Are sea-sick patches against the rules?

[ilovecornfields]

10 hours ago, tgardnerh said:

All snark aside, my wife was an anesthesiology resident when she had our first child. A few hours into labor she was very nauseous, and we went several rounds of me arguing she should take the zofran based on my experience taking, and her being unconvinced despite having given it dozens (hundreds?) of times in the prior year.
She relented, took the pill, the nausea passed, and she slept for 4 hours. I felt pretty smug!


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My wife is also a physician and we have these kinds of arguments all the time. When you’re the one who is sick you don’t always think clearly. One of the reasons I’m not a fan of medicating yourself before flying if you’re not feeling well - better to scrub the flight and wait until you don’t need meds anymore.

[Ned Gravel]

In 1988, for my sins, I was appointed as the Joint Task Force Signals Officer for a SNFL-turned-op headed to the Caribbean.  Being a qualified sailor should have made this a breeze.  But it was not.  On board one of the "Cadillacs" (a destroyer from the Canadian DDH 280 Iroquois class) in sea state 10 with Force 9 winds I was done and down within 24 hours of slipping the lines.  My Chief Comm Op and I were working to the get the SOI published within 48 hours of departure so that everyone would know the Ground, Air-to-air, air-to-ground and Link 11 connections that were needed before any bad stuff happened.  

Typing the SOI on an Apple IIc in my stateroom until I could stomach it no more, my Chief Comm Op would take over and, from my bunk (with a solid lee board) I would see him stop typing, get up and puke in the sink and go back to work.  We were both on the ear patch.   Being onboard one of the 280's as she plows through the crest of a 10 meter wave, only to have the bottom drop out from under her and slap down into the trough was hard on the body.  Those of you with Navy time will already know this. 

On day 2, before the SOI was published, the JTF Commander had an Orders Group in his cabin.  It included Signals, Naval squadron staff, Log, Air support, and reps from the designated infantry units.  The infanteers were the first to bug out to puke, then the log offr, then the air support reps (transport first, then Tac Air rep, then heli det comdr), then the naval squadron staff.  I was the last to leave to go and puke.  We entered gentler weather on day 3, abeam Bermuda. Fortunately, that rough start to the op allowed me to not get sea sick for the remainder of the cruise.

About 8 years ago, we rented a Hunter 31 out of Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island (after a nice Mooney trip to the island) and both my wife and I found the wrist bands worked well (pressure only - no electrics).  Never had a problem for the week we rented the Hunter.

Today, neither of my sons can take long rides with me in the Mooney - they both get airsick - and I think they got it from me.  But my wife and I are fine with flying - no airsickness.

[ilovecornfields]

This actually seems like a pretty good article. When I thought I wanted to do aerobatics I would get air sick after about 15-20 minutes so the instructor told me to let him know as soon as I started feeling unwell and we would land. He said if you went until you were just barely queasy but didn’t vomit then it would build up your endurance (exposure therapy in #6 below). It worked. 

https://www.onemedical.com/blog/get-well/motion-sickness-cures/

There is some suggestion from the vestibular rehab literature that taking medications can be counterproductive because it basically blunts the responses to your brain that you’re trying to condition yourself to. That being said, if it’s just for occasional use as a passenger then meclizine seems like a good choice. I went on a whale watching trip a couple of days ago I think about half the people took meclizine - I could tell because they all fell asleep an hour into the trip.

[aviatoreb]

2 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

This actually seems like a pretty good article. When I thought I wanted to do aerobatics I would get air sick after about 15-20 minutes so the instructor told me to let him know as soon as I started feeling unwell and we would land. He said if you went until you were just barely queasy but didn’t vomit then it would build up your endurance (exposure therapy in #6 below). It worked. 

https://www.onemedical.com/blog/get-well/motion-sickness-cures/

There is some suggestion from the vestibular rehab literature that taking medications can be counterproductive because it basically blunts the responses to your brain that you’re trying to condition yourself to. That being said, if it’s just for occasional use as a passenger then meclizine seems like a good choice. I went on a whale watching trip a couple of days ago I think about half the people took meclizine - I could tell because they all fell asleep an hour into the trip.

I heard that pilots in Navy training at Pensacola if they were prone to air sickness they would stick them in the motion simulator and make them vomit every day till they were cured.  Anyone here able to confirm that story?

[Rick Junkin]

18 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

I heard that pilots in Navy training at Pensacola if they were prone to air sickness they would stick them in the motion simulator and make them vomit every day till they were cured.  Anyone here able to confirm that story?

