When you can’t stomach the motion

“Mommy, I feel yucky” are among the most dreaded words a driver can hear while cruising down the road with a child.

Andrea Marco knows. She heard those chilling words just before her young son, Cam, got carsick. “I looked back at him and could tell from his expression he wasn’t doing too well,” says the Seal Beach mother. “But before I could pull over ... “ Well, you know the rest.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology, which represents doctors who specialize in ear, nose and throat medicine and head and neck surgery, estimates that more than 2 million people a year visit doctors for dizziness and motion sickness.

Some patients have such bad motion sickness, they avoid any kind of travel, says Dr. Akira Ishiyama, a doctor of neurotology at UCLA Medical Center who specializes in inner ear disorders. While those afflicted may often be young children, doctors say the condition affects all age groups.

Young children are more likely to vomit in a car because their balance systems are not as well developed as those of a mature person, says Dr. George W. Shorago, an otolaryngologist in San Mateo. Of the 100 patients he sees a week, about 35 of them suffer from motion sickness.

Common symptoms of motion sickness include dizziness, nausea and cold sweats. Skin typically becomes pale and there can be vomiting and hyperventilation. Some victims become drowsy and experience headaches. These occur when a person’s central nervous system receives mixed or conflicting messages, Ishiyama says. The brain is receiving messages that are not in agreement with all the sensations someone is feeling.

For example, if you are riding in the back seat and can’t see the road ahead of you, your inner ears and skin receptors will detect the motion of your travel but your eyes don’t see it. That leads to motion sickness because of the mismatch of information sent to the central nervous system, he explains.

The same problem can occur aboard an airplane when passengers feel turbulence. They may get sick because they can’t actually see the motion. All they see is the inside of the airplane.

Doctors are now finding that when an adult has a history of migraines, he or she is much more likely to develop motion sickness, Ishiyama says.

Laura Fluder, a financial analyst at Boeing, says she and others in her family have had a long history of motion sickness. Even her honeymoon was tainted by a queasy stomach.

“I took a Dramamine, but our flight was delayed,” she recalls. “By the time we were ready to board the flight, my husband had to practically carry me on the plane” because of drowsiness.

Nancy Otto of Seal Beach says her son Alec, 11, has always been prone to motion sickness. When he starts getting symptoms, “we have to stop the car, even if it’s on the side of the freeway or the edge of a mountain. We let him get out and walk around, breathe some air, drink water and eat crackers,” she says.

Surprisingly, Alec loves to ride roller coasters and never gets motion sickness, says Otto, a fact probably attributable to his being able to anticipate his turns and drops.

Here are some other tips to help prevent or ease motion sickness:

* Drivers rarely get sick. If you can’t drive, sit in the front passenger seat because it will allow you to see the road ahead.

* Try to avoid riding in the back seat or in a rear-facing seat of a vehicle.

* Don’t read while riding in a vehicle.

* Avoid greasy foods when traveling.

* Keep the window open for fresh air.

* If you are traveling with children who get carsick, have them keep their head as still as possible if they have symptoms and try to distract them from their discomfort. Stop and let them walk around if they feel ill.

* Travel prepared with wet wipes, towels and extra clothing in case of accidents.

There are over-the-counter medications that can help prevent nausea, as well as prescription medications. Shorago, the San Mateo specialist, suggests Bonine, an over-the-counter remedy, or a Transderm patch, which suppresses nausea but is not sedating the way he says Bonine can be. Transderm (scopolamine) is available by prescription only.

Jeanne Wright can be reached at jeanrite@aol.com.