travel sickness

[Amazonian]

My 9 year old daughter suffers from travel sickness when we go for day trips in the car. We have to carry a bucket around in the car in case she chucks. Even if she doesn't throw up, she gets tummy cramps and feels nauseas. Things we have tried are her sitting in the front seat so she can see where she is going,Lolly pops ,barley sugars and Panadol. I tried to get her to drink ginger tea but she wouldn't be in it. I have thought about Kwell ( Antihistamine tablets) but ended up getting a Homeopathic product. Its called Traveller's relief. Now that sounds o.k , but one of the ingredients in it is ... Nux vomica. When i was at the shop i was reading it, and thinking ,i have heard of that , what is it. Any way, brought the product, googled Nux vomica and it all came back to me. Its Strychnine. ( Now i should have remembered this after researching the myth about strychnine in magic mushrooms). I know homeopathic stuff is pretty good but am reluctant to give my daughter Strychnine ( even in small doses). Would you give it to your kid ? What do you suggest as an alternative ?

[educate]

If the product is homeopathic, there is no substance amount in it.

I am guessing it has 6X potency in it which is below avogadro's number - none of the physical substance remains.

Nux vomica is often used in homeopathy for acute cases of nausea. For hangovers, livery nausea, morning sickness, etc.

Give it a go. I use homeopathy for my kids and often get brilliant results. Not every time, but if it works, it will work well.

[incognito]

id research it damned well. i personally would speak to a doctor, someone who really knew their shit before i gave my child strychnine.ever. shebus man its used in rat poison yeah?? if she is prone to car sickness wont it make her spew more?

ive never heard of strychnines homeopathic uses. could bedangerous territory though?

[Heffa]

You can get ginger tablets (marketed as Travel Calm tabs), they help me with all sorts of sickness, just take one or two an hour before you start driving.

Aside from that, prescriptions such as Pramin (Metachlompramide) or Ranitidine can help

[incognito]

no probs for a 9yr old i guess? ginger would be harmless at that dose? unless child has allergys of course. worth a shot.

ginger sounds healthier and safer than travacalm or strychnine.

[bℓσωηG]

I hope your car is not leaking fumes into the cabin. My mother in laws' car does really bad , but her being a heavy smoker prevents her smelling it , we all feel sick traveling in her car.

Edited September 9, 2010 by blowng

[santiago]

isnt kwell scopolamine, derived from henbane...i dont think its a antihistamine

[Sonny Jim]

Don't stress incognito

Like educate said there is no actual strychnine in the product.

I second the ginger tabs. They work on me for nausea. Though I will say if your daughter is really bad with motion sickness give the pharmaceutical travel calm tabs a go, especially for long drives. I remember getting motion sickness when I was a kid and long drives were torture.

[Thegribbs]

Kwell worked great for my sea sickness. After two 30 mile trips I stopped using it and no longer need it.

IMHO I think a glass of water would do anybody more good that a vial of "homeopathic" remedy. Proven many times to be no more than a placebo. But thats just my opinion, I know many people believe in it and wont try push my beliefs on them. The information from both sides of the fence is out there.

[Rabaelthazar]

Do they still make Avil?

Just don't let her eat a whole packet, whatever you do.

[AndyAmine.]

yeah Id go with a tropaine like Hyoscin or Scopolamine, I use Buscopan regularly for my upset stomach and find it a god send, it comes in higher doses for motion sickness I believe, if you go for one of them try the transdermal patches.

IIRC a x6 homeopathic dosage is less concentrated than if you dripped x1 drop of the pure compound into the ocean, let it mix and then bottled it up in a vial.

So just think about that, one would probably swallow a much larger dose of my very own AA. brand of homeopathic piss everytime they go swimming at the beach than one would get from a dose of homeopathic Nux Vomica.

Edited September 9, 2010 by AndyAmine.

[occidentalis]

The ocean is probably a pretty good homeopathic remedy for everything .

I wonder if it all balances out and just becomes water?

[Teotzlcoatl]

homeopathics are bullshit, throw it away.

get her to chew some coca leafs, drink mint tea, eat ginger or smoke ganja.

[dworx]

Teotz, you're an idiot read the thread its for a nine year old..

[Amazonian]

isnt kwell scopolamine, derived from henbane...i dont think its a antihistamine

 

Just going by what the chemist ( rather chemist assistant ) said.

Thanks for the reassurance on the Homeopathic remedy. As for getting her to have things like coca leaves and such, anything with a strong flavor and you'll have trouble getting it in their mouth, you know, like broccoli is poison to kids.( na, my kids eat veg. They have to having a veg as a mother.)We are driving up to what snow is left today and i think I'll try the Homeopathic remedy.( maybe at 1/2 dose ) Thanks for your input guys.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Amazonian

[Teotzlcoatl]

Ginger, mint and Coca should be fine for kids. When I was in Peru all the kids chewed coca including the gringo kids.

[AndyAmine.]

Ontop of what I said above, I agree that yeah, homeopathy is crap, but the placebo effect is extremely powerful!