In the USAF they used the Barany chair, nicknamed the "spin-and-puke". It's a seat on a turntable with a hand rail that goes all the way around the seat. It is normally used during physiological training to demonstrate the effects of head motion on the inner ear while in a dynamic (spinning) environment. If you've ever played "Dizzy Bat" you get the idea. For the folks experiencing air sickness they got "desensitization training" that comprised spinning in the Barany chair and moving your head up and down on command. Not a pleasant experience even if it doesn't make you sick. If it didn't work, you were done.

I'm guessing there is a kinder gentler approach to this now. And that's all I will say about that.

The centrifuge also had the nickname "spin-and-puke" but you only got that training if you were going to fighters, with the G loading profile matched to the G limits of the aircraft you were flying, or going to fly. I saw a few folks not make it through the 9G profile and lose their assignments. It was recurring training at one point, had to go to the 'fuge every 5 years if I recall correctly. Good training, but in no way should it be equated with fun.

Cheers,
Rick

[Fly Boomer]

4 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

I went on a whale watching trip a couple of days ago I think about half the people took meclizine - I could tell because they all fell asleep an hour into the trip.

Thorazine might work.

[A64Pilot]

All of the drugs would knock my Wife out, I mean dead asleep all day and night except the Stugeron.

I believe many of these drugs are antihistamines and they make you drowsy

‘Every year we would spend Hurricane season up river from Jacksonville tied up to the dock with no movement and she would lose her sea legs. We would motor down the ICW to West Palm, those few days on the ICW and she would get her sea legs back so she could handle the crossing to West End.

[tankertoad]

On 2/21/2023 at 11:13 AM, A64Pilot said:

These are electric, years ago you could change the battery, then you had to buy a new one whenever the battery died, now I see one is rechargeable, I didn’t look but bet it’s $$$

https://www.reliefband.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiA9NGfBhBvEiwAq5vSy7Pfi6x21GVT5JNJUAbYKEeRjh2gLV4Qz5c138xml4PvWdqcPYwDQBoCj48QAvD_BwE

Really did seem to help the Wife, maybe it was all in her head but I don’t think so.

I think anyone who gets nausea should avoid IMC as just a guess but if your inner ear is making you sick, maybe you’re more likely to get spatial illusions than normal in IMC?

Yes, that’s exactly why I was told to eat bananas, but as a WOC I could only eat at the Mess Hall, “square meals” so no bananas 

I have a Reliefband Premier I use to ride rollercoasters and intense simulator rides with the kids at the house of mouse. I can't speak for the other types of electronic bands available on Amazon, but the one I have is very effective at blocking the nausea response I would normally get from these rides.

[Mark89114]

Well I never get sick in an airplane, as pilot or in back as a passenger.  Normal flying, non aerobatic stuff.

was down in the Keys last week, went on a snorkeling trip about 3-4 rolling seas, did fine on journey out, got in the water and that is when I decided to get sick, got back on boat and that is when I really decided to feed the fish.  Was wiped out all day.  
 

I really like the water and my brother is supposed to be buying a sailboat, so I had better toughen up.

[Mcstealth]

Quick story. I asked Dr. for the Ondansetron tablets. Got them just two days ago. 

I don't drink by choice. Never liked how it made me feel. I have been incapacitated by alcohol only three times, maybe, in my life. 

My wife, last night, made me drink to the (almost) completion of her new swimming pool/hot tub. Between the hot water and the frigging Hand Grenade she made, I was in trouble. I was completely coherent, but felt like I was severely motion sick. 

I took one of the new pills and the queasy feeling relented. True story. Last night, Ash Wednesday. 

I will say that I am confident that the Ondansetrom will help the next time I'm doing steep turns. 

[ilovecornfields]

51 minutes ago, Mcstealth said:

Quick story. I asked Dr. for the Ondansetron tablets. Got them just two days ago. 

I don't drink by choice. Never liked how it made me feel. I have been incapacitated by alcohol only three times, maybe, in my life. 

My wife, last night, made me drink to the (almost) completion of her new swimming pool/hot tub. Between the hot water and the frigging Hand Grenade she made, I was in trouble. I was completely coherent, but felt like I was severely motion sick. 

I took one of the new pills and the queasy feeling relented. True story. Last night, Ash Wednesday. 

I will say that I am confident that the Ondansetrom will help the next time I'm doing steep turns. 

Great story! I actually got pretty wasted last night too and a friend offered me a line of coke and it made me feel much better! Definitely going to try it next time I’m out practicing lazy eights. Seems way safer than that “on dance a-tron” stuff.