Anyone else get motion sick when reading in a car?

[readerromance2003]

I have never gotten motion sickness while reading in the car (although my father probably wishes I did because he hates when I read in the car). To be honest, I can read in almost any area and not have a problem as long as I have enough light and my headphones.

[Meadowlark]

Luckily I can read almost anywhere! My husband and daughter do get car sick when reading, so I am familiar with the problem.

[RobertM]

I've never been able to read in a moving car. You can Google an article from Scientific American where this neurologist explains why. Mostly it has to do with your senses conflicting with each other. Amazingly, the article says that DRIVERS can read and not get sick because they are more in control and their senses are all interacting with the driving and the road.

Well...until they run into that telephone pole during the critical scene in the book.

[anomalocaris]

I definitely do. The only thing I can think of to prevent it would be to find some way to prevent seeing the movement in your peripheral vistion. You could also try dramamine or bonine. Dramamine (original formula) actual affects the inner ear, helping to prevent the problem but some people find it really sedating. Bonine is meclazine, which treats nausea, but doesn't affect the inner ear. The advantage it has is that it won't make you sleepy. I believe the non-drowsy form of Dramamine is also meclazine.

A number of studies have found ginger as effective as dramamine in preventing and treating motion sickness. As far as I know, it only treats nausea. You might try eating candied ginger or sipping strong ginger tea from a travel mug (about 1/2-3/4tsp per 10 or 12 oz of boiling water. You'll want to add some sweetener and maybe some other spices (pumpkin pie spice works, or just cinnamon and nutmeg) to make it palatable. I use it for nausea. Believe me, if you're already nauseated, you won't think you want to drink it, but just think of it as medicine, and take small sips. By the time I finish the mug, I've often forgotten why I was drinking it to begin with. I've also had some success just adding a hefty dose to sweetened coffee, but coffee is likely to contribute to your motion sickness, so I probably wouldn't go there.

If you're going on a long drive, resist the urge to have coffee and a donut for breakfast. Sailors know that's the best recipe for motion sickness. The acid in the coffee combined with the fat in the donut will trigger seasickness (which is just motion sickness) even in people who aren't particularly prone to it.

[subzerowon]

I usually lay in the backseat during car rides while reading,

[Skarmy]

It makes me really carsick to read in the car. Quite frankly I just get really carsick in general. Eating really bready things always settled my stomach to an extent, but I usually have to listen to audiobooks if I want any type of reading to get done in the car

[readinginreview4]

If I read for long periods of time I do. If that happens just look up at the sky aloft a few minutes and it'll pass!

[amansmith]

I do. I can't read for more than 15 minutes before I start feeling bad. I don't have a problem anywhere else, but put me in a car and give me a book and it is game over.

[CuriousJorgi]

I get motion sick in cars and airplanes. I can't read on either. I've tried eating, chewing gum, even medications for motion sickness and nothing helps. I would love to be able to read on trips.

[peverroad]

i can't even look for directions on my phone while in a car even if i take motion sickness pills

[mmandy38]

Unfortunately I can't stare at anything while riding. I have heard that chewing gum can help (although I have not tried that yet). Also, there is some motion sickness medicine that you can take before you get in the car that will allow you to read without getting nauseated. What if you try audiobooks instead of actually reading?

[Ktrenee56]

Yes! I actually haven't been able to find anything that helps me with it either. Reading in the car is just something that I cannot do. I sleep instead!

[Katherine E Wall]

I am really strange. I get motion sick, if I DON"T read. I have been this way since I was a child. My parents would admonish me for reading, because it would make me sick, yet the opposite was always true. Perhaps, it is because I become completely absorbed in what I am reading, or maybe I was just so stubborn I had to prove my parents wrong. Anyway, for any long trips, I have to be reading. The e-reader makes this much better, as in the past, I sometimes had to start a book over if I finished it before we reached our destination.

[musiclover182013]

Yes! I can not read anything in the car without getting sick to my stomach. I have seemed to find a remedy that works on nausea (for me anyway), peppermint. Around Christmas time I was having a lot of morning sickness and bought a whole box of peppermint after I realized that it truly helped rid me of the sick feeling. I would assume it would help motion sickness as well. Hope that helps!

[toshilou]

Eat apples. I get extreme motion sickness. I flew out to California to visit my family but they live FIVE HOURS from the airport! In a mountain valley. My cousin gave me an apple and told me to eat it slowly and it helped a lot