Car Sickness.......

[moldlady]

I've always wondered why tylenol 8 hour and ginger seemed to work. Both help with inflammation.

Could it be that our brains are inflammed for some reason? Fungus? Does wheat glutton cause inflammation in the brain as well as other areas of the body?

ML

[lizard00]

I just did a google search and this came up on MedicineNet. Doesn't really talk about Tylenol so much, but the hypothesized (sp?) cause of motion sickness. An interesting read, anyway.

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Ginger, along with being an anti-inflammatory is also a digestive aid, so it helps to calm nausea,vomiting, etc. Not sure about the Tylenol though.

[moldlady]

lizard,

I thought that was interesting that even blind people get motion sickness. That kinda rules out the vision thing a bit....

ML

[Juliebove]

I must be the odd one. I never get car sick when I am in the back seat or the one driving. But I can in the front seat, depending on who is driving. For me I think it is partly anxiety. I tend to do the worst on roads like the freeway where we are going pretty fast. I get nauseaus if the driver goes over 65. Something in my stomach just goes off and I can always tell if they are speeding. I will look at the speedometer and sure enough, they are! I also start feeling sick if they are driving too close to the car ahead of us. In that case I just have to close my eyes. For me it is not just the motion but a visual thing as well.

[moldlady]

Wow Julie,

You have a built in speedometer! I never thought of it that way. I guess like you said the anxiety of not knowing if the driver is taking precaution can add to the sicknesss. That would explain why we do not get this way when driving?

Maybe us sickies are really back seat drivers?

Must be a combo of things going on... but I do know fresh lemon and ginger do help.

ML

[Ursa Major]

I get incredibly sick with motion sickness sometimes, but I have NEVER thrown up because of it (sometimes I wished I would, to feel better).

It is much better when driving. But if it is a drive that is more than three hours, I will still arrive feeling groggy and feel that way for up to two days. As a passenger (always in the front seat, I need to be able to look straight ahead) I get sick when turns are taken too fast especially. Usually I try to sleep on long rides, it helps with anxiety (my husband's driving makes me feel unsafe).

I have found that I don't want to take Gravol (motion sickness medication in Canada), because it puts me out for about eight hours. The only thing I can do when I take it is to sleep.

What works fairly well most of the time are sea bands. They are knitted bracelets with a plastic sort of bead, which you put on and center the bead over a specific pressure point.

They worked extremely well for sea sickness when on a cruise (as soon as I would take them off everything started spinning, I had to even keep them on in the shower, but didn't need them lying down). They usually work fine in cars and planes as well.

But this last flight to Mexico I got really sick because of turbulences. I wasn't well for a couple of days. I couldn't turn my head fast and had to move slowly in general, or would get dizzy again.

My symptoms are extreme dizziness, sometimes migraine (always headache), grogginess, general malaise, weakness (hardly be able to stand) and being very unsteady as well as not being able to think clearly.

[moldlady]

Hey U.M.,

I've heard about those bracelets for women in the early stages of morning sickness from pregnancy.

So, if I understand you correctly, I have to wear it all the time when driving or when on a ship or flying?

I'm all for stuff that works that does not have side effects.

What really gets me is when someone is driving and they constantly accelerate and then slow down..... on the pedal and then off the pedal almost like with the beat of the music. City traffic incourages this, talking does this, .... and my head is going back and forth back and forth and getting sicker and sicker.

Sure would be nice to enjoy the scenery for once.

ML

[Ursa Major]

Yes, you understand correctly. You wear those bracelets the whole time you are actually moving. But if you don't take them off soon after you stop moving, they will make you sick, strangely.

They aren't cheap (I've seen price tags from $14.95 to $19.95, which really is outrageous), but ultimately worth it. You find them in pharmacies, and they sell them on cruise ships (in the pharmacy section of their on-board store).

When on our cruise two years ago, I lost my sea-bands somehow after getting off the plane. The first two days of the cruise were fine, as we were hugging the Florida shore and it was perfectly calm.

But then when we crossed the Gulf of Mexico to get to Mexico, I got dreadfully seasick. I must have looked like I was drunk when going to the store! But as soon as I put on the sea bands (right after paying, still in the store), I was perfectly fine and had no problem walking straight when leaving!

