Hey Guy's - Hoping some of you might have some advice. My wife gets motion sickness in the worst way. 4 or 5 minutes of bumps and it's time to fill the bag. We've tried everything: Thick seat pad so she can see over the panel, Ginger, Wrist bands, Dramamine, and on Sunday the patch behind the ear. It's getting to the point that it will be hard to get her in the plane.

We flew down to Santa Fe on Sunday and flying home tomorrow. The flight down was fine until we reached the New Mexico line and then the bumps and rollers started. A few minutes later she was puking. Feel awful for her, but not sure what to do at this point. Tomorrow we're going to leave super early and see if we can find some smooth air home.

Ugh! No reason to have a family hauler if she can't/won't fly.

Any advice?

Jim

You seem to have done your homework, but since you didn't actually mention it: She applied the patch well ahead of time, right? My understanding is that you do it way before you "go to sea" if you want it to work.

Also, you don't mention it, but have you seen a doctor? There are prescription drugs available that I don't see on your list.

Unfortunately, a lot of it is psychological and that makes it hard to unwind...

I know the heli-logging guys can get sick from all the vertical reference work they do. I had an Aviation Doctor tell me about an anti-histamine nasal spray that prescribes to the heli logger pilots to combat this air sickness. The prevention of air sickness was not what the stuff was made for but it was a good side effect.

I can't remember the name of the stuff but your AME might know of it.

Sounds weird, I know, but apparently it works.

northernguy wrote:Sounds weird, I know, but apparently it works.

Not weird at all! Lots of the motion sickness drugs are antihistamines.

I flew the Helio Courier to Santa Fe on Sunday also, I was airborn at 5:45 and had a smooth ride all of the way, but I left about noon local time to head back to Scottsdale and got the crap knocked out of me all the way home.........the earlier the better this time of year.

I think the Navy uses a combination of amphetamines and scopolamine. A pretty healthy dose too. I'm not sure I would want to be flying around on that sort of cocktail but I guess maybe in the right seat it would be worth a try. Maybe add a shot of whiskey. Holy cow.

I'm tellin' ya, those electrical Relief Bands really work. I've personally watched people turn from green to pink after 10 minutes of wearing the band. And this happened in a rolling sea. Only device or drug I've ever seen that could bring somebody back from two days of puking to eating supper.

The device was developed for chemotherapy patients and were prescription-only for a long time. Now available OTC. Be sure to get the model with replaceable battery. Keep one on board just like the bags.

A note on prevention: in my yachtmaster class they suggested that to prevent sickness in crew, give them a job! That's why most pilots don't get sick; they are fully engaged in the flight.

On the scopolamine patches, yes, they can work, but you do need to put them on ahead of time as they are trans-dermal. When the DO work, your pupils look like pin heads and you can't read anything. I used them for a while when diving. Two dives later, they were gone. I also found that they gave me the Collie wobbles.

YB

take the dramamine the night before, then the next morning take another half of a tablet. taking it the night before, you get drowsey and sleep really good, then the stuff is already in your system and the half keeps on working without making you quite so drowsey. it works on my fishing clients in the bahamas. RLM

My wife swears by the accupressure wrist bands. I have to say they do not eliminate the problem since she still talks to the bag occasionally on bumpy days, but not as bad as before.

Maybe the electric ones work better.

Maybe its just the electric shock conditions you against it. Dr. Skinner figured that out long ago.

TD

Stugeron ( also called Cinnzarin ) was developed by the british army after the falklands war, and it works very well on people that other drugs don't help. You can't buy it here but you can legally import it for your own use. You can buy it online or get it over the counter in mexico or canada.
25 or 50 mg. Is good for most people for 8 hours, max dose is 200 mg for 8 hours

Did she get this sick in your previous planes? Reason I ask is I flew in a V-tailed Bonanza once I got sick as heck. The pilot was a retired airline weenie (JK) and an excellent stick but that plane just seemed to have a constant wander to it. Like a fish sashaying through the water. I didn't notice it as bad in the front but sure noticed it when I sat in the back. Don't take this as a jab on your flying as it seems to be something I have heard others say about the V-tailed Bo...but then again maybe I am full of beans.

