airsickness prescription

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013 1:31:53 PM UTC-6, WB wrote:
Seems like very few people in the U.S. have heard of it, but the most

effective prescription med for airsickness that I have found is

something called "Scopace". It is scopolamine in tablet form. Same drug

as in the very expensive anti-nausea patches. Much cheaper in tablet

form and the dose is easier to regulate. Extremely effective and fewer

side effects than the patch that way. I have had a scrip for it for

years for myself and my wife. Unfortunately, I was recently informed

that Scopace is no longer being manufactured due to a factory shutdown

or buyout or somesuch. Too bad. However, all is not lost. Exactly the

same drug is sold over-the-counter in Europe. The brand sold in Great

Britain sells under the name "Kwells" (the chemical name on the Kwells

package is "hyoscine hydrobromide" which is the more proper chemical

name for scopolamine). The Kwells tablets differ only in the dose.

Scopace was 40 milligrams. Kwells is 30 milligrams. That's actually a

more reasonable dose and will completely prevent motion sickness in a

180lb male for 6 hours. Confirmed by personal experience. Anyhow, you

can buy Kwells through the internet. I recently ordered a 12 tablet pack

from Chemist2go (on Amazon) for less than $8. Oh, and Kwells is chewable

unlike prescription Scopace which tastes nasty.



I cannot recommend this stuff enough, especially if you give a lot of

rides and find that no matter how gently you fly, passengers frequently

experience nausea. Give'em a Kwells 30 minutes before flight and you can

subject your pax to outside snap rolls after a lunch of greasy pork ribs

and they won't yack.



Fly safe,



WB



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The common Scopolamine side effects include dry mouth, throat, and nasal passages in some cases progressing to impaired speech, thirst, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, constipation, difficulty urinating, and tachycardia.

OTOH, Ginger in crystal form is reported to be an effective treatment without side effects.

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013 3:01:43 PM UTC-7, Bill D wrote:


OTOH, Ginger in crystal form is reported to be an effective treatment without side effects.


I try to avoid drugs when I can. Ginger works just so-so for me. But this works very well. http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/reliefband/

bumper

In article ,
bumper wrote:

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013 3:01:43 PM UTC-7, Bill D wrote:


OTOH, Ginger in crystal form is reported to be an effective treatment
without side effects.


I try to avoid drugs when I can. Ginger works just so-so for me. But this
works very well. http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/reliefband/

bumper

No doubt it is best if medications can be avoided altogether, but
sometimes the risk of drug side effects is less than the effects of
nausea. Even very mild motion sickness can manifest as "Sopites
syndrome", a nearly irresistible drowsiness that contributes to many
"asleep at the wheel" accidents. Sopites syndrome can be about as bad as
narcolepsy.

Both crystalline ginger and the relief band work well for some, not so
well for others. I have tried the electric relief band with my crew
chief who suffers from airsickness. Worked OK for her but was not 100%
effective in all situations. Motion combined with higher than normal
anxiety or excitement such as with someone's first glider flight, can
overwhelm the anti-nausea properties of ginger or the bands.


Scopolamine is indeed a very powerful drug with lots of side effects. In
higher doses, it can be lethal. However, the doses used for anti-nausea
rarely cause more than dry mouth. My experience with the anti-nausea
scopolamine patches is that they tend toward overdosing causing
drowsiness and headache on top of nearly terminal cotton-mouth. The
scopolamine pills allow one to tailor the dose to avoid side effects. My
experience with Scopace and Kwells scopolamine tablets is that they are
completely effective as opposed to Dramamine or other otc anti-nausea
meds commonly available in the U.S. that are only moderately effective
and have more side effects.

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Another approach: Never take a first ride up in bumpy weather or for more than 20 minutes. Yeah, it's more fun for us to do a 5 hour xc or outside loops, but a 20 minute sled ride is a fantastic experience. If they like that, they'll come back for more. If they even get queasy, let alone sick, they will never, ever come back.