I was joking a couple of days later, when we had the captains dinner, that on cruise ships sea bands are a part of evening attire. Fortunately, my outfit had a thin jacket, and it was light blue, while the sea bands were grey. They hardly showed.

Looking around, I wasn't the only one wearing them!

I hate city driving for the very reason you mentioned. That constant stopping and starting is about the worst thing about driving for me. I avoid city driving if I can.

[moldlady]

Is there a way we can make these bands??? String a bead on to a rubber band link thingy?

ML

[Ursa Major]

Is there a way we can make these bands??? String a bead on to a rubber band link thingy?

ML

I don't think that is advisable. The way they are made is very well thought out so they actually work without restricting blood flow. Plus, they come with detailed instructions on exactly where to apply the bead for pressure. If you don't have it in the right spot, it won't work.

[moldlady]

I''m going to try something..... if it doesn't work I'll check to see if they have them at the pharmacy.....

thanks

ml

[Lizz7711]

I've had car and travel sickness all my life. I've been off glutens for 5 weeks now and starting on my 6th week. Today I noticed for the first time while traveling I did not feel sick.

Is there a connection?

moldlady

I've also had car sickness my whole life. And when pregnant had nausea/vomiting until month 7 and had to take anti nausea meds until then just to get through a day. Since last September I've been taking cortef which is low dose hydrocortisone to treat adrenal fatigue, and a side benefit (besides being miraculously cured of excessive fatigue and irritability) is that I no longer have car sickness, at least not to any big degree as it was, I can even read as I ride the bus to grad school (i'm 42 years old just FYI--I say i'm in grad school and people think i'm 22).

So my theory is that undiagnosed celiac disease caused my adrenals to be under stress my whole life, until they finallycrashed last summer and I got onto Cortef. I also have now been diagnosed hypothyroid and am taking armour for that as well (probably also caused by celiac). Adrenal fatigue is probably present in most people with food sensitivities, but totally underdiagnosed and not treated.

Liz

[moldlady]

Liz,

I so agree with you. This celiac thing has caused so much more than what I have realized. I try and tell people but they do not believe me. I was at a big banquet last night and ate some pasta forgetting completely that there was white flour in it!!! I'm still getting used to this whole thing. Lucky I only had a small portion. Everything else I ate seemed acceptable. I just had a brain cramp when the pasta dish with marinara sauce was passed under my nose!!!

The real test came from all the city driving and still no car sickness. I suppose a true test will be on a boat. I don't know if I'm ready for that until I get one of those bands.

I made a band out of a thick hair thingy and then wound a thick pipecleaner around it to make a lump.

ML

[Ursa Major]

I've also had car sickness my whole life. And when pregnant had nausea/vomiting until month 7 and had to take anti nausea meds until then just to get through a day. Since last September I've been taking cortef which is low dose hydrocortisone to treat adrenal fatigue, and a side benefit (besides being miraculously cured of excessive fatigue and irritability) is that I no longer have car sickness, at least not to any big degree as it was, I can even read as I ride the bus to grad school (i'm 42 years old just FYI--I say i'm in grad school and people think i'm 22).

So my theory is that undiagnosed celiac disease caused my adrenals to be under stress my whole life, until they finallycrashed last summer and I got onto Cortef. I also have now been diagnosed hypothyroid and am taking armour for that as well (probably also caused by celiac). Adrenal fatigue is probably present in most people with food sensitivities, but totally underdiagnosed and not treated.

Liz

I don't understand why you take Cortef? It is NOT a low dose of hydrocortisone at all, but fludrocortisone, another hormone your adrenal glands produce, which controls blood pressure and sodium levels, amongst other things.

If you don't make enough cortisol, you need to actually take hydrocortisone to supplement that. If you have low levels of aldosterone (which I do), then you need to take Cortef (and hydrocortisone as well if you also have low cortisol levels). I take both, as well as Armour for hypothyroidism.

[Lizz7711]

I don't understand why you take Cortef? It is NOT a low dose of hydrocortisone at all, but fludrocortisone, another hormone your adrenal glands produce, which controls blood pressure and sodium levels, amongst other things.