I get motion sickness almost instantly when on a boat but not as easy in a plane. Back seat of a car.....doesn't take me long til I am turning green. Can't figure that out unless it is exactly like previously mentioned. I am in control most of the time in a plane and my mind is busy.

I have tried all the different motion sickness 'cures/preventions and the one that worked the best for me is the patch. Only bad side effect was the severe 'dry mouth' issue. I hate dramamine since it makes me so drowsy I just sleep.

I got a job on a FS helitack crew when I was a kid a little over 40 years ago. I had never flown in a fixed wing or helicopter. The helicopter contract had a guarantee of two flight hours per day. If two hours were not used on fires by the end of the day our crew went for a two hour patrol flight around the district. This was in the mountains, in the summer, taking off for a two hour flight in the afternoon, in a Hughes 500.

First flight I started getting sick after about 20 minutes. By 45 minutes I was so sick I thought about jumping out. At one hour I was puking chicken noodle soup and grape cool aid on the floor of the helicopter. When we landed the purple had run out both doors and made purple racing stripes on the outside of both sides of the helicopter.

I was certainly happy to be on the ground but not looking forward to washing the helicopter inside and out. The two other kids on the crew were having fun razzing me too. The pilot, a young Vietnam vet, spoke up and told the other two to knock it off or he would make sure they booth got sick on the next flight. He took a garden hose to both the inside and outside of the helicopter while I layed on the ground waiting to die.

I figured this would be the end of my job...I did not want to get that sick again. Our pilot was also a flight instructor and told me he could cure me of airsickness. He said when they have a student that gets airsick they fly every day until the student starts to feel sick then land, After a couple days they can fly longer each day until one day they don't get sick at all.

We couldn't do that on the contract so he told me to take Dramamine each day before our flight and reduce the amount each day. I got a little quezzy the next day but didn't puke. Each day I got a little less sick. After about a week or so I realized I had not taken any Dramamine but I felt fine the entire flight.

I have not been air sick since.

I've got the same issue with my spouse...it crushed me when I finally realized that flying wasn't going to be a family event for me, especially up here in AK, where getting away from the road system is what it's all about...

In addition to the stuff above, there are a couple physical/mental training programs that you can try to use...both on the idea that you get motion sick up to the point of puking, stop and recover, and then do it again. Eventually, the time it takes to get sick exceeds a normal flight duration, and then you just get more and more used to the motion, and less prone to sickness.

One program is called "P.U.M.A", it's a commercial thing that involves DVDs and the above technique. (link: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/p ... umadvd.php). It didn't work for us.

The other is something the military uses, called a Barany chair (google it...). It's a chair that is mounted on a hard base and swivels. You sit on it, the "doc" spins the chair around while you close your eyes and tilt you head around...basically get the fluid in your ears moving in different directions than what the nerve endings in your ass are telling you. The doc can alter the speed of the spin and really get you out of wack. Anyway, when you can't take it anymore, you stop the spinning, and try to relax your body back to not-sick status, then repeat the process for about an hour total. Do this a couple times a day I think, and eventually, your body gets used to the otolith organs disagreeing with your seat-of-the-pants and eyesight/horizon senses, and all is well. My wife threatened me with a bat when I tried to get her to do this...it also didn't work.

Good luck with the search, hope it turns out better than mine...just be prepared to embrace ground based family adventures.

Karl

Guy's - Thank you all for the replies. We left KSAF around 7:45 this morning and headed back to KFTG. Leaving early was the best thing we could have done. I flew relatively slow (about 145-150) and took the southern route over Las Vegas NM - Long story short, we had 2.5 hours of perfectly smooth air and was a very enjoyable trip for all of us (the kids slept most of the way home). She did wear the patch and I'm sure it helped some.

She started to get a little sick on landing, but I got the plane on the ground before she was full on sick. All's well that ends well.

In the future I'll just have to be very careful with planning.

Lots of good advice and I appreciate it all!

