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Do you normally get sick on carnival rides, when you ride in the back seat of a car, ride on a train or ride in a boat? People who suffer from actual motion sickness will get far more sick doing any of these activities than they will on a plane. If you've never gotten sick anywhere other than a plane, then you definitely aren't suffering from motion sickness.
I got sick on car trips a lot as a kid, but that subsided as I got older. I don't really get car sick anymore, but in some certain situations I do get nauseous still in cars- when I'm sitting in the back middle seat or when I get overheated. Like I said though, not very often.
Carnival rides on the other hand never used to bother me as a kid, but they do a lot more now. I will not go on anything that spins and I can't handle roller coasters as much I used to. I used to love them!
I guess I can't say much for trains or boats as I haven't been on either in many, many years.
Regardless, I made an appointment and will be talking to my doctor. I won't rule out anxiety but I'm just not sure if that's really the cause. I don't know. Hopefully I'll get some answers and something that actually helps. If it IS anxiety, could anti-anxiety meds actually help prevent me from throwing up?
Hi, I'm very glad you decided to see your doctor about this. Absolutely a must! Do not rely on internet forums. However, they can give you suggestions and comfort if you find you're not alone.
So I'm going to throw out the idea of asking your doctor if the air pressure might be affecting your inner ear?
I have allergies and sometimes I've had my inner ear affected to the point where I get vertigo and then get real nauseous and have on occasion thrown up. My doctor told me to use 2 sprays of Afrin in each nostril 1/2 hour before descending during air travel, and it has indeed helped me. Just a thought.
If you truly were suffering from just motion sickness, you would have had that trouble from the very first time you started flying. Motion sickness isn't something that comes on over a period of time and gradually gets worse; you either have it or you don't and you will know pretty quick if you have it. Plus if it was truly motion sickness, you wouldn't have it on nearly every single flight; there would be flights where you wouldn't have issues or you would have issues during different times of the flight - not always only during landings. Do you normally get sick on carnival rides, when you ride in the back seat of a car, ride on a train or ride in a boat? People who suffer from actual motion sickness will get far more sick doing any of these activities than they will on a plane. If you've never gotten sick anywhere other than a plane, then you definitely aren't suffering from motion sickness.
I'm sorry but that is just not true at all.
The first time I ever few on an international flight, I was 8 years old and did not get sick.
I still remember clearly the two times I got sick on an airplane when I was younger.
One time it happened on an international flight to Narita when I was around 9 years old, and the other on a Grand Canyon tour flight when I was 11 years old.
For both flights I was fine during most of the flight from beginning until before we started landing. But once we started the landing phase, I experienced the familiar sensations of getting motion sickness. The feeling of being hot, the heart rate starts going up and pounds your chest, start salivating, intense waves of nausea.
My point being, during those two flights, I thought nothing of getting sick, so it wasn't mental at all. It came on suddenly when we started landing, so it was a cumulative effect.
I went to my doctor to talk about my problem. She came into the appointment ASSUMING it was phobia of flying (perhaps she briefly chatted with the nurse I had talked to or read the comments I told the receptionist when I made the appointment). After explaining to her in more detail what happens to me, she instantly said, "oh no, that's motion sickness". Which is honestly what I expected all along.
She said the patch that another poster had mentioned would be too strong for my situation and instead prescribed me two different anti-nausea meds. I'll be trying one first, and if it doesn't help I'll try the other.
The first time I ever few on an international flight, I was 8 years old and did not get sick.
I still remember clearly the two times I got sick on an airplane when I was younger.
One time it happened on an international flight to Narita when I was around 9 years old, and the other on a Grand Canyon tour flight when I was 11 years old.
For both flights I was fine during most of the flight from beginning until before we started landing. But once we started the landing phase, I experienced the familiar sensations of getting motion sickness. The feeling of being hot, the heart rate starts going up and pounds your chest, start salivating, intense waves of nausea.
My point being, during those two flights, I thought nothing of getting sick, so it wasn't mental at all. It came on suddenly when we started landing, so it was a cumulative effect.
That still could have been anxiety related, even if you didn't/don't realize it. One does not have to be entertaining anxious thoughts to get hit by the various possible physical reactions of an anxiety attack (palpitations, sweating, nausea, etc). I know, I know. That sounds completely strange, but my anxiety often hits when I otherwise feel absolutely content.
I take the non-drowsy Dramamine and I only take 1/2 tablet. It seems to work fine. Even the non-drowsy ones do make you slightly drowsy but by the time you land, you should be fine.
I got sick on car trips a lot as a kid, but that subsided as I got older. I don't really get car sick anymore, but in some certain situations I do get nauseous still in cars- when I'm sitting in the back middle seat or when I get overheated. Like I said though, not very often.
Carnival rides on the other hand never used to bother me as a kid, but they do a lot more now. I will not go on anything that spins and I can't handle roller coasters as much I used to. I used to love them!
I guess I can't say much for trains or boats as I haven't been on either in many, many years.
Regardless, I made an appointment and will be talking to my doctor. I won't rule out anxiety but I'm just not sure if that's really the cause. I don't know. Hopefully I'll get some answers and something that actually helps. If it IS anxiety, could anti-anxiety meds actually help prevent me from throwing up?
That is some interesting info.
I have a pretty stable equilibrium, myself. I never get carsick. never get seasick (well there was the one time, but that involved a lot of beer, on a slow moving boat on heavy swells, but, nevermind)
Carnival rides never bothered me. I LOVE Roller Coasters.
The things that get me are those new-fangled virtualized rides, like the Back to the Future thing that was at Disney, for a while, or the space mission one, where you get into a centrifugal device that that is spinning around to simulate gravity and then twisting you all different directions to simulate being in a space ship.
I come out of those pretty green.
Anyway, glad to hear that you may have a solution to your problem.
I had the very same thing for 50 years. Something changed in my inner ear when I hit 50 and I lost some hearing in one ear. Also no more air sickness at all after that.
Did not keep me out of airplanes but I don't have much memory of many flights. Hubby would just gather about 3 air sickness bags and put them all in front of me. Also used ice from the galley and a washcloth. If I could keep cold, it would help. So I would put ice on my forehead, neck and wrists.
Dramamine gave me double vision so I took Bonine a slightly different drug. Worked well but not all the time.
One thing that no one has mentioned is motion sickness wristbands. I know the idea may sound like pseudoscience but they really do work, and are available without a prescription. There are numerous kinds on sale through Amazon.
My husband found out about them when he ended up having major prostate issues while on a cruise. He was wearing one of those behind-the-ear patches, and apparently one of the ingredients in them can cause the prostate to greatly enlarge in men who are already having prostate issues. He had to spend the last third of our cruise wearing a catheter, since the medication in the patch made it impossible for him to urinate. The next time we took a cruise, he bought a couple of the wristbands and they worked very well.
Even if that particular complication is not an issue for the OP, I thought this information might be useful for someone else to know.
I didn't read all the posts so someone may have already posted what I'm telling. I flew many times without a problem, then I had an episode of motion sickness which made the cross country trip miserable for me. I never risk it again, but always take Dramamine and I also bought the wrist bands available many places. I think mine came from a drugstore. I've never had the problem again after several subsequent flights.
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Inner ear?
