Dramamine or Bonine?? Is one better than the other??

[GTO-Girl]

I tried the patch and it did not work for me at all. It affected my vision and my mouth was so dry that I barely had enough saliva in my mouth to even be able to swallow.......I took it off after one day....it was awful.

So if you are thinking about using one I would suggest giving it a "trial run" a week or so before you leave so you won't have any surprises.

Happy Sailing!!!!

 

[DisneyBasket]

I cruised for my honeymoon 30+ years ago, and needed something when our ship encountered higher seas than normal returning home from Bermuda. I took whatever the purser offered, and ended up sleeping for hours.

Fast forward to 1996, when my daughter's class went out on a whale watch off of Cape Cod. I went along as a chaperone, responsible for 6 kids. Before going, I purchased sea bands, and put them on before we boarded. We spent an hour getting out to where the whales are, dealing with 8 foot seas. I had 3 sick children (about half the class was sick), and 3 who it didn't bother at all. I was apprehensive about me, but the sea bands worked perfectly.

I also suffer from vertigo, mostly in the spring and fall during allergy season. My doctor prescribes meclizine, which works, but makes me feel "dull." I anticipate having an entire arsenal with me for our upcoming cruise, including the meclizine, ginger and several varieties of sea bands.

I am the daughter of a ship's master in the U.S. Merchant Marine. I was embarrassed to tell him I got sea sick on my first cruise. He thought it uproariously funny, and said that once I had my sea legs all would be fine! Here's hoping we ALL get our sea legs right quick!

 

[MrsMinease]

Thanks to the folks who pointed me to Gravol. We know all about it in my home, but it knocks DH out cold.

We're looking into the alternatives in the hopes that one if them will work for DH, and he'll still be able to enjoy something other than just the awesome beds on the Dream. We have the Transderm patch, and are doing a trial run with it this weekend.

 

[progs2]

We leave for our cruise in just 3 days and I have prepared us with both dramamine and bonnie as well as the Sea Bands. Has anyone ever had luck with the Sea bands?

My brother does at least one cruise a year and always uses the bands. He says he feels fine and no side effects.
DW uses bonnine and gets slightly drowzy.
I like the suggestion to try something before you leave.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Dramamine always made me sleepy.
The patch made me sleepy and gave me dry mouth
Bonine worked great with no side-affects at all and this was on a cruise where we were trying to avoid the hurricane (2008).

You have to have experience with any of them to know what will work for you.

 

[VKtravel]

All of these replies are great. We will be taking our first cruise and I have been so concerned about DDs getting motion sickness. I don't want them to feel bad on their first cruise. I think I will have them try something out first. It only makes sense. Actually, we ALL may try something out first. Now it will be a matter of what to try! How do the patches work? Do you apply a new one daily? What about the sea bands?

 

[VKtravel]

By the way, is the Bonine non drowsy (less drowsy) or does it only come one way?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

How do the patches work? Do you apply a new one daily?

The Transderm Scōp (Scopolamine) patch, which requires a prescription in the United States, lasts three days. Then you remove the old one and apply a new one.

By the way, is the Bonine non drowsy (less drowsy) or does it only come one way?

As I noted in post #20, Bonine uses the same active ingredient as Dramamine Less Drowsy Formula: Meclizine Hydrochloride, 25 mg.

The Bonine package claims, "causes less drowsiness," but "Less Drowsy" is not part of its name.

There is also a product called Bonine for Kids ("an easy-to-take, raspberry flavored, chewable tablet especially formulated for children 6 years and over to prevent and treat motion sickness"). The active ingredient Cyclizine Hydrochloride, 25 mg.

 

[NancyIL]

By the way, is the Bonine non drowsy (less drowsy) or does it only come one way?

Bonine comes only one way for adults, and is the same as the LESS drowsy Dramamine. As I mentioned, I take Meclizine (the main ingredient in Bonine) because it costs a lot less. I was at Wal Mart today, and a package of 16 Bonine was over $5. I can get a bottle of 100 Meclizine for less than that. I also saw a bottle of Equate 100 dimenhydrinate (the main ingredient in regular Dramamine) for just under $5.

 

[scamper45]

cruised over thanksgiving and had rough seas the entire trip. Just go to the medical center and they will give u free sea sick medicine. The staff there said to never use the patch it makes it worse. the sea bands help for mild sea sickness and mild seas. We were rocking pretty hard they had to close the pools for part of the time becasue all the water had come out of them... Dont wastr ur money go to the medical center for fee It worked for all of us!

 

[famviramontes]

I go out on small boats to dive and get really sick and have found something called Triptone that works for me. The only place I have found it is at Sport Chalet. Not sure what is in it but it works great. There are some that dive that take ginger because that is suppose to work.

