Wife's motion sickness could stop an Africa trip

[HTXHunter]

I am in the planning stages of my first trip to Africa, and would love to have my wife come along as we both love animals and seeing nature up close. But with that being said, my wife gets terrible motion sickness, even on an hour car ride. The 15ish hour flight to Africa makes it, in her mind, worth not going at all.

I was curious if others have had the same experiences with motion sickness, and wondering if there is anything that can be done (Doctor writes a prescription for something?) My wife is now ok with me going by myself, but it would take a lot of the fun out of the trip not sharing it with somebody.

 

[Aaron N]

Have you tried Gravol or the patches?

 

[huntingbigun]

Patches work great they are prescription also if you can go business class your in the front of plane with lay down bed South Africa airways is half the cost Delta and the food is better

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I used to do a fishing trip out of San Diego for a few days at a time about every other year. I would take either Bonine or Dramamine starting the day before the trip and all the way through. Never got sea sick. Felt queasy on one trip down in the bottom of the boat where it's always worse, but never got truly sick. I'm not sure if I'm less prone to seasickness or not and the pills were just a waste of money, but as an Arizona boy for some 15 years now I'm not often on the ocean.

Others on my trips tried other tricks such as eating ginger and such but they got sick anyway. So better living through chemistry I say.

 

[HTXHunter]

She has never tried the patches or gravol, but has tried Dramamine (but they don't seem to help). And would getting a prescription for them be as straight forward as going to the doctors, explaining the situation and asking for a prescription?

And about the business class flights, do you happen to know the price difference between business and economy seats?

 

[BRICKBURN]

She has never tried the patches or gravol, but has tried Dramamine (but they don't seem to help). And would getting a prescription for them be as straight forward as going to the doctors, explaining the situation and asking for a prescription?

And about the business class flights, do you happen to know the price difference between business and economy seats?

Certainly have a chat with the physician about options. Like Phil said, starting the day before with the medication makes a difference. Taking just before hand is not the way to go.

There is a significant price difference between Economy and Business class. Just depends how much you need it.

As an aside:
Generally there is less sensation of motion if you are in the aisle seat in the middle of the aircraft, over the wings.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

HTXHunter: Delta IAH-JNB via ATL is $1200 economy and $5600 B-class for mid-May 2017. I have some friends in Houston that flew Qatar B-class to JNB via Doha. Longer flight time, which is probably not good for your wife, but much cheaper b-class fare.

Tips to prevent motion sickness
http://www.medicinenet.com/tips_to_prevent_motion_sickness-page2/views.htm

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Motion Sickness: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/motion-sickness.14711/

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

You could give the doctor route a go and use a car ride to see if the prescribed meds help there. If so then you'd have a better idea for a flight. If not, well then at least you tried.

 

[greyfox]

As an aside:
Generally there is less sensation of motion if you are in the aisle seat in the middle of the aircraft, over the wings.

Former Pilot here, over the wings, (Center of Gravity of the aircraft) is always a smoother ride. try to get the Emergency exit.

Also, with Dramamine, try saltines and a OTC sleep aid.

 

[HTXHunter]

Thanks for the help everyone, I will definitely try all these options.

 

[lcq]

Scopolamine patch. Jerome's post. Stuff works and the side effects aren't too terrible

 

[Divernhunter]

My ex-wife had the same trouble. The patch worked for her when we went on a cruise.

 

[CAustin]

She has never tried the patches or gravol, but has tried Dramamine (but they don't seem to help). And would getting a prescription for them be as straight forward as going to the doctors, explaining the situation and asking for a prescription?

And about the business class flights, do you happen to know the price difference between business and economy seats?

Go to the Dr for patches and a sleeping pill.
Price difference is $6000 to $7000 depending on season for business vs economy class.

 

[JimP]

On the plane ride check with Lori at Travel Express, she may be able to set you up with a center of the plane seat. I flew SSA last year and found the seats in economy to be quite roomy for a person that is 6'4" and 230 lbs. And who knows you might get some seats where there are no others next to you in the center. A friend and his wife that went over with me last year had the whole center section to themselves both on the flight over and back.

 

[Divernhunter]

It was very easy to get the patches. Just ask doctor to write a prescription.

 

[Royal27]

Motion Sickness: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/motion-sickness.14711/

Show off.

 

[Limcroma Safaris]

But with that being said, my wife gets terrible motion sickness, even on an hour car ride. The 15ish hour flight to Africa makes it, in her mind, worth not going at all.

My wife experiences the same exact thing.... She has tried everything from the Scopolomine patch to Dramamine to Bonine. Dramamine makes her groggy with severe dry mouth, and the patch doesn't work for her at all. Bonine is the only thing that has consistently helped her without any side effects. Try out a couple different options to see what works best for her.

Please convince her though, that the experience that awaits her in Africa is worth the trip!

 

[HTXHunter]

My wife experiences the same exact thing.... She has tried everything from the Scopolomine patch to Dramamine to Bonine. Dramamine makes her groggy with severe dry mouth, and the patch doesn't work for her at all. Bonine is the only thing that has consistently helped her without any side effects. Try out a couple different options to see what works best for her.

Please convince her though, that the experience that awaits her in Africa is worth the trip!

I will have to get her to try some of those things. To be honest, I didn't have a a whole lot of sympathy towards car sickness, until I got it on a long trip and I made her pull over because I thought my head was going to explode. Thanks for the help and I'm definitely trying to convince her and have her be part of the memories of Africa

 

[JimP]

Just be careful. Once she finds out that she can travel you might be going a lot of places