Unusual Question!

[hproductions]

I am a huge fan of rollercoasters and my 6 year old is now equally keen. However, I took him to Blackpool last year and on all rides to varying degrees I felt quite sick to the point of hoping the worst wasn't going to happen!

 

I am assuming this is motion sickness and am wondering if anyone suffers from similar and has any solutions to this.

 

I am probably going to the US this year with my son and would love to think I can avoid this problem.

 

Many Thanks

[milst1]

I will confess that I occasionally suffer from the same problem. I first experienced this going backwards on Judge Roy Scream, and Arrow looping coasters always seem to get the best of me. One of the hosts on the CoasterRadio podcast had the same problem.

 

Solution: My wife, the doctor, recommends, and I wholeheartedly endorse from experience, meclizine hydrochloride, which is sold under various brand names including Dramamine Non-Drowsy Formula. I pop one at the start of the day and I'm good for a full day of riding.

 

I would imagine that other non-drowsy antiemetics could also be effective.

 

Best,

Martin

Manhattan

[Menghini]

Next to medication (I would only recommend that as a last solution) I also recommend:

 

- eat enough

- drink enough

- be rested

- take it easy

 

Good luck and have fun!

[Moose]

Hmm, if the dramamine works, i wonder if the sea-bands also work. They act on pressure points (or something like that) and are quite fashionable (/sarcasm).

 

Jonny "I got sick on Ramses" Az

[TheRapidsNerd]

I get motion sick too. Discovered it early when I was a little kid. Anything with drops (most of the park) give me a what feels like a bad combo of flu and jet lag.

 

Slowly and carefully figure out your limits. It may boil down to just certain types of rides or certain directions rides move in that set off your illness.

 

Thankfully, parks are designed for different several ways to have fun. There's always video or pictures (hardly anybody around here does that ) There's also shopping and shows. It's tough, especially when you really want to ride, but sometimes you find some alternates that still make the day fun. In a wierd way, I really learned to appreciate the vibe and energy of a park (and a good funnel cake). Oh, and rapids rides.

 

Hang in there, and good luck.

[ginzo]

Hmm, if the dramamine works, i wonder if the sea-bands also work. They act on pressure points (or something like that) and are quite fashionable (/sarcasm).

 

I had OK luck with Sea Bands in reducing car sickness and motion sickness from certain flat rides. It's probably just a dumb placebo, but it did seem to help. Considering that they only cost a few dollars, they're worth trying. And they're so chic.

[TheRapidsNerd]

^ You and moose might have something there. If it means riding more stuff, I can live with the fashion statement. Thanks.

[texcoaster]

It might be that one ride upset your inner ear, and then every ride after that just aggravated it. So perhaps, it's just one type of ride that you need to avoid, then the rest will be fine.

 

For me, I have to avoid any ride that has strong G-forces in the same direction for a length of time. This means that spinning rides that don't also go in other directions while they spin are off my ride list. I do OK on a Frisbee, for example, because it goes up and down while it spins. Gravitron, though? Forget it.

 

The reason is that the fluid in the inner ear which controls balance gets slung to one side for awhile, causing dizziness and then nausea. After that ride, I'm pretty much done riding for a few hours until things in my ear go back to normal. If I keep riding anyway, then even the rides which don't normally upset me will still make me sick.

 

If it's stomach-churning nausea instead of light-headed queasy nausea, then your solution is to make sure not to ride on an empty stomach, and try to cut down on the greasy foods and dairy products. A few saltine crackers or a couple slices of plain bread before heading to the park will help soak up stomach acids and make you better able to get by.

Greasy foods are better than nothing, but they don't help with the stomach acids as much. Dairy products can actually curdle inside you if the weather is hot. Not only does that not help your nausea, but you REALLY don't want to taste that stuff coming back if you DO get sick.

[krouvi]

Hi

I have the SAME problem and suffer from motion sickness since I was a kid on anything that moves ioncluding bus, flights, boats and tep also rides.

 

I love rides and never thought to give up on rides. What I do is take pills for motion sickness 30 minutes before . I use something that is called Travamine. It makes me a bit sleepy and it worls just great.

 

Do not try to take any medication for a regular nausea as it wont help you at all. You need something specific for motion sicknes.

 

Still there are rides that even under medication you wont be able to enjoy or moght cause you to feel bad - Rotor, Breakdance , Zipper and any spin ride that goes too fast or cause disorientation.

 

I always carry a plastic bag with me in my pocket just in case but never used it during rides.

 

I just came back from Disney Paris and thanks to Travamin I had a really good day with all rides and no any side effects. But I really really think you must take something to control this motion sickness as it wont be solved out by itself and it can easily ruin your trip so dont take any risk.

[Purplepills]

Next to medication (I would only recommend that as a last solution) I also recommend:

 

- eat enough

- drink enough

- be rested

- take it easy

 

Good luck and have fun!

 

I don't know anything about medication, but I'll second whats written here. Especially if you're planning a trip to the US when it will be hot, just make sure you take plenty of fluids since walking long distances around the parks in heat you aren't used to does have quite an effect.

[hproductions]

Thankyou so much everyone for your responses - I will be trying all solutinos including the sick bag! I'll try to remember to keep you posted on our return. Once again, I'm really surprised and grateful for the time taken by everyone who responded.

 

Howard