[FancyPants]

Once in a while I'll find a homoeopathy product that benefits me, via placebo or otherwise, but most don't. I'd try someone else' before buying it myself though.

I did a LOT of car trips until adulthood with my family and I was usually OK until we got a new Commodore (rollier suspension) and took the new england highway north for a change. Fresh air blowing directly on my forehead made me feel normal again.

Do they still make Avil?

Just don't let her eat a whole packet, whatever you do.

 

It's definitely still available but careful asking for it as you may be misheard and given advil instead, for a 9yr old I'd only give half a tablet or less to start. Tastes like burnt arse though, might have trouble getting a 9yr old to swallow.

Phenergan doesn't taste too bad, and half a tablet should make her drowsy and nausea free It's available OTC like Avil.

[Sonny Jim]

So just think about that, one would probably swallow a much larger dose of my very own AA. brand of homeopathic piss everytime they go swimming at the beach than one would get from a dose of homeopathic Nux Vomica.

 

lols, thanks AndyAmine that's f'ing classic.

One thing I always do with my daughter (11 y.o) is not let her read or play video games in the car. I find it hard to put to words but from my own experience of motion sickness, I've found it has a lot to do with my brain not realising I am moving because I am isolated from the normal sensory ques of movement due to being in the car. For example, I don't get motion sickness when I am driving but I will if I am a passenger and trying to read a map, give directions etc.

Also, like fancy pants said, fresh air blowing on my head would help when I was a kid. Maybe that has to do with reminding your brain that you are moving. I know you have already tried it Amazonian but sitting in the front seat helps to remind your brain that you are moving and also which direction you are moving in.

[J Smith]

When I was a kid, chewing gum and sitting in the front seat helped with car sickness. I tried those magnets you put on your wrists but they didn't work for me.

I remember once re-filling a thickshake cup on a winding road on the way to Narooma... only 5 minutes from our destination too. Dad wasn't happy! Grew out of it at some stage before my teens.

[FancyPants]

I remember once re-filling a thickshake cup on a winding road on the way to Narooma... only 5 minutes from our destination too. Dad wasn't happy! Grew out of it at some stage before my teens.

 

I hope that cup worked out better for you than it did my mate's knees when I passed it over to him to chuck out the car door...

[Amazonian]

Well, i gave myself a dose of the homeopathic remedy ( just to make sure ) and then gave miss 9 her dose. We drove for an hour or so and then it started, this little voice from the back seat..... Ahhhooo, i feel sick. I tried to convince her that she could not have car sickness as she had taken the best medicine for it ( thinking the placebo effect might kick in) But alas, we had to change seats (front seat for her) and get the bucket ready. Same thing on the way back."Its the curly roads that make me sick" she says. ( winding roads, S shape that go on for ever). So the Nux vomica didn't really work. Although, she did not chuck up . I get car sick too if i have to consult the Melways after the sat' nav' has led us astray. Some one told me that the rubber strip that you see hanging from the rear of a car is there to stop static electricity and can stop car sickness?. Next time , i think we will have to use something a little more aggressive for travel sickness. I do value the input all you guys have made.

[Rabaelthazar]

homeopathics are bullshit, throw it away.

get her to chew some coca leafs, drink mint tea, eat ginger or smoke ganja.

 

the ganja could work.

Although, I hope you'd get internet access Amazonian in the detention centre for drop-kick parents, I'd sure miss you around here.

Edited September 10, 2010 by Rabaelthazar

[Amazonian]

^ . I do have faith in Homeopathy. I go there first and then work my way up to the more harsher chemicals. Its just unfortunate that it didn't work in this case. Maybe this remedy had the potential to work, but had been stored incorrectly at some point which rendered it inactive? I'm not going to fork out another $20 to find out either. Kwell, Avil and the like are the next try.

[Rabaelthazar]

I used to take Avil as a kid for travel sickness (and then again as a teenager for more dubious reasons).

It works for travel sickness, but I remember as a kid (I would have been about 9 myself, cos I was a cub scout at the time) having very disturbing dreams after I had had it, and the drowsiness factor being a bit full on at times.

One particular memory was going on a cub scout camp and going to bed early the first night cos I was so drowsy from the avil and dreaming about rats eating me. Not particularly pleasant. Having said that, I took it numerous times with no side effects.

As a thrill seeking teenager, I experimented a few times with far higher than recommended doses and let me tell you, this stuff creates true hallucinations. As an example, I remember clearly waking up in the middle of the night after taking a packet with a friend and seeing him sitting on the couch looking at me with this weird look on his face. I didn't like the fact that he'd been watching me sleep, so I asked what the hell he was doing there. He just smiled this weird smile and nodded at me. I asked a few more times and he wouldn't talk to me, which pissed me off, so I punched him in the arm. My fist went straight through him and hit the back of the couch that he was sitting on at which point his facial expression turned to that of hurt and he slowly dissolved into nothing. Of course, he had never been there in the first place. It was after this experience that I remembered the rat dreams from when I was a kid.

So, Amazonian, what I'm trying to say is that while avil is effective.... perhaps save it for a last resort.