John Cochrane

In article ,
wrote:

Another approach: Never take a first ride up in bumpy weather or for more
than 20 minutes. Yeah, it's more fun for us to do a 5 hour xc or outside
loops, but a 20 minute sled ride is a fantastic experience. If they like
that, they'll come back for more. If they even get queasy, let alone sick,
they will never, ever come back.

John Cochrane

Some folks just get queasy on the first ride, no matter what. I did, and
it was dead calm, almost no turns, no bumps. Motion ain't the only thing
contributing to motion sickness. Various military organizations have
done lots of research into motion sickness in an effort to prevent pilot
candidates from washing out of flight training. They identified anxiety
as a major factor in airsickness. The anxiety abates with time and
experience. In the short term, sometimes it really is "Better living
through pharmaceuticals".

Wish I'd had the scopolamine during that acro ride in the Great Lakes...

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On Wednesday, October 2, 2013 10:13:34 AM UTC-4, WB wrote:
Even very mild motion sickness can manifest as "Sopites

syndrome", a nearly irresistible drowsiness that contributes to many

"asleep at the wheel" accidents. Sopites syndrome can be about as bad as

narcolepsy.

....
The

scopolamine pills allow one to tailor the dose to avoid side effects.

Are you saying that scopolamine relieves Sophite's Syndrome? I had assumed that the only thing that Sophite's and motion-induced-vomiting had in common was "motion" as a trigger. I understand that no one really knows the detailed mechanism/pathway for either, but "Scopolamine relieves Sophite's".... really?? Or is it the placebo effect?

Pure curiosity here as I suffer neither curse (so far). Sophite's is a very interesting thing.

In article ,
son_of_flubber wrote:

On Wednesday, October 2, 2013 10:13:34 AM UTC-4, WB wrote:
Even very mild motion sickness can manifest as "Sopites

syndrome", a nearly irresistible drowsiness that contributes to many

"asleep at the wheel" accidents. Sopites syndrome can be about as bad as

narcolepsy.

...
The

scopolamine pills allow one to tailor the dose to avoid side effects.

Are you saying that scopolamine relieves Sophite's Syndrome? I had assumed
that the only thing that Sophite's and motion-induced-vomiting had in common
was "motion" as a trigger. I understand that no one really knows the
detailed mechanism/pathway for either, but "Scopolamine relieves
Sophite's"... really?? Or is it the placebo effect?

Pure curiosity here as I suffer neither curse (so far). Sophite's is a very
interesting thing.

It is my understanding that Sopites syndrome has a vestibular basis same
as motion induced nausea so I would expect drugs effective for one would
be effective for the other.

I can say with certainty that scopolamine is effective against Sopites
syndrome for me and my wife.

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In my experience, the "electric relief band" only works if the directions are followed explicitly. It is critical the electrodes be positioned so the "tingle" goes up the center of the palm to between the ring and second finger.

It needs to be turned on at the first inkling of the onset of nausea, and for most this means putting it on and getting it adjusted before take off.

bumper

In article ,
bumper wrote:

In my experience, the "electric relief band" only works if the directions are
followed explicitly. It is critical the electrodes be positioned so the
"tingle" goes up the center of the palm to between the ring and second
finger.

It needs to be turned on at the first inkling of the onset of nausea, and for
most this means putting it on and getting it adjusted before take off.

bumper

Absolutely. Apparently, the brain end of the nerves that serve that part
of the hand lie close to nerves associated with the inner ear. A little
cross-talk between those nerves short-circuits the nausea signal.

It is a good idea to carry some of the conductive electrode paste
supplied with the band with you in flight. It tends to dry up. When it
does, you lose the tingle.

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In article ,
bumper wrote:

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013 3:01:43 PM UTC-7, Bill D wrote:


OTOH, Ginger in crystal form is reported to be an effective treatment
without side effects.


I try to avoid drugs when I can. Ginger works just so-so for me. But this
works very well. http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/reliefband/

bumper


Oh, I forgot to mention: Be careful with the electric relief bands. My
crew chief was not at all amused when an operating electric band came
into contact with a particularly sensitive area. Did not make a mark on
her, but I carried a bruise for weeks.

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