Day at theme park ruined by nausea

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Joe90
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04 Oct 2019, 8:59 am

I've been looking forward to this day for ages, a day out at a theme park with my brother and his pals. We even paid extra for fast track. But after going on about 3 rollercoasters, I felt dizzy, light-headed and even sleepy. I think it's due to 'grey-outs' from g-force, more than anything else. I've took motion sickness pills and sucked on some ginger and drank water, but I couldn't shake off the dizziness until I ate a small, plain burger and a few fries. I didn't want to spoil other people's time so I sat down while they went on the rides (which I wanted them to). But the vertigo spoilt my time. After eating I was still afraid to go on the fast rides in case I might get queasy, so I walked about for an hour and looked in the gift shops. My brother said there was no point in me coming, and he was right. He's lucky because he doesn't get nauseas on any rides.
I feel embarrassed not going on anything now. Even the gentle rides make me dizzy if they spin slightly. I love theme parks. What can you do when you take all the right supplements for vertigo and still get nauseas? :cry:


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SharonB
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04 Oct 2019, 9:25 am

I am so sorry you didn't get to "do" as much that way. In my youth I was like that (especially sensitive at different parts of my cycle; some professional dancers' spins switch direction monthly for that time). Only with age am I now able to go on rides. I hope someone has better advice than schedule all amusements parks during your follicular stage or get old.

Your brother has it easier, and maybe you were in the second half of your cycle.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2525506/



Joe90
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04 Oct 2019, 10:42 am

I'm in the first part of my cycle and I think I'd get vertigo whatever. The doctor diagnosed me with vertigo, but I love theme parks and I thought I'd be OK if I took a pill specifically for vertigo. I have severe emetophobia as well (fear of vomiting), so I don't think that helps. I avoid alcohol because of dizziness and fear of having a hangover. I feel like I can't have any fun. And I feel like I have let my brother down because he was looking forward to spending a day with me, even though we had 2 other people with us but theme parks is the one thing we both love, as although me and my brother are both on the spectrum (well, he's more PDD-NOS) we don't have a lot in common regarding hobbies or interests.


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SharonB
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04 Oct 2019, 12:37 pm

It is helpful to set expectations for ourselves. Isn't that an Aspie "thing", not having a sense of self sometimes? I don't have a sense of what I can do (either over-estimating or under-estimating, or just open to what's so). Sometimes I'm on the sidelines and more times I knock it out of the park. Kudos to you for taking the opportunity to check! When you're on the sidelines, be good to yourself and know you are THERE. When you're knocking it out of the park, enjoy. And when it's something in between, do/feel something appropriate. (I'm not one to be in between much, but my Aspie-like BFF is - she would have to complete that thought.) In all cases, celebrate you!

I have a friend who's vertigo went away suddenly and completely later in life without explanation. On the other hand my NT husband has had increasing events due to age.

The other day I went for to a work golfing event as a "ridealong". I knew I couldn't play but wanted to participate. It was good. I took a moment to try and with all my strength whacked three of a colleagues' golf balls straight into the drink (water) which was no less than 25 ft away. They were probably embarrassed for me, but I'm not. I'm only embarrassed that they're embarrassed, which really is their problem ;) .



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04 Oct 2019, 2:04 pm

...What park?



Joe90
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04 Oct 2019, 3:12 pm

I don't wish to say on the internet but I could PM you.


I'm worrying because I feel like I have let my brother down. Since we got back, he's been quite miserable because he feels he didn't fulfill his day, as in he didn't go on as many rides as he thought he would, and I feel like it's partly my fault - even though I didn't stop him having fun. I stayed positive, despite my nausea and dizziness. I didn't complain or be miserable about it, I still made the most of the day out and enjoyed myself. But my brother gets depressed or let down very easily, and I feel guilty for him, even though he's not the sort of man to want to make me feel that way.
But I couldn't help having vertigo. I've been to this park before and I didn't suffer vertigo or nausea much.


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Raphael F
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07 Oct 2019, 3:53 am

Hopefully the day will come when you and your brother can regard that disappointment as in the past. I don't say that lightly, because it can take me a long long time to get over stuff that everyone else tells me is trivial or minor.

Is it possible that a combination of sensory overload and self-imposed pressure could have triggered some kind of anxiety that caused the dizziness and nausea? This might account for the vertigo pills not working: vertigo (so I'm told by a friend who suffers from it) is a physical thing to do with the inner ear, but greyouts and dizziness and nausea caused by anxiety presumably do not start from the inner ear.

If you've been to the same place previously and not experienced the same degree of difficulty, could it be your state of mind on that previous occasion was more relaxed? Was the place less crowded? Theme parks can be a bit full-on when it comes to sheer number of people, not to mention all the noise.

Apologies if this sounds like a heap of tripe and doesn't fit the facts...


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Joe90
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07 Oct 2019, 4:26 am

Quote:
If you've been to the same place previously and not experienced the same degree of difficulty, could it be your state of mind on that previous occasion was more relaxed? Was the place less crowded? Theme parks can be a bit full-on when it comes to sheer number of people, not to mention all the noise.


