Severe car sickness- UPDATE

[Flora]

Hi all,

 

Bill travles to his school on Monday mornings, and is returned on Friday afternoons by a taxi.

 

The poor taxi driver has already dealt with Bill throwing up by the side of the road (thankfully only tiny splashes on his leather interior). Today however he came to the door when dropping Bill off and looked really fraught! The poor man had to drive for two hours on motorways in the pouring rain with the passenger window wide open because Bill felt car sick. He was not only frozen and blown sideways by the wind, but the interior of his car is soaken

 

I have not yet used any travel sickness remedies. I'm not sure why I haven't gone down that route, but mainly I suppose that I'm not that comfortable with giving him something that might make him feel drowsy for when he gets to school, and was a bit worried that he might have an adverse reaction (he's never really tollerated this kind of medication). I'm thinking now though, for his sake (he really does come home looking ill, and always has to lie down for an hour when he first arrives at school) and that of the poor driver, that I'm going to have to try something like travel calms or similar.

 

If anyone knows of any good remedies, medication or otherwise, that really does work for severe motion sickness then I'd love to hear about them. (if it's for specific products can you tell me about them in pm please)

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Flo'

Edited September 19, 2008 by Flora

[Tally]

I used to get terribly car sick if I went for a journey lasting 5 minutes or more. I found no medications that helped, the only thing that helped was closing my eyes for the entire journey. Could he put on some music or a story tape and shut his eyes?

 

For some reason, it just spontaneously stopped! I thought I would never be able to drive but I can with no problems. I only get sick now if I try to read in the car.

[tjw]

hi flora

when i was pregnant i used to take one a day ginger capsuals to keep the sickness off and i must say i was not sick at all, a very good freind told me about them, i dont know if they would work for bill, but you have to get them into your system, also a good tablet is called bucastem you place them under your tonge to disolve and they stop sickness you can get these over the counter or via docs if bill is on other meds then docs route would be best. hope you get it sorted for him poor thing,

take care

theresa

[Mumble]

Could he put on some music or a story tape and shut his eyes?

Shutting your eyes is a very bad idea (especially if you're the driver ) because motion sickness is caused by a difference in the signals the brain is receiving from what it sees/feels.

 

I remember being told to sit on a folded sheet of newspaper ... I'm sure there's a very important medical reason behind it...

[chris54]

How old is Bill.

I used to get travel sickness as a young child.

I'm told that if you (HE) looks out of the car at what is going on outside and not at the interior of the car then the symptoms will be less or non existent.

 

Something to do with the mind and body getting out of sink.(The inner ear).

 

Speak to the pharmacist to see what they have to say or go to the GP, he will be able to give you something.

 

Chris.

[Sooze2]

For me closing my eyes would have made it worse. What stops me getting it is to sit in the front of the car. But thats probably not an option so, no reading at all, no DS playing, try to stay looking forward all the time, chew chewing gum or boiled sweets - barley sugars used to be good and ginger can help too.

 

At 38 I still suffer with it if I have to sit on the back seat of a car or if I read for as little as a few seconds I start to feel really ill. Even having to sit backwards on a train or bus can make me feel very very ill.

 

You can buy wrist bands for travel sickness, I remember trying them for sevear pregnancy sickness with the twins. Not sure if they work though.

 

Good Luck, I feel for him as it's a horrible feeling.

[NobbyNobbs]

we used over the counter travel sickness tablets for myself as a child, and for a foster child who would spontaneously throw up with no warning in the car. they worked a treat, but the key is taking them at least 2 hours before you get in the car, otherwise they make you feel worse. we survived a ferry trip, and 3 hours in the car with the sick child with no upsets, and i went on the train and ferry all the way to scotland with no problems (i get very seasick). my advice is to give them a go. if they dont work then you've not really lost anything. another option is to ask your son some detailed questions about the sickness. if he gets a headache before he feels sick it may well be a combination of stress from travelling and stuffy air thats causing the problem. in that case something like the herbal relaxation stuff might help. if he just feels sicky with no other symptoms than looking out of the front window at the horizon is meant to help (although it never did much for me) if he can't sit in the front because its a taxi perhaps theres a middle seatbelt he can use so he can see straight through.

