of sleep the night before going to the park, that way any drug you may take to assist you won't completely wipe you out. And most importantly, stay away from lots of orange juice and stimulants like coffee and energy drinks..

I used to get a bout of vertigo every once in a while. Usually it would be gone within a day or two. Luckily, I haven't had one in years.

^What they all said. :) I never had problems with motion sickness so I can't personally tell you what works. I do have friends who swear by ginger root, though.

I agree that eating a modest meal (or at least a snack) before going to a park is important. :) Keeping hydrated is extremely important for anyone.

I also agree with the "getting older" thing, but my main problem is headaches. I usually pop a few Advil's before I go to any park, just in case. I can't ride some of the OTSR headbangers and rough woodies like I could 20 years ago. ;) Actually, there are a lot of coasters I prefer to NOT ride anymore.

Good luck to ya!

-Tina

Motion sickness is beginning to be an issue for me, too. I used to get car sick all the time when I was younger, but that went away when I was about 13 or so. Roller coasters never made me sick until last year. Being 18 at the time, I was a little freaked out because I didn't expect it to start this early. Now I was getting sick on rides like Sidewinder and Great American Scream Machine, and even the ending of El Toro made me feel sick because of the constant change of direction.

Drammamine messes my day up when I take it, so I'll have to try ginger ale and the other suggested remedies.

Couple of things-- dramamine is similar to an antishistamine. Benadryl knocks me the hell out, so I'd assume dramamine would do the same. If antihistamines make you drowzy, don't take dramamine-- at least to/at a park.

Ginger is good for soothing the stomach and nausea. It won't do anything for headaches or dizziness. I read or heard somewhere that as we get older, the fluid in the inner ear diminishes. Thist makes us more susceptible to motion sickness. I'm still OK with spinning rides. What I get are slight (so far, thank the Lord) headaches on coasters with inversions. Hopefully, they won't get to the point where I'll have to give up riding-- at least before I'm senile and in the home. Then I can pretend I'm at a different park every day and yell at the nurses' aides that I haven't gotten my dippin' dots.

Ginger.

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2005/11/episode_43_seasickness_cures_f.html

I'm starting to having this problem myself, which is why I let my ACE membership lapse this year.

Last year I got a bit ill after riding Millennium Force... and last weekend I rode The Beast, Flight Of Fear, and Flight Deck back to back with 0 problems at all and then suddenly my first Diamondback ride made me feel queasy for the next 36 hours straight (granted they assigned me to the back, where I usually prefer the lower forces in the front... unless it's The Raven which is just more fun in the back). At this point I'm actually afraid to try riding the Voyage again. I think I'm just getting old and wussy and next thing you know I'll be telling those damn kids to get the hell off my lawn...

Good sleep and diet and *staying hydrated* helps me most.

Bonine darts me right to sleep, which is a bummer because it made me cut (very) short what turned out to be my only trip to LeSourdsville Lake. Oops.

I checked out the link that Brian had listed above. While reading through the comments that followed the mythbusters report, I found this one particularly enlightening:

"Seasickness: I have been told not only by my very wise mother but also by a tai chi instructor on a Chinese fitness show said to put salt in your navel. Balances out your Chi energy. the heavy yin energy created by the brain and the motion is counter-balanced by the yang of the salt -on a side note yang is actually the same word for salt.

Test the myth- Brian "

(I will assume this is a different Brian than our beloved one.)

So I guess before I take my next ride a on Tilt-a-hurl, I should put salt in my navel to balance out my ying-yang. And if I accidently spill salt on my ying-yang, will that have the same affect as Levitra?

^^I can only handle Voyage so much. I LOVE it but my body (especially my head) can only handle it in moderation. In other words during ERT I pace myself, with MANY breaks in-between. I WISH I could power-ride it but my body stops me. I do better with Legend and Raven. :)

I am old and wussified as well. I wish I could still ride what I now consider the "painful" coasters. ;) For example, I used to LOVE the Vortex at KI and I still think it's a great coaster. It has a lot of sentimental value for me, like The Beast and Racer. The Vortex is not nearly as painful as the pre-lapbar FOF but it's rough enough, at least for me. Most old Arrows dislike me nowadays, with the exception of TT at Dollywood. ;)

I like pleasure, not pain. ;)

Diamondback is like floating on a cloud. It's bliss!

-Tina

Mamoosh said:
Also, ginger root (found in ginger ale) works for some people.

Lol. If you look at the leading ginger ale soda's ingredients sold today, you will not find ginger root in any of them. That is a long gone ingredient.

I find, too, that the older I get the dizzier I get, especially when flats are involved. I never had a problem as a kid, I could spin and flip all day. A couple years ago I was at the Florida State Fair, which features one of the best carnival midways ever. I had bought the wrist band and my goal on that slow day was to bring my average down to a dollar a ride. Everything was great until I got on the Powersurge (which I'd ridden many many times before) and about half way through the ride it was "uh oh...what's this?". The guys across from me said "hey bud, you alright?" and I said "ummm...no" (their main concern, I'm sure, was not for my health, but for the fact that I was facing them directly) I held on till the end of the ride then rushed to the nearest picnic table and rode it for about an hour. Once the color came back, I continued half heartedly- it was coasters and funhouses for me after that. And I got very close to the dollar/ride.

I'm proud to say that to this day I have never, ever, puked at the park! (close, maybe...)

Thanks for all the replies!! I'm going to get some Ginger and salt for my trip! :0)

The only flat rides that bother me are the ones that reek havoc on my back, like the Fly-O-Plane, Round-ups, bumper cars, and the SCAT2. Otherwise I love to spin, flip, and drop. :) The faster the better, especially when there are strobe lights and music involved!

I love flats as much as coasters, both old school and new. ;)

-Tina