 

[slmarkert]

I took Bonine for our cruise and had no side effects. I've heard from several places that Bonine works best if you start taking it a day or so before you board the ship and a day or so afterward. I felt ickier after we got off the boat at the end than I ever did during the cruise, so I was glad I continued taking it - and we sailed through a thunderstorm the first night and had 10-15 ft swells.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

cruised over thanksgiving and had rough seas the entire trip. Just go to the medical center and they will give u free sea sick medicine. The staff there said to never use the patch it makes it worse. the sea bands help for mild sea sickness and mild seas. We were rocking pretty hard they had to close the pools for part of the time becasue all the water had come out of them... Dont wastr ur money go to the medical center for fee It worked for all of us!

What "free sea sick medicine" do they provide at the medical center? Remember, different people react differently to different medications. There's been advice on this thread to try out motion sickness remedies before cruising. That's hard to do if you don't know what they provide.

Regarding the advice, "The staff there said to never use the patch it makes it worse," I'll again point out that different people react differently. The Transderm Scōp patch works very well for me, even in the roughest seas. And it does so without causing me to be drowsy, even if I have a glass of wine with dinner. There have been positive and negative comments about the patch in this thread. Anyone who dismisses the patch outright is giving bad advice.

 

[WAHMto5]

I have always used Bonine on every cruise and have never been sick or sleepy! I start taking it the day before we leave

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I go out on small boats to dive and get really sick and have found something called Triptone that works for me. The only place I have found it is at Sport Chalet. Not sure what is in it but it works great. There are some that dive that take ginger because that is suppose to work.

The active ingredient in TripTone is Dimenhydrinate, just like in the better-known and more widely available Dramamine Original Formula.

Dimenhydrinate can work well, but it can cause significant drowsiness.

That's why so many people on this board recommend products whose active ingredient is Meclizine Hydrochloride (such as Bonine, Dramamine Less Drowsy Formula, store brand Meclizine, and generic Meclizine). Meclizine can still cause drowsiness, but it apparently does so in fewer people and to a lesser extent than Dimenhydrinate.

One advantage of Dimenhydrinate is that there are dosage instructions for children.

 

[edk35]

What happens if you drink and take these over the counter meds??? I am not a big drinker AT ALL..... like hardly ever drink but would probably partake in a few on a cruise. LOL So I would hate to take these meds, have a cocktail and NEVER WAKE UP.

 

[Phototech11]

Has anyone tried the rx Promethazine for motion sickness?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

What happens if you drink and take these over the counter meds??? I am not a big drinker AT ALL..... like hardly ever drink but would probably partake in a few on a cruise. LOL So I would hate to take these meds, have a cocktail and NEVER WAKE UP.

The patch and the over-the-counter motion sickness pills discussed in this thread all have warnings about alcohol. For example, Bonine advises, "avoid alcoholic drinks," and "alcohol, sedatives and tranquilizers may increase drowsiness."

I'm not a doctor, so this is not medical advice. My understanding is that the reason for the warning is not because there's any sort of dangerous interaction between the remedies and alcohol, but because the potential increase in drowsiness.

My personal experience has been that I can have a glass or two of wine when wearing the patch, with no drowsiness. But if I have wine while a Meclizine product such as Bonine is in my system, I get so drowsy that my eyes want to shut. (Of course, for somebody else, it might be the other way around.)

 

[scamper45]

What "free sea sick medicine" do they provide at the medical center? Remember, different people react differently to different medications. There's been advice on this thread to try out motion sickness remedies before cruising. That's hard to do if you don't know what they provide.

Regarding the advice, "The staff there said to never use the patch it makes it worse," I'll again point out that different people react differently. The Transderm Scōp patch works very well for me, even in the roughest seas. And it does so without causing me to be drowsy, even if I have a glass of wine with dinner. There have been positive and negative comments about the patch in this thread. Anyone who dismisses the patch outright is giving bad advice.

We just sailed on the magic in November and there was free sea sick med. in a container at the meidcal center and I also heard they had it available at guest services. I was not dissing the patch just repeating what the doctor and nurse told me in the medical center. I do not remember the name of the meds they were giving out in the medical center. They also told us to eat apples and drink ginger ale. We had rough seas the entire cruise to the point you could not even be outside at times. I have been on 10 cruises and was never sea sick until that cruise. I am not giving our medical advice just simply stating my experience and repeating what was told to us by the medical staff on board the ship sorry if i offended anyone.......

 

[mjaclyn]

When I cruised the first time I took everything they had on the ship. I remember feeling extremely groggy with the Dramamine and I also had this electric bracelet that sent impulses up my arm. (did not help ONE bit) More recently I took Bonine on the fireworks cruise at WDW and not only did it help a lot I didn't feel drowsy at all. I plan on going to my doctor this week and seeing what he recommends. I'm also going to start taking it BEFORE I board the ship which is a mistake I made last time. I waited until I was on the boat and it really did nothing for me after that except make me groggy.

No matter what medicine you choose to bring, if you're afraid you'll get seasick I would definitely take the meds before you board.