Seasickness

[francophile1947]

Isaac Newton got where he is today by licking his fingers after he had been handling poisons and heavy metals. Mind you, was probably the sitting under the apple tree that made him forget to wash his hands!!

Didn't do him too much harm He was 84 when he died - a fantastic age in those days Mind you, the mercury had sent him doolally

[Nick65]

Thank you all for your tips, especially the Isaac Newton fan club

[Matt&JoyBongling]

Isaac Newton got where he is today by licking his fingers after he had been handling poisons and heavy metals. Mind you, was probably the sitting under the apple tree that made him forget to wash his hands!!

Didn't do him too much harm He was 84 when he died - a fantastic age in those days Mind you, the mercury had sent him doolally

What is our excuse for being doolally?

[bongobaz]

Isaac Newton got where he is today by licking his fingers after he had been handling poisons and heavy metals. Mind you, was probably the sitting under the apple tree that made him forget to wash his hands!!

Didn't do him too much harm He was 84 when he died - a fantastic age in those days Mind you, the mercury had sent him doolally

What is our excuse for being doolally?

[pippin]

I spent seven years at sea in the Merchant Navy - before the days of stabilisers.

My first day at sea (November '65) was spent coming down the Western Approaches and into the dreaded Bay of Biscay at nightfall.

Being the junior Radio Officer I was assigned the night watch from 20:00 through to 06:00.

I spent most of the night taking my headphones on and off, back and forth along the alleyway to my cabin and utilising the washbasin.

The arrival at 03:00 of the night steward from the galley, several decks below, bearing my breakfast of eggs/bacon & etc swimming in half-congealed grease did nothing to quell my seasickness!

When the chief R/O saw me at 07:30 ashen (or was it green) -faced he immediately ordered me down to the dining room to eat a full breakfast starting with porridge, the full works and ending with coffee and toast.

He then ordered me to lie on a deck-chair out on deck (where else?!) in the fresh air until I felt better.

By lunchtime I felt OK, but obviously tired.

For the rest of my years at sea despite storm and tempest, hurricane or typhoon I never ever felt the slightest queasiness ever again.

Quite amazing really!!

[stilldesperate]

Good tale, Pippin

I read Pete Goss' autobiography, solo round the world sailor, all round good guy...

When asked if there was anything that made him feel queasy, he replied "Lamb stew!"

Seems, when he started in the Navy, everytime he "Up-Chucked", he was fed it, to "settle his stomach"

SD

[mikeonb4c]

Sorry I didn't read this sooner.

My dear old dad, a GP (in Bermuda, where there is a lot of seafaring), cured a terrible bout of vomiting for me by getting me some Gravol (suppositories - not dignified but neither is vomiting every 15 mins). The vomiting stopped INSTANTLY. I now always keep a supply in the house (but have forgotten where I put them - no rude answers please) in case I get one of those vomiting bugs.

But the point is they are intended to prevent vomiting due to motion sickness (and they do it well). This page discusses the subject and - surprise - is emphatic in its support for Gravol:

http://cec.chebucto.org/Sickness.html

Hope this helps

[stilldesperate]

This is purely anecdotal, but I sailed a lot with a french girl, who's answer to most ailments was suppositories.

After the initial doubts, I could see the benefits - if you can't keep anything down, the "other end" is a good alternative - I understand that many medicines in France are administered this way.

SD

[missfixit70]

It's not that you feel better, you're just too scared to admit there's anything wrong or someone'll shove a capsule up your a**e

[mikeonb4c]

This is purely anecdotal, but I sailed a lot with a french girl, who's answer to most ailments was suppositories.

After the initial doubts, I could see the benefits - if you can't keep anything down, the "other end" is a good alternative - I understand that many medicines in France are administered this way.

SD

Yup, and I believe Gravol is French (though I'd need to check that). Fact is that taking medication 'that way' makes a lot more sense as the lower bowel is good for passive absorption and there are no digestive enzymes to potentially reduce the efficacy of medication. I've lost count of the times my wife has given a nortious child Calpol by mouth only for vomiting to commence (bringing up all the medication ) the next minute. Coincidence? I don't think so. But my mouth is

[mikeonb4c]

It's not that you feel better, you're jst too scared to admit there's anything wrong or someone'll shove a capsule up your a**e

Not necessarily

[Alison01326]

Sorry I didn't read this sooner.

My dear old dad, a GP (in Bermuda, where there is a lot of seafaring), cured a terrible bout of vomiting for me by getting me some Gravol (suppositories - not dignified but neither is vomiting every 15 mins). The vomiting stopped INSTANTLY. I now always keep a supply in the house (but have forgotten where I put them - no rude answers please) in case I get one of those vomiting bugs.

But the point is they are intended to prevent vomiting due to motion sickness (and they do it well). This page discusses the subject and - surprise - is emphatic in its support for Gravol:

http://cec.chebucto.org/Sickness.html

Hope this helps

I'd forgotten all about them but used to be prescribed Stemetil (prochlorperazine) suppositories for vomiting (not caused by motion sickness) and they were jolly good too. I seem to recall it was "take one as necessary" as they were that good. Don't google it, folks, as you'll see what else it's prescribed for! Rest assured I had it purely for its anti-emetic properties.

More recently I was given prochlorperazine tablets to put between my gum and the side of my mouth to stop me throwing up when I was in labour with Isaac. Don't think the yworked so well though. Or at least, they didn't work for the first 24 hours

[Matt&JoyBongling]

Talking of vomitting, I spent a happy crossing to France watching people throw up over the side of the boat - their vomit was caught by the wind and blown into the faces of those further along the side, towards the stern.

Stern was also a suitable word to describe the look I got from a French father when he had asked me not to mention sickness to his daughter who was, like me, sitting on the top deck trying to avoid the smells from the lower deck. All I said in response was I thought it was often better to throw up early in the cruise and then have a better journey than to spend the whole trip feeling sick. She must have agreed because she ran off to throw up and returned with a little smile. Her father was not amused

[fivepints]

Ginger is the way forward, and a stomach full of food. Only been seasick once on a crossing from Ramsgate-Oostend about 20 years ago, we were rolling so violently that you could see the water on the other side of the boat over the top of the superstructure. Not fun!

That said - I agree that alot of sea-sickness is nerves, this one event was, coincidentally, the only time I didn't spend pretty much the entire crossing playing arcade games! Just take a stack of euros/pound coins and settle in for an 'Out-Run' marathon!

[thedogsbollox]

Reading some of these I was expecting someone to start with,"During the war!" but no.
During a salmon fishing trip off the coast of N/W Canada a few yard ago I spent a lovely couple of days on a small boat bobbing about on the sea. I suffer a lot from seasicknes and was able to hold it together with a wonderful little foil disk that leached some chemical into my skin. Can't remember what it was called but it was attached behind my ear an hour before setting off and really done the trick. Only bad point was it made you real thirsty and made it hard to pee too. Maybe that was how it worked, by filling you up with water?