MissingMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 29, 1999
Meclizine is the generic name for AntiVert -- which is usually used to combat dizziness or that spinning sensation people get with either vertigo or just an ear infection. Before I got sick, I thought vertigo had more to do with heights. Nope, caught my reflection in the computer monitor one day and saw my head drooping to the side. When I tried to sit up straight, I felt like I was going to be sick. That was when I first went to the doctor.
They ran all kinds of tests on me and scared me to death telling me I might be epileptic, I might have a brain tumor, or I might just have vertigo. Well, luckily it was just the vertigo -- spinning sensation. I had had it for so long, I couldn't even verbalize that I felt dizzy -- just that I felt funny and it wasn't good.
Doc prescribed meclizine. I am a reference librarian by nature, so I did the nerdly thing and looked up Meclizine in the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference) that most doctors keep handy to reference side effects and what drugs not to mix, etc.
The PDR mentioned the antihistamine effect and that sometimes meclizine could be prescribed for headaches and _anxiety_. That was when I noticed the "chill" effect -- it took the edge of everything -- especially my appetite. Went from a size 8 to a 2 in about 2.5 months with no appetite. Don't worry -- I am back up to a very healthy 8 again. Well, stress affects headaches. Allergies affect headaches. So it isn't any wonder that I felt some relief from my headaches on meclizine even though it wasn't prescribed for that.
Meclizine can be bought over the counter in the US in a non-prescription dosage (12mg I think). The name brand version is called Bonine and can be found with the Dramamine products in your pharmacy (probably there in Canada as well).
You can also try the Sea Bands sold in pharmacies and Wal-Marts. They are just velcro wristbands with a small bead for a pressure point. Didn't do anything for me -- but some folks swear by them.
Ask your local pharmacy if they sell Bonine. Do try it before you go in case you are like me and need to cut the dosage some. No fun being sick at WDW, but no funny being so dopey you make Dopey look intelligient!
PS -- rides that get me personally:
--Star Tours if I watch the lights for the jump to hyperspace (focus on the Droid!); Body Wars doesn't bother me
--Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain (I pray for a quick death -- very jerky)
--Hunchback at MGM (this may surprise you but the sound system is so freaking loud to me -- it must be a trigger for me cause I refuse to go back now -- if sound bothers you, sit in the back so you can step out if you need to or bring ear plugs to cut down on the volume -- but the show itself is great)
--RnR sometimes but not always
--3D shows sometimes get me (Muppets, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Tough to Be a Bug). If they start bothering me, I take a deep breath and look away from the screen focusing on a nonmoving object until my equilibrium returns.
I won't even try ToT, but I LOVE Splash Mountain and TestTrack. This may sound like a lot of rides I won't do -- but you may be different. And there is more to Disney than adrenaline (thank goodness!). I wait in line with my fearless DH for _all_ rides and then just step across and tell the CM I won't be riding on the ones above. That way, I get to be with him and see the theming of the ride and que line without dreading the ride itself. Since rides are fairly short, I just wait in the gift shop for him. Needless to say -- I am not interested in IoA at Universal.
Have fun and be safe.
They ran all kinds of tests on me and scared me to death telling me I might be epileptic, I might have a brain tumor, or I might just have vertigo. Well, luckily it was just the vertigo -- spinning sensation. I had had it for so long, I couldn't even verbalize that I felt dizzy -- just that I felt funny and it wasn't good.
Doc prescribed meclizine. I am a reference librarian by nature, so I did the nerdly thing and looked up Meclizine in the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference) that most doctors keep handy to reference side effects and what drugs not to mix, etc.
The PDR mentioned the antihistamine effect and that sometimes meclizine could be prescribed for headaches and _anxiety_. That was when I noticed the "chill" effect -- it took the edge of everything -- especially my appetite. Went from a size 8 to a 2 in about 2.5 months with no appetite. Don't worry -- I am back up to a very healthy 8 again. Well, stress affects headaches. Allergies affect headaches. So it isn't any wonder that I felt some relief from my headaches on meclizine even though it wasn't prescribed for that.
Meclizine can be bought over the counter in the US in a non-prescription dosage (12mg I think). The name brand version is called Bonine and can be found with the Dramamine products in your pharmacy (probably there in Canada as well).
You can also try the Sea Bands sold in pharmacies and Wal-Marts. They are just velcro wristbands with a small bead for a pressure point. Didn't do anything for me -- but some folks swear by them.
Ask your local pharmacy if they sell Bonine. Do try it before you go in case you are like me and need to cut the dosage some. No fun being sick at WDW, but no funny being so dopey you make Dopey look intelligient!
PS -- rides that get me personally:
--Star Tours if I watch the lights for the jump to hyperspace (focus on the Droid!); Body Wars doesn't bother me
--Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain (I pray for a quick death -- very jerky)
--Hunchback at MGM (this may surprise you but the sound system is so freaking loud to me -- it must be a trigger for me cause I refuse to go back now -- if sound bothers you, sit in the back so you can step out if you need to or bring ear plugs to cut down on the volume -- but the show itself is great)
--RnR sometimes but not always
--3D shows sometimes get me (Muppets, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Tough to Be a Bug). If they start bothering me, I take a deep breath and look away from the screen focusing on a nonmoving object until my equilibrium returns.
I won't even try ToT, but I LOVE Splash Mountain and TestTrack. This may sound like a lot of rides I won't do -- but you may be different. And there is more to Disney than adrenaline (thank goodness!). I wait in line with my fearless DH for _all_ rides and then just step across and tell the CM I won't be riding on the ones above. That way, I get to be with him and see the theming of the ride and que line without dreading the ride itself. Since rides are fairly short, I just wait in the gift shop for him. Needless to say -- I am not interested in IoA at Universal.
Have fun and be safe.
