Motion Sickness

Does anyone have any solutions for getting rid of motion sickness?

Although I never had trouble while riding, sometimes I would still feel like I am moving when I tried to go to sleep that night. I found just taking a dramamine helped with that. I take a less drowsey one the night before I go to a park and it works good for me.

I was horrible with motion sickness..

Try to keep something in your stomach, stay hydrated, and in my case, I have to sit in the front of coasters that I normally can't see on (such as B&M loopers) so I know where I am going. Not to mention Bonine and Dramamine.. and ginger helps too, so I'm told.

I found an article about motion sickness prevention on the Coaster Enthusiasts of Canada website.

In case anyone cares:
The reason you get sick when you ride is because lack of balance is a common symptom of many poisons (like alcohol).
When your body thinks your inner ear is all whacked out because you're riding something, it figures that it's probably because you ate something or drank something you shouldn't have and tries to expunge it from your system.

Now you know....and knowing is half the battle (G.I. Joe!). (The other half is the guns, bombs, and politics.) *** Edited 7/1/2004 4:36:23 AM UTC by ApolloAndy***

I never really had any trouble with it untill this year. I never got sick, but felt like I was going to. Now I just take a Dramamine when I get up in the morning when I'm heading out to a park. You have to take it before you go to the park. If you take it when you get to the park or after you start to feel funny, it's too late and it wont help much.

Also, I think a hat and sunglasses help.

Getting older doesn't help either. I used to be able to ride loopers non-stop and that certainly isn't the case anymore. I am already balding and losing my sex drive...and now I can't ride like I used to. Great.

Lol skipper, I am starting to lost my stamina for loopers too. I get headaches and cant stand to ride anything afterwards. I was fine all day at Kennywood, but had a hard time with 4 hours at Geagua Lake. I am going to test myself out this weekend at cp with my first ride Friday evening being Raptor.

Dramadine just helps with sickness right, it wouldnt help me?

FWIW, and don't ask why I know or how, but the reason us "older riders" have trouble sometimes is because the delicate little hairs in the inner ear become less flexible as we age. This means it's harder for us to regain our stability and balance as easily as we used to...just another one of the glorious benefits of getting older...along with the hair thing (head, ears, nose, etc.), sex drive, getting up in the middle of the night to pee, etc., etc.

The ONLY thing we do have an edge in is disposable income...oh, and (supposedly) wisdom....;)

I'm only 28, but I've always had a problem with motion sickness. As a kid, I would vomit after long car rides. I got violently ill on my honeymoon cruise. The first time I flew, I was sick for two days afterwards.

I have no problem with most coasters, but I can't ride anything that spins (not even swings, Ferris wheels or merry-go-rounds). I've never thrown up at a park, but I have ruined my day many times.

I've tried Dramamine, but it makes me "floaty." For my second cruise last year, I tried one of those ear patches for sea sickness, but it made my mouth so dry that I had to take it off. I've trying staying hydrated, closing my eyes, acupressure... nothing works.

So I just don't ride flat rides anymore. Fortunately I've built a resistance to car and plane rides...

Rollergator,

That reminds me of the story of the old man who was making a turn into a parking space in his big Towncar when a kid driving a little sporty car came screeching by and whipped into the spot.

The young teen jumped out of the car and said, "sorry grandpa but I am younger and faster." The old man backed out slowly only to step on the accelerator and ram into the sporty car.

The old man stepped slowly out of his car and said, "sorry young man but I am older and insured."

I'm with Jess on sitting in the front seat with the loopers. If I can see the track it really helps. I always take some sort of motion sickness meds and a few tylenol for good measure. I make sure I eat something every couple of hours and drink plenty of water but no soda.

As I got older, I couldn't ride anything that spun around, or any coasters that looped (I got very sick after a Vortex ride many years ago).

I found something called a Relief Band, that you wear like a watch around your wrist. It pulses with a small electric shock every few seconds which (at least for me) cures and prevents any motion sickness. It's FDA approved, and drug free, so it doesn't make you drowsy.

The downside: They run around $80. For me, it was worth it, since I was getting to the point where I couldn't ride much of anything. An example of how well it works: At Last year's BeastBuzz I was able to ride Delirium 3 times in a row without getting sick...Not that I wasn't dizzy or woozy when I got off, but I was able to go ride FoF and Beast afterwards without any problems.

Do a google for Relief Band if you need more info. Like anything else, your mileage may vary, but I give it a thumbs WAY up.

Jerry

Thanks for all your imput. That relief band sounds good. I think I'm going to check it out.

I never had a problem with motion sickness, but I do have a sensitive stomach and can get a bit queasy on a few flats RIGHT after eating, especially the Tilt A Whirls or something like a Zipper or Skydiver.

My biggest problem is insomnia and driving long distances to parks, which wears me out more easily than it did like 10 years ago.

Bill, I thought the sex drive was suppossed to increase with age? Oh wait, that just for us chicks. lol.

-Tina

*** Edited 7/2/2004 5:50:34 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

I just wanted to pass along some advice, since I've been to 4 parks since this thread...

If you want to deal with Motion Sickness, get some Ginger Capsules. It really does work, I didn't get sick at PKI, SFKK, CP, or Geauga Lake during my August trips. I kept Ginger Pills and took every 3 hours or so, drank plenty of water, and I even had ginger snapps just in case.

It dosen't slow you down, and it really does work, as Ginger stops your body's vomit reflex.

Proven and Endorsed by TeknoScorpion;). (Andy will thank me later...)

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Den said:

I have no problem with most coasters, but I can't ride anything that spins (not even swings, Ferris wheels or merry-go-rounds). I've never thrown up at a park, but I have ruined my day many times.

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A lot of the rides you describe have no change in direction, which was a factor for me when I thought I was going to get sick on Pirate's Flight at SFA. The Octopus almost did me in once also at SFA due to its tight turning pattern. The last time I thought I was going to lose my stomach contents was on a Larson Crazy Train a.k.a. High Roller. It was something about being in those tight compartments and having no idea which way was up or down. Never again. Of course we had ridden the KMG Tango right before, which is a spinning monster, so take that for what it's worth.

In pilot training if a person got airsick they sent them to the baroney (I think that is how you spell it) chair and spin you around until you pretty much lose it. I guess their reasoning behind it was to show you what really bad motion sickness is so when you get up in the jet it wasn't that bad. It worked for most guys.

So if you want to try it just take your swivel chair at home and spin yourself silly a day before you go to the park and then see if you get motion sickness the next day while riding.

I got motion sickness after riding a Top Scan repeatedly for two hours. I think the only cure for that is common sense.

Guess that blots out your cure, dosen't it, Maddie?;)