 

as for worrying about the taxi driver, my father is one, and takes two AS boys to school monday and brings them back friday, and although its not an ideal situation i know he's never got particularly upset over wet/sicky seats. as long as its cleanable and not deliberate the driver should be understanding (a big box of chocolates at christmas helps )

[jb1964]

Hi,

 

I used to suffer terrible with travel sickness until I learnt to drive!! - sitting in the back of the car was worse for me - even now if I'm a passenger I struggle - I think it's something to do with balance and sitting in the front is best because you can see the road in front and aware of the motion - I remember being told not to look out of the side window as it affects your perception of motion etc.

 

Both my daughters have at certain times suffered with it and I do recall buying wrist bands - although I can't remember if they were very effective (sorry!!).

 

Hope things improve soon.

Take care,

Jb

[Flora]

Well, on Monday I sent Bill to school in his taxi. He had a beaker full of ice and a straw, plus I gave him some travel sickness medication half an hour before the taxi arrived. He wasn't sick, and while it wasn't perfect (still slightly queezy) it was an improvement.

 

This afternoon Bill came in from the taxi. He wasn't upset but was a bit worried that the driver was upset with him. First of all he was 15 minutes late going out for his taxi because he was waiting for the staff to give him his travel medication. Apparently the taxi driver went mad at him for keeping him waiting.

 

Then on the way home he became car sick again and threw up in a plastic bag the taxi driver had given him. The driver had to pull into a service station to throw it away and get him a clean one, and was apparently shouting at bill all the way home to keep his head in the bag in case he was sick again.

 

I rang the driver to find out if there was any damage to his car interior and to see if it needed valeting. I never got a chance to ask him because he ranted on about how it was absolutely rediculous that 'the education services would send him to a school so far a way when he has this problem', and told me that he'd rang them already and told them that! I was furious... I fought for years to get Bill this placement..

 

I rang the SEN transport people and they'd gone home; so I took a deep breath and rang our named officer to see what she thought, she wasn't there (thankfully) but I got to speak to someone else who was really lovely. She was comfortingly outraged at the attitude of the dirver, and she told me not to offer him money to clean his car because he'd be getting money for that from the county.

 

I've really thought about this and I've decided that the driver was way out of order. He's getting paid the equivalent working 8 hours a week to what some people earn working 3 times as many hours, plus extra for up keep of his car etc. He knew when he took on the contract that he would be transporting kids with SEN, and he's quite lucky really because Bill is so gentle and polite but just happens to suffer the misfortune of severe motion sickness.

 

I'm all stressed now. Any thoughts on this from anyone?

 

Flora

[ScienceGeek]

That is awful, the driver completely over reacted.

[NobbyNobbs]

you should definitely complain! that is completely out of order. i can almost understand the driver getting cross to start with as it is a stress when the place you earn your living is messed up but he should never have taken it out on Bill even if he saved it and ranted at you. ask for another driver. it wont happen instantly because as you probably know not all taxi drivers are allowed to do SEN transport. say you feel that his feelings towards Bill mean that you are concerned for your sons mental wellbeing. did you check the details on the travel sickness meds, as often they do need to be taken quite a time before travel. if bill was sick in a bag and didn't mess the car then there shouldn't be a problem taxi-wise, if in doubt see if you can get hold of proper travel sickness bags, plus a large zip-loc bag to put the used ones in so the driver doesn't have to pull over for fear of leaks.

 

hope something in there helps

[Flora]

I've just been up to say goodnight to Bill and there is more. Apparently the driver was saying to him, and it's not the first time he's said it: 'How come you're always last out? I've been waiting ages. I'm going to lose my job if you carry on making me late'.

