Abu Dhabi Off-Road Club Forums

For the ones who know me they would not be surprised to see this topic raised by me. The points below have been searched through the internet and through personal experience. Please feel free to add any insight you may have.

Motion sickness can turn a fun desert trip to a nightmare at what ever trip level.

What are the symptoms?

1) Nausea
2) Vomiting
3) Headache
4) Sweating leading to dehydration

What causes motion sickness?

It is when one part of your balance-sensing system (your inner ear, and sensory nerves) senses that your body is moving, but the other parts don't. For example, if you are in the cabin of a moving ship, your inner ear may sense the motion of waves, but your eyes don't see any movement. This conflict between the senses causes motion sickness.

You may feel sick from the motion of cars, airplanes, trains, amusement park rides, boats or ships. You could also get sick from video games, flight simulators, or looking through a microscope. In these cases, your eyes see motion, but your body doesn't sense it.

How can you avoid motion sickness?

It's best to try to prevent motion sickness, because symptoms are hard to stop after they start. After symptoms start, you may feel better only after the motion stops.

These general tips may help you avoid motion sickness:

1) Move your head as little as possible.
2) Don't drink alcohol or eat a heavy meal before you travel.
3) Drink a lot of water
4) Try to avoid strong odors and spicy foods.
5) Avoid drinking coffee as it makes you more excited
6) Keep calm and relaxed – stress free

In addition to the above taking medicine against motion sickness helps but you need to take them an hour before the trip starts. So take them at the right time as if taken too late you or your guests will still feel bad. Ensure you are not allergic to any of the items which the medicine is made of.

I hope the above information will demystify motion sickness and will give you the peace of mind to continue enjoying off-roading with AD4x4 whether you are a driver or a passenger.

Great topic gerge, i was worry it was due to the jeep thingy

Nice topic. I get motion sickness once in a while during trips. I didn't know/checked the reason behind this until this post. However, i have observed and concluded about the trigger; at least for me. I get this dizziness and vomiting sensation when we do plain driving with more kilometers wherein the lead avoids straight crests, technical areas and high dunes to reach the deflation point mostly due to time constraints. So i think at times when lack of excitement and adrenaline exists, i get dizzy in the trip and this kills all the fun and leaves the weekend awkward. However, i never get motion sickness when i have a passenger, Probably due to conversations with passenger which keeps me away from the thoughts of motion sickness.

So, you're saying, all of us here have no balanced sense!

Good info


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There is another item which I was diagnosed with last week which can cause something similar but it will leave you unable to move. It's benign vertigo. Again it is caused by an inner imbalance and causes your body to think things are spinning when in fact your eyes are flicking from side to side as there is disconnect between the inner ear and the brain to what is actually happening. I ended up unable to walk, being sick, burning up and lack of energy.

Doctor said best way to stop it is to force it to happen again and again which makes the duration reduce and the frequency as the brain attempts to normalise the situation. There is medication for the nausea but not the other symptoms.

If it's the same as my case it will mean driver cannot drive under any circumstances. They must lie on their side and focus on a spot. On your back can induce more episodes, whilst standing causes light headedness and dizzy spells.


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scotchyl wrote:There is another item which I was diagnosed with last week which can cause something similar but it will leave you unable to move. It's benign vertigo. Again it is caused by an inner imbalance and causes your body to think things are spinning when in fact your eyes are flicking from side to side as there is disconnect between the inner ear and the brain to what is actually happening. I ended up unable to walk, being sick, burning up and lack of energy.

Doctor said best way to stop it is to force it to happen again and again which makes the duration reduce and the frequency as the brain attempts to normalise the situation. There is medication for the nausea but not the other symptoms.

If it's the same as my case it will mean driver cannot drive under any circumstances. They must lie on their side and focus on a spot. On your back can induce more episodes, whilst standing causes light headedness and dizzy spells.


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Georges. Great post. Thank you for all your insights.

Andy. May I suggest you check your levels of magnesium. A little cure might help as your symptoms as similar to those suffering from magnesium deficiency.

Thanks Gerge for this topic.
I had the same issue long time back.
Going to any fishing trip or desert trip (fast track one with too many curves) used to cause me nausea & most of the times it ends with vomiting
Prevention by avoiding causes is the best thing to do but sometimes even prevention don't do it all.

For those who are facing this issue most of the time, you have to take medication prior to any trip that you know it will have a lot of curvy or swinging movements.
The 2 best medications are:
1- dramamine
2- Dizinil

Both should be taken at least 20 min before you go into action.

Note: they will not help if taken after having the feeling of motion sickness & must be taken before the trip.

Hope this will help all our friends having this issue & can enjoy going to more any trip now

"Good is enemy of great"
Saif
Prado SWB V6
0551094084

Saif1 wrote:Thanks Gerge for this topic.
I had the same issue long time back.
Going to any fishing trip or desert trip (fast track one with too many curves)

I remember that night drive

Thank you very much guys for this topic.

Im a member of yours who has serious motion sickness and facing this problem almost every drive. I tried not to drink coffee, to eat well, drink more water, etc but it did not work for me. The only thing worked for me is a passenger so that it relaxes me and no motion sickness...

I will also try these medicines as well and try to follow the tips above as much as possible.

Persistent dizziness or repeated spells of dizziness can also be caused by movement, over production of calcium crystals in the inner ear or by an ear infection from flu or cold ie in your sinus, Changes in your eyes sight ie prescription and focus and bacterial infections in your guts This can happen even when you are not moving. There is also a disease called Menieres which is basically undefined or reasoned dizziness. I have had these symptoms since November last year and they are not related to me moving, i can get dizzy just by scrolling through posts on facebook or watching TV/movie credits! I am waiting for the outcome of an EEG and MRI to establish the root cause.


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waqmaster wrote:

Saif1 wrote:Thanks Gerge for this topic.
I had the same issue long time back.
Going to any fishing trip or desert trip (fast track one with too many curves)

I remember that night drive

Yeah, it was an amazing night drive but that feeling just spoiled the last part for me.

"Good is enemy of great"
Saif
Prado SWB V6
0551094084

Snappy wrote:Persistent dizziness or repeated spells of dizziness can also be caused by movement, over production of calcium crystals in the inner ear or by an ear infection from flu or cold ie in your sinus, Changes in your eyes sight ie prescription and focus and bacterial infections in your guts This can happen even when you are not moving. There is also a disease called Menieres which is basically undefined or reasoned dizziness. I have had these symptoms since November last year and they are not related to me moving, i can get dizzy just by scrolling through posts on facebook or watching TV/movie credits! I am waiting for the outcome of an EEG and MRI to establish the root cause.


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Is it just dizzy or associated with sort of headache like high blood pressure at the back of the head?


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I am the king of vomiting in trips - just take stugeron. It is the best medicine for motion sickness.

Dizinil will increase your blood pressure so if you are hypertension better avoid it


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Is it just dizzy or associated with sort of headache like high blood pressure at the back of the head?


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Hi Baha - just the dizziness, no associated symptoms. Everything else is normal.


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yes everybody has it from time to time...

For me, whatever I do when it comes to off roading or diving, i'll go for dizinil during deflation or before boarding the boat... always have some of them with me in my offroad and diving gears.

But the worst I have endure was going down in spiral at during Skydiving... The free fall was amazing, and then was spoiled after the chute was open... conclusion : Never stop falling!