Question about motion sickness otc products.

[trailerpark]

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So my Sigler's drug cards say that:

cyclizine: short acting and less sedating
dimenhydrinate: short acting and more sedating
meclizine: longer acting and less sedating

But it seems to me everything you buy otc is either dimenhydrinate or meclizine. According to the drug cards wouldn't cyclizine be a better option than dimenhydrinate for shorter duration motion sickness...??? such as a few hours car trip

Also you need to be 12 and older for meclizine, but not dimenhydrinate? It seems dimenhydrinate would have more side effects in children so why the age difference?

 

[zelman]

Cyclizine products (though I've never seen any): As cyclizine hydrochloride 50 mg tablets and cyclizine lactate solution for intramuscular or intravenous injection (brand names: Valoid[1] in UK and Marezine, Marzine and Emoquil in US). Cyclizine HCl 25 mg is marketed as Bonine for Kids in the US.[3]

Indicated age difference: I think this is just because of the age of the drugs. Meclizine is newer.

 

[trailerpark]

So would anyone recommend dimenhydrinate over meclizine if cyclizing is not available?

 

[zelman]

So would anyone recommend dimenhydrinate over meclizine if cyclizing is not available?

If the sedation is desirable (e.g. long flight to Asia), patient hasn't responded well to meclizine in the past, or patient is under 12, then yes. Otherwise, no.

 

[Dred Pirate]

So would anyone recommend dimenhydrinate over meclizine if cyclizing is not available?

what zelman said - honestly - bimenhydrinate probably works best for more people, but that might be simply because it knocks them on their ass for a few hours (at least with me it does) - works great for people who get seasick on a cruise