 

I like to think that in most circumstances I'm a reasonable person, but am I right in thinking that for the taxi driver to be coming out with stuff like this is unreasonable? I've asked Bill about what makes him late and he isn't sure what it is. He reckons today he was extra late (15 minutes) due to waiting for one of the care staff to give him his meds, but he doesn't think he's usually that late. What's wrong with the taxi driver asking one of the staff in reception to pass a message on about timing? I will speak to the school myself, but I'm irritated to be having to make adjustments because the taxi driver's had a tantrum

 

Also, Bill reckons he wasn't sick on the car interior, he said it all went in the bag and the worst part of the journey was being made to keep his head in a plastic bag the rest of the way (about an hour at least), and every time he lifted his face out of the bag the taxi driver shouted at him to put it back again

 

Flora

[Tally]

I don't think it's reasonable for the tax driver to be shouting at your son, trying to discipline him or comment on his placement. His role is transport. If there is a problem with time keeping, he needs to raise it through the proper channels, and not take it out on your son.

[NobbyNobbs]

i'll ask my father tomorrow (hes a taxi driver who takes three AS boys to school) what he does when his kids go AWOL but from what i remember of conversations he goes and asks a member of staff where they are. the driver shouldn't be losing his job no matter how late the kids are.

 

is Bill the only kid in the taxi? my father has to fit to a schedule to a certain degree because the parents need to know when their kids are coming home but he wouldn't yell at a kid for being late or anything else (one of the boys regularly waves his hands in front of my father while hes trying to drive because he's so excited about what hes talking about).

 

shouting at Bill and in effect forcing him to keep his head in a bag of sick is abuse, and the driver really needs to be reported because he might have even more vulnerable children in the future. perhaps this driver has another job in the evening he's worried about getting to on time, in which case he needs to accept friday traffic is bad and he cant rely on getting anywhere at a particular time. complain to whoever is responsible for providing the taxi service, and also make sure you find out what company the driver works for, they should know incase there are any problems with anything else.

[lynne]

We have a similar problem with our son feeling sick but not actually being sick. He has recently started to take a taxi to school every day. Hence, he is arriving to school in such a state.

 

We have tried travel sickness tablets for a week and these have not worked. We have also tried travel bands and these have also not worked. So the next step is to go to the GPs and get a prescription.

 

If he sits in the front seat it is not a problem. However, his guide sits in the front and my son and another child sit in the back.

 

I did wonder weather it was from anxiety but it has been going on too long.

 

We too had a problem with the taxi driver. He drove too fast, span in and out of the lanes. Which did not help our son. But the escort asked for the driver to be changed. Had our son not had an escort we would never of known what was happening. Next week will be week 3 of school and from Monday we will have another new driver.

 

Does anyone else have problems with the drivers constantly changing?

[Flora]

Hi,

 

Nobbynobs, bill is the only boy who travels in this taxi. Traffic shouldn't be a huge problem on Friday because he finishes school at 2pm. It's only a twice a week journey because he is weekly residential at his school. (Bill is considered as extremely vulnerable... something that I'm sure the taxi driver has been made aware of to some extent).

 

He didn't have his head in a bag of sick, the driver disposed of that one, but he made him keep his face down in a clean bag, which bill found unpleasant anyway.

 

Bill was offered an escort to go with him when he first started (which we turned down because we didn't think it would be necessary) and I think I'm going to ask for this to be put in place (at least it will be someone who can tell me exactly what is happening). I would take him myself but I have an 11 year old and 16 yo at home too.

 

Flora

[Kazzen161]

Is he allowed to sit in the front seat? I feel better there than in the back. Or even in the middle of the back seat, if allowed.

 

It also depends on the car - I prefer older cars that give a more bumpy ride.

 

I always used to keep the window open - being cold helps.

 

I felt car sick for the first time in years, during the summer. I had the start of a migraine and was a bit stressed. I was a passenger (I don't get car sick when I am driving), and I could feel myself turning green! I had to open the windows, sit still and not talk.

[Flora]

Hi Kazzen, Yes he's always sat in the front.

 

I think one of the problems that's made his car sickness worse is that the taxi has a leather interior and the smell makes him feel sick as soon as he gets in.

 

They do have the windows open.... but that's one of the things the taxi driver has complained about.

 

My car is quite high up, and the taxi is low to the ground and Bill reckons this also makes him feel worse.