Jim

jaudette wrote:Guy's - Thank you all for the replies. We left KSAF around 7:45 this morning and headed back to KFTG. Leaving early was the best thing we could have done. I flew relatively slow (about 145-150) and took the southern route over Las Vegas NM - Long story short, we had 2.5 hours of perfectly smooth air and was a very enjoyable trip for all of us (the kids slept most of the way home). She did wear the patch and I'm sure it helped some.

She started to get a little sick on landing, but I got the plane on the ground before she was full on sick. All's well that ends well.

In the future I'll just have to be very careful with planning.

Lots of good advice and I appreciate it all!

Jim

Glad it went better. I deal with a similar issue with my wife minus the puking. Mostly anxiety and lack of enjoyment but I find that, like in your case on the return trip) careful planning goes a long way.

You really took the airsick business to a new level with this thread! A lot of the methods mentioned above are one's I haven't heard of. I'll add a couple more non-conventional ideas. I can think of two anti-nausea/anti-throw up medicines that might help. One is Promethazine (phenergan), the other is Zofran (Ondasteron). Both are prescription meds and the Promethazine makes you sleepy but they would certainly help and I wouldn't imagine it being an issue with most Docs prescribing either one.

Good luck!

CW

clippwagon wrote: I can think of two anti-nausea/anti-throw up medicines that might help. the other is Zofran (Ondasteron).

I got zofran recently while going through my kidney issue. Stuff worked wonders. Obviously, different situation than motion sickness, but immediately eliminated nausea like the gods had reached down into my gut, grabbed the demons and cast them to hell.

I've flown with a lot of pilots that used to get motion sickness as passengers. Once they started taking flying lessons, they got over it. Kind of like giving them a job to do, being actively involved in the flight makes a huge difference for most people.

The bumping and rolling in turbulence, combined with being nervous about having surrendered your well-being completely to someone else's control, can tip people over the edge.

Get her to take some flying lessons from a good instructor who understands the issue! (And it can't be you, even if you're a good instructor!)

Yellowbelly wrote:I'm tellin' ya, those electrical Relief Bands really work. I've personally watched people turn from green to pink after 10 minutes of wearing the band. And this happened in a rolling sea. Only device or drug I've ever seen that could bring somebody back from two days of puking to eating supper.

The device was developed for chemotherapy patients and were prescription-only for a long time. Now available OTC. Be sure to get the model with replaceable battery. Keep one on board just like the bags.

A note on prevention: in my yachtmaster class they suggested that to prevent sickness in crew, give them a job! That's why most pilots don't get sick; they are fully engaged in the flight.

On the scopolamine patches, yes, they can work, but you do need to put them on ahead of time as they are trans-dermal. When the DO work, your pupils look like pin heads and you can't read anything. I used them for a while when diving. Two dives later, they were gone. I also found that they gave me the Collie wobbles.

YB

Invest in a ReliefBand--they're available from Aeromedix.com, Spruce, and Sporty's now. Unfortunately, the replaceable battery versions seem not to be available any more, but the non-replaceable versions still last a long time.

My SO has a very queasy tummy. She also hates to fly, but that's another issue. We just returned from a 3 week vacation (in which I also got my seaplane rating), with a week of that on a Grand Banks 36 in the San Juan and Gulf Islands of Washington and BC. The ONLY day she got a bit icky feeling, we were caught in some cross-rollers which tossed the boat around a bit, and she had decided to be tough and not wear the ReliefBand. She very quickly put on the ReliefBand, and within a few minutes, she was feeling OK again, but it took another hour for her to feel really good. So it needs to be worn from before start to after finish, whether a boat trip or an airplane trip.

Before going the ReliefBand route, we tried Dramamine, Davis Accupressure bands, chewing gum, drinking ginger ale--all things that work for some. But the ReliefBand works, period. It's the best $120 bucks you can spend for a queasy passenger.

Cary

The Navy used to take primary T-34 students with queasy stomachs and schedule them as many extra flights as possible in the back of the T-44's and T-12's. Most of those guys developed a tolerance, the rest became SWO's.

Get her some flying lessons. That will probably help. One aspect of motion sickness, at least in some folks, is nerves. They may not even realize that they are nervous flyers. She may hurl the first 6 lessons but I'll bet she acclimates. Just make sure the instructor knows the issues and keeps it short and very basic, no stalls and steep turns.