If you don't make enough cortisol, you need to actually take hydrocortisone to supplement that. If you have low levels of aldosterone (which I do), then you need to take Cortef (and hydrocortisone as well if you also have low cortisol levels). I take both, as well as Armour for hypothyroidism.

There must be another type of cortef! My cortef is hydrocortisone for sure!

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[moldlady]

I don't understand why you take Cortef? It is NOT a low dose of hydrocortisone at all, but fludrocortisone, another hormone your adrenal glands produce, which controls blood pressure and sodium levels, amongst other things.

If you don't make enough cortisol, you need to actually take hydrocortisone to supplement that. If you have low levels of aldosterone (which I do), then you need to take Cortef (and hydrocortisone as well if you also have low cortisol levels). I take both, as well as Armour for hypothyroidism.

Can the adrenals and thyroid bounce back or not?

[Ursa Major]

There must be another type of cortef! My cortef is hydrocortisone for sure!

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As I said in another thread, I was wrong. My fludrocortisone is Florinef, not Cortef. You are right, Cortef is a weaker form of hydrocortisone.

Sorry about that.

[babysteps]

me too - car sickness as a kid, gradually not as noticeable as an adult, but still present.

maybe "they" should add motion sickness to the neurological symptoms of celiac?

Yes the smaller the vehicle or further away from the drive wheels, the worse it would be. I commuted by train for 15 yrs, it took 6 or 7yrs before I could read without too much motion sickness (no nausia, just that buzzing dizziness others mentioned).

And all this virtually gone now that I'm gluten-free (I read a map for my spouse in the car 2 wks ago and realized I didn't feel dizzy at all)

My parents were very thankful that as a kid I could always give enough warning that i was sick on the shoulder, not in the car. Then my mom would switch places with me & I'd sit in the front seat. Somehow I *could* handle spinning & dipping rides (both) as a kid - who can tell why? Something about open air helped. As an adult rarely got sick (even with the buzzy dizziness) *except* after weddings - always thought the culprit was drinking more than normal, but I think now it was the cake (really!).

I always joked that taxi's gave me 'shaken baby' syndrome from all that accelerating & braking. Haven't tried since gluten-free, would be nice if that went away too.

[Skylarker]

This is so interesting. I've never been car sick, only sea sick and air sick (fairly mildly).

But I have a horrible sense of direction, to the point that I used to get lost all the time in the building where I used to work (very embarrassing). I found that my sense of where I am in space improved after I found out I had ADD and started taking Ritalin.

Then, a few weeks ago, I went gluten free. I noticed immediately that while driving I now have a much better sense of -- don't know what to call it, because I have never had an accident which I caused, so my depth perception can't be all that bad -- how things are organized in space. I noticed walking down the street that things look much more 3-dimensional to me than before.

So I wonder if I had a problem with my eyes coordinating with each other and with the brain, which is improved without the gluten immune reaction. We know that there are neurological symptoms with gluten (in fact, my life-long depression lifted when I quit gluten), so maybe car sickness is part of that whole dimension of the illness.

Seems like eye-brain coordination could be an issue with car sickness, in other words.

Marly

[moldlady]

Marly,

That is really something how your perception was better. No telling how bad this celiac thing is????

Babysteps,

You cracked me up when you said that taxi cabs made you feel like "shaken baby" syndrome. I've felt that way too.

ML

[Sugar]

I used to get carsick, but since I went gluten-free, I don't anymore!

[moldlady]

I used to get carsick, but since I went gluten-free, I don't anymore!

Sugar,

SAME WITH ME! Isn't it wonderful to enjoy the scenic route??? I love it. My husband can't believe how excited I am now to take a trip anywhere. In the past I always had to make my ginger tea first and take some with.... or there would be a fight because I did not want to go and feel dizzy sluggish sick feeling the whole time.

I have a dear friend that I told this and she also gets car sick but does not want to go gluten free.

So, I did buy her one of those arm bands. I had to ask at the pharmacy and it is expensive. She tried it for a trip into the big city yesterday and no car sickness. Now, she is a believer and loves those arm bands/wrist.

No more car sickness/sea sickness..... 2 thumbs up!

:D :D

ML