 

Anyway, not much I can do over the weekend. I'll send him in on monday with his beaker of ice, sickness meds and some 'sea bands' which I just managed to get this week. If that doesn't work then I'll have to think again.

 

I'll also get some proper travel sick bags.

 

I've already spoke to the driver and diplomatically told him that I do sympathise with his plight, but could he perhaps not make such a big thing of it to Bill. Things are going so well at school, and now the taxi driver is playing up If he does it again I'll have to put him in the naughty corner

 

Flo'

[oxgirl]

Hi Flora, sorry to hear all this about the probs with the driver.

I used to suffer from severe car sickness and the most effective thing for me was slowly sucking a boiled sweet. Also, if Bill could lean back comfortably in the seat and rest his head back against the headrest and just gaze out of the windscreen sucking very slowly on a sweet rather than letting his head move about too much. The sickness tablets used to make me sick, it was just the thought of them that set me off. Also, my mum used to make me sit with an old potty in between my legs 'just in case' and the smell of it would very often make me be sick too, but the boiled sweet certainly helped. I know that when Jay has a bad migraine and starts to feel like he's going to be sick he starts drinking lots and lots thinking it will make him feel better, but in fact, drinking too much just makes him worse. If Bill has a cold drink with him he might be best to just take tiny sips of it rather than long drinks, as this could make him more likely to be sick.

Hope Monday is better.

 

~ Mel ~

[ScienceGeek]

I think one of the problems that's made his car sickness worse is that the taxi has a leather interior and the smell makes him feel sick as soon as he gets in.

 

Urgh. I hate cars with leather seats, they make me travel sick as soon as I get in as well. The smell is horrible. The weird thing is people always tell me that looking out the windows make it worse, but I found that looking out the windows and concentrating on nothing else actually helped me! That and ginger tablets.

[baddad]

Hiya flozza -

 

Quick thought: do you know what Bill does in the car while they're travelling? Just a thought, but if he's reading or playing a gameboy or something like that it could be making him worse( reading in a car (as a passenger!) or on a coach or something always makes me feel (but not trains - why not trains? - unless I'm sitting backwards)...

Alternatively, if he's NOT doing anything like that, the opposite might be helpful to him (one man's meat and all that)...

If he closes his eyes a lot or dozes then opening them might help, or again the opposite if he usually has them open.

 

If you've tried everything you can to help with the physical symptoms then changing the environment in some way (or the way he engages within it) may be the only way to go, and as changing the taxi itself isn't an option then it's gonna have to be trial and error with minor 'tweaks'.

 

Nothing else practical to offer, but I hope you're successful in finding some nice, strong barf bags for him in the meantime

 

 

[stressedmumto2]

Flora. I think it is quite reasonabl for you to ask for another driver, no way should he be speaking to your child like that. His role is to escort your child to and from school and it's unfortunate that Bill has travel sickness but if he can't deal with it then he shouldn't be escorting Bill.

 

As for travel sickness when I was younger I would always feel very travel sick in my mum's partners care, literally with just going 5 minutes up the road, but other cars I would be fine in, my boyfriend has a new car now and the minute he got it the sickness feelings had come back, he has a leather interior in his car and so did my mum's partner so I worked it out for myself it was the interior causing this. I find sitting in the front of a car much better but even in my b/friends car it is still unbearable. I have asked him so many times that the next car he gets can he please not have leather, lol

 

One thing I found that did help was focussing on a point in front, wether it be a tree, a house, building etc as soon as that thing had gone I would find the next thing to focus on and I always have the window a small bit open, reading in the car for me is a big no no as that would make me feel even more sick, don't ask me why.

 

Is there any kind of smell that Bill likes that could be put on a hanky that he could sniff for the journey home that could mask the smell of the leather for me lavendar is good and I like vic's stuff too and the deep heat stuff, wonder if something like that may help, you could of course get Bill experimenting this weekend with things he could sniff that may mask them smell, just an idea anyway if you have no joy with transport. <'>

[NobbyNobbs]

my fathers three boys are monday/friday ones as well, but he still seems to hit traffic!

