Anyone get car sick when riding shotgun?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
N

NathanBWF

Golden Member
May 29, 2003
1,810
0
0
Because of my current career, I spend a lot of time in a car. When I'm not driving, I find myself getting car sick a lot of the time to the point where it's almost debilitating.

I've searched and tried a lot of the suggested remedies such as non-drowsy ginger Gravol, Ginger Root, etc. however none of them seem to be all that effective.

Anyone else have this issue and if so what (if anything) works for you?
 
frostedflakes

frostedflakes

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2005
7,925
1
81
Why would this happen? Maybe because you're looking out the side window at objects? Have you tried doing what you would if you were driving, i.e. focusing ahead on the road and not at stuff flying by to the side. Closing your eyes would help as well for motion sickness. I don't see why any drugs would be necessary.
 
Leros

Leros

Lifer
Jul 11, 2004
21,867
7
81
If I'm in either of the front seats (passenger or driver) I'm fine, but put me in the back and I get really sick.
 
N

NathanBWF

Golden Member
May 29, 2003
1,810
0
0
Originally posted by: frostedflakes
Why would this happen? Maybe because you're looking out the side window at objects? Have you tried doing what you would if you were driving, i.e. focusing ahead on the road and not at stuff flying by to the side. Closing your eyes would help as well for motion sickness. I don't see why any drugs would be necessary.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have included more detail in the original post.

I'm a new LEO. I can't really shut my eyes or simply stare straight ahead when riding around in the patrol car. I need to constantly be scanning. It's not really an issue if I'm driving, but when I'm not it's really hard to deal with (especially day shifts, or when it's really hot/sunny outside).

Regular Gravol works pretty well on me, however it also makes me extremely drowsy which doesn't exactly work when on duty.

 
I

imported_mateo

Member
Oct 28, 2006
125
0
0
Google Motion Sickness.

Im a pilot and when I first started flight training I would get pretty sick (as do most new pilots). I did combination of things to take care of it: avoid greasy/fatty foods, eat a simple but light meal an hour before flying, and took ginger pills. This solved my problems.

I still take the ginger (3 x500 mg caps) and it works well (might be a placebo but who cares...)

Motion sickness is essentially caused be your inner ear feeling something different than what your eyes see. SO...closing your eyes is a short term solution if you need a break. Eventually, your body will get used to the discrepency between what it sees and feels and the motion sickness will go away.

The last resort is you can try something the military often does with new pilots that get sick. There is a trick where you sit in a chair while someone spins you and you get sick repeatedly. Supposedly after a few hours of torturing yourself the motion sickness goes away for some reason. Never tried it, and it sounds horrible, but I was prepared give it a shot to continue flying.

Basically, your body WILL get used to it after a while. The chair trick just accelerates the process.
 
moshquerade

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
61,504
12
56
try to look out the window at all times (unless you are napping, of course) and not read anything or focus on things inside the vehicle.
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,447
17,947
126
Get one of those eye shades. Cover your eyes whilst in the passenger seat. DO NOT DO THIS WHILST DRIVING!
 
B

Bryophyte

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
13,430
13
81
Dramamine (dimenhydrinate) works for me and doesn't make me drowsy. I even used to take it when I was doing a lot of microscopy. Counting spores on slides for hours on end sometimes made me nauseous.

That wikipedia on dimenhydrinate said that meclizine (sold over the counter under the brand names of Bonine and Antivert) causes fewer side effects/less drowsiness than dimenhydrinate.
 
N

NathanBWF

Golden Member
May 29, 2003
1,810
0
0
Originally posted by: mateo
Google Motion Sickness.

Im a pilot and when I first started flight training I would get pretty sick (as do most new pilots). I did combination of things to take care of it: avoid greasy/fatty foods, eat a simple but light meal an hour before flying, and took ginger pills. This solved my problems.

I still take the ginger (3 x500 mg caps) and it works well (might be a placebo but who cares...)

Motion sickness is essentially caused be your inner ear feeling something different than what your eyes see. SO...closing your eyes is a short term solution if you need a break. Eventually, your body will get used to the discrepency between what it sees and feels and the motion sickness will go away.

The last resort is you can try something the military often does with new pilots that get sick. There is a trick where you sit in a chair while someone spins you and you get sick repeatedly. Supposedly after a few hours of torturing yourself the motion sickness goes away for some reason. Never tried it, and it sounds horrible, but I was prepared give it a shot to continue flying.

Basically, your body WILL get used to it after a while. The chair trick just accelerates the process.
Click to expand...

Do you only take ginger on days that you are flying, or everyday? Do you spread it out throughout the day, or take them all at once?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom