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Are there any prescription treatments for motion sickness?

Motion sickness is a feeling of nausea that occurs with movement. Transdermal scopolamine (brand name Transderm-Scop) is a prescription medicine that's very effective for preventing motion sickness. It's a patch that you wear behind your ear. Your body absorbs the drug from the patch. Left in place, each patch works for up to three days.

Studies show that Transderm-Scop can decrease motion sickness in up to 75 percent of people who use it. Its most common side effects include dry mouth, constipation, and drowsiness. Still, it generally causes less drowsiness than over-the-counter motion sickness drugs.

Only adults should use Transderm-Scop because there's no information about the safe use of this drug in children under age 18.

Besides the patch, there are prescription drugs you can take orally or rectally for moderate to severe nausea and vomiting caused by motion sickness. These drugs include >promethazine (Phenergan) and prochlorperazine (Compazine).

Sources:
Applied Therapeutics: The Clinical Use of Drugs. Applied Therapeutics, 1995.
Micromedex® Healthcare Series. Thomson Micromedex, 2007.
Swartzberg, J.E., S. Margen. The UC Berkeley Wellness Self-Care Handbook. Rebus, Inc., 1998.
Drug Facts and Comparisons. Facts and Comparisons, 2007.
Medline Plus. Medline, 2007.

This answer prepared 7/24/2001.
This information updated 1/9/2007.