Seasickness medicines and their cautions
1The lesson in plain words
Seasickness medicines work best taken before you sail. Most cause drowsiness, so the skipper and helm need to know who has taken what.
Take them early
Seasickness medicines prevent sickness much better than they cure it, and tablets are often vomited before they work. Take them before you sail, at the time the label gives: some work in 30 minutes, others need a couple of hours or the night before. Always follow the label or the advice of a pharmacist or the radio doctor.
The main medicines
Hyoscine (also called scopolamine) comes as tablets or as a skin patch worn behind the ear, which lasts several days. Cyclizine, cinnarizine and promethazine are antihistamines, medicines also used for allergies. Promethazine is the most sedating and is sometimes taken the night before. Try the medicine ashore first, when off duty and not driving.
Drowsiness and the helm
Most of these medicines can make you drowsy, and some blur vision or slow reactions. That matters on a boat: a drowsy helm or skipper is dangerous. Tell the skipper what you have taken, do not take the helm or work alone on deck if you feel sleepy, and never mix them with alcohol. The skipper should choose carefully for themselves.
Cautions
Check with a pharmacist or doctor first if you have glaucoma, difficulty passing urine or an enlarged prostate, heart, liver, kidney or epilepsy problems, or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking other medicines, especially other sedating ones. Children need their own doses. After handling a hyoscine patch, wash your hands: on the eye it blurs vision. Remove the patch and get urgent medical advice if confusion, fever or difficulty passing urine develops.
Dehydration after vomiting
A crew member who keeps vomiting loses water and salts fast. Offer frequent small sips of water or oral rehydration solution, made by mixing the oral rehydration salts with water exactly as the packet directs. If they cannot keep any fluid down for several hours, become drowsy or confused, or pass very little urine, get radio medical advice: the doctor may advise other medicines or a change of plan.
2Key data
- Timing
- Before sailing, as the label says
- Hyoscine (scopolamine)
- Tablets or a patch behind the ear
- Antihistamines
- Cyclizine, cinnarizine, promethazine
- Main side effect
- Drowsiness; no alcohol, care at the helm
- Doses
- Follow the label or the radio doctor
3Key points
- 1
Take seasickness medicine before you sail, as the label says.
- 2
Main options: hyoscine (scopolamine), cyclizine, cinnarizine, promethazine.
- 3
Most cause drowsiness: tell the skipper, no alcohol, care at the helm.
- 4
Check cautions such as glaucoma, prostate, pregnancy and other medicines.
- 5
Persistent vomiting: sip water or correctly mixed rehydration solution; get advice if fluids stay down poorly.
4Frequent mistakes
Wrong: Wait until you are sick, then take a tablet.
Right: Take it before you sail; tablets taken late are often vomited.
Wrong: A seasickness tablet and a glass of wine are fine together.
Right: Alcohol adds to the drowsiness. Avoid it with these medicines.
Wrong: Everyone can take the same seasickness medicine.
Right: Some people should not take certain medicines. Ask a pharmacist and read the leaflet.
5Practice case & exam keys
You are skipper of a two-handed overnight passage. Your crew offers you one of his promethazine tablets before you leave, saying it works brilliantly for him.
Show the answer
Decline it. Promethazine is strongly sedating, and as skipper on a two-handed overnight passage you must stay alert. Ask a pharmacist before the trip for a medicine that suits you. Try the medicine ashore first, when off duty and not driving. Take it before sailing as the label says. Check what your crew has taken and whether he is fit for his watch.
Exam keys
- Seasickness medicines prevent better than they cure: take them before sailing.
- Hyoscine (scopolamine), cyclizine, cinnarizine, promethazine.
- Drowsiness: avoid alcohol; the skipper and helm must stay alert.
- Dehydration after vomiting: small sips, oral rehydration salts, radio advice if it persists.
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