My 81-year-old husband who has dementia has suddenly developed carsickness, never a problem before. This began about a month ago; during a 20-minute drive he said he was feeling dizzy, then was nauseated when we got home, clammy, shaky. This was at night; he went to bed and was fine the next morning.
He has complained of dizziness and shakiness a few times since then after short rides. I’m afraid to take him out for fear he’ll get really sick while we are in a movie or restaurant. Should I try Dramamine? Is this possibly indicative of a more serious problem?
Given that your husband has dementia (and may be on meds for that) I would never consider trying Dramamine or anything else w/o having him examined by a doctor, possibly a neurologist. W/o knowing what other meds he's on, and researching them or better yet asking a doctor, he might be compromised by negative interactions.
much better to ask a doctor.
by the way dizziness can be caused by many things.
...ear infection (lose balance; dizziness)
...dehydration (very important for elderly people to drink a lot of water)
...sudden hearing loss
...medicines side-effects (THIS can cause motion-sickness in cars)
if you're worried, better to ask a doctor.
in the example i know, the elderly person has low blood pressure. this can cause dizziness too. getting up from lying down, to seated position creates dizziness. in the example i know, it's nothing worrying, because the low blood pressure is not verrry low.
If this doesn't clear up, I suggest a trip to the Ear Nose & Throat doctor (ENT) for a check up.
Good luck!
I take Bonine. It does make you tired so I take it at night and it last 24 hrs. Been on cruises with no problems.
For your husband, PT or meds may not be realistic interventions.
Is he able to get around and walk outside? That just helps everything work a bit better...if it can be done safely.
Visual processing is impaired by dementia, so it may be that freeway speeds gave him too much visual input to process and led to dizziness/nausea.
Same process as going on a very rapid carnival ride that moves riders around in circles...and a percentage of them have dizziness, nausea, and sometimes vomit.
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