 

another thought is the driving style of the driver. some people drive very fast, then slow suddenly and pull their cars round corners hard. i found this made me very ill. my father isnt allowed to drive over 60 when i'm in the car because i get sick and stressed (even thought hes a fantastic driver). if the medical interventions dont work, i'd really start requesting a new driver. it might take a while because of the tender bids and the fact that SEN drivers have to have higher checks than regular taxi drivers. the company that won the contract might not have another driver with the enhancements free so it might get a bit complicated

 

oh and if the bag was plastic then the driver was putting Bill at risk of suffocation by telling him to put a bag near his face... just a bit more ammo!

[Suze]

Hi flozzie , ........smells can make me feel really sick too and headachey........same with my son too.Would he use a hankerchief with some essential oils on it??........there is one recommened for sickness......can,t remember it but holding this close to his nose might help.Also sucking a strong mint as this can debilitate your sense of smell and so lessen the effects of the leather smell.I,m inclined to think this might be a sensory problems aswell and I,d ask his therapist for advice etc.........does he use his tinted glasses in the car......this might help too.Also make sure he,s not getting too hot aswell., hugs suzex

[Sooze2]

I also find that the lower down the car the worse the nausea is. DH has a Mondeo for work and every time I travel in it even for a very short distance I feel very ill, I am fine in our people carrier though which is very high up.

 

Poor Bill, what a way for him to start the day. I also think a new driver is in order too, he shouldn't mention it at all when driving and as it will make B think about it even before it happens.

[JsMum]

Flora, I would go with an escort, it would provide your son assistance too if he needs fresh bags ect... I would also request a new driver, I think all trust has gone, a fresh start could help your son feel less anxious.

 

Also another thing does the car have those bottled puri air fresheners, they are a little bottle with high intensive scents, they have a dial too for high, medium to low so the fragrance can be controlled.

 

J is violently S*** with these, even on Low, they are usually on dashboards or fitted on to the grids where the air conditioner comes on.

 

Just wondering.

 

Also if s***Ness is regular, instead of a plastic bag, could he have some proper s*** bowls, I would request some from the chemist or the Local A+E. its got to be better than a plastic bag.

 

JsMum

Edited September 21, 2008 by JsMum

[JsMum]

The Taxi Driver has a nerve also your lad is unwell in his car because of a medical condition, I bet he must pick up loads of drunken people up on a night out and are S*** in his car, I bet he doesnt have a go at these like he does your lad and your lad cant help it.

 

He sounds like a bully.

 

Taxi cars often have these high fragrant air fresheners because many customers drink, wee, S***, and body odours so these air freshners block those smells but they are very intense and many are allergic but done realise that it is these air fresheners, we cant have any air freshener sprays, plug ins, or onces that sit on ledges, there just too strong.

 

Once we got in a Taxi where a Driver had used his own aftershave to mask a smell and J was ill for a three days.

 

Perfumes, and other strong smells set J off too.

 

We really do have a no scent house, just lovely fresh air.

 

JsMum

[Flora]

I finally heard back from the LA SEN transport lady..... and she has said from immediate effect she's asked the taxi company to use a car that doesn't have leather seats and has seats higher up from the road than the car he's been using.

 

On Monday Bill went in the taxi with a packet of sherbert lemons and some travel wrist bands, and these seemed to help.

 

Hopefully these two things, with a different car (and maybe a different driver ) might just do the trick.

 

Oh, latest one from the driver.... the transport lady told me that he'd rang them to see if they could make it so that he gets picked up before lunch time on a Friday so that he travels on an empty stomach. How very dare he? It's not up to him to suggest my son takes 2 hours off a school day every week

 

Anyway, here's hoping the change in car will solve all of this.

 

Flora

[Flora]

 

Well apparentely the change of car worked.... people carrier without a leather interior and no vomiting on the way home

 

Still got the same driver, but we can live with that

 

Flo'

[Suze]

Thats really good news flo, its amazing what a difference the leather seats etc can make.I have a friend with a car interior that makes me want to puke as soon as I get in, I get violent headaches too.Sunshine can make things worse as well is he using sunglasses or his glasses from Ian?, best wishes suzex