I think to be honest I was more relaxed this time than I was last time because we had a pass to jump the queues so we didn't even have to wait in line for long. Also there wasn't as many people because it's autumn, these sorts of places are most popular in the summer months. I didn't feel stressed out by my environment. But going upside down fast on the rollercoasters really did cause an imbalance in my ears, and when I got off I felt like I was drunk. I also went temporarily deaf in one ear.
The lack of oxygen thing I can't explain. It's like the g-force is so strong that my lungs clenched up and I felt like I was going to pass out on the ride. I think that contributed to the dizziness too.


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kraftiekortie
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07 Oct 2019, 5:12 am

I like theme parks. If I go, I don’t go on most of the rides, either.

Do you ever go on the bumper cars? They are fun!

As for “embarrassed,” what’s their problem?



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07 Oct 2019, 6:51 am

Joe90 wrote:

I think to be honest I was more relaxed this time than I was last time because we had a pass...

Also there wasn't as many people because it's autumn, these sorts of places are most popular in the summer months. I didn't feel stressed out by my environment.


Oh! Well, that torpedoes my theory. But still, you did everything you could (precautionary vertigo medication etc.) and, if you had less of a problem the previous time, then there was no reason to suppose you might suffer so badly this time: so you don't deserve to beat yourself up over it, although I believe I can see why you have been.

A day out that doesn't go as well as hoped can be profoundly upsetting. Hopefully some more successful days out still lie in your future.

I remember going to Alton Towers once. Someone else was paying, fortunately. I'm wary of rides that could throw me around too violently (I don't know if I would clinically qualify as emetophobic, but I definitely dread any prospect of being sick), so my experience of theme parks had always been pretty tame until then, but I seem to remember Alton Towers having some not-too-violent rides that still managed to be pretty impressive, e.g. best ghost train I've ever been on, by far.

Other theme parks are available. I am not now, and have never been, a shareholder in Alton Towers. And anyway I may be thinking of somewhere else...


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Joe90
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07 Oct 2019, 11:05 am

I've also figured it might be my emetophobia that made things worse (even though I did physically have vertigo). The last time I went to the theme park was 2 years ago, and since then I had caught a stomach flu which meant I had vomited for the first time in 17 years. Since then I've been ever MORE phobic of vomiting than ever before, and I seem traumatized by it. So any slight little nausea I get, I start worrying that I'm going to vomit even if I'm not. So maybe the worsened fear of vomiting made me feel more nauseous after the rides than what I would have done. But the vertigo WAS real.

I do feel like I miss out on a lot of things due to my emetophobia, like drinking alcohol and getting pregnant, and now I feel upset that I am now unable to enjoy theme parks too. I fear deep water too because of a near-death experience I had in childhood where I got stuck under the water in a pool. So I can't really have much fun in my life. :cry:

It does make me feel like an 80-year-old.


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07 Oct 2019, 1:49 pm

Well, your emetophobia-based theory makes sense to me. And clearly, given that the vertigo was real, that in itself can make you throw up (can't it?), so then your fear of being sick would flip into a vicious circle.

I have heard it said that the thing about anxiety is you have to have a vivid imagination, i.e. in order to be able to envisage in full Glorious Technicolor the thing that you're frightened may happen. I think a lot of Aspies do see things very vividly in their minds. So this would explain why we get so anxious about things that NTs can so easily decide not to worry about. It could also explain why your emetophobia has such a powerful grip on you, all the more so after the gastric flu experience you mention.

I've never personally known anyone for whom hypnotherapy worked, but apparently it can. I seem to remember reading that Stephen Fry tried it once and it worked for him, and he isn't exactly a gullible fool is he? His I.Q. must be about into four figures! Maybe one day you could see if hypnotherapy might help with the emetophobia?

I was wondering if you could find a new way to enjoy theme parks, rather than avoiding them altogether, but perhaps it would be too much of a compromise. Maybe something else will come along, that you haven't yet tried, which you could enjoy. Some kind of activity or pastime or interest that you haven't been introduced to yet. After all, there are quite a lot of activities and pastimes and interests out there! And the A.S.D. mind is very good at latching onto things and becoming absorbed by them: that can operate negatively, in terms of anxiety and phobias, but it can also operate positively, in terms of excitement and fascinations.

A.S.D. can be very limiting in lots of ways, which is why I feel it is fair that it is now classified as a disability (even though, to someone of my age, the word "disabled" still really means "in a wheelchair"). What with that and my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I too lead the life of an 80-year-old, but it is possible to exercise some control over how depressed one permits oneself to get. I say that as if it were easy; you probably know it isn't! But it is possible.


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07 Oct 2019, 4:30 pm

Joe90 wrote:
I've been looking forward to this day for ages, a day out at a theme park with my brother and his pals. We even paid extra for fast track. But after going on about 3 rollercoasters, I felt dizzy, light-headed and even sleepy. I think it's due to 'grey-outs' from g-force, more than anything else. I've took motion sickness pills and sucked on some ginger and drank water, but I couldn't shake off the dizziness until I ate a small, plain burger and a few fries. I didn't want to spoil other people's time so I sat down while they went on the rides (which I wanted them to). But the vertigo spoilt my time. After eating I was still afraid to go on the fast rides in case I might get queasy, so I walked about for an hour and looked in the gift shops. My brother said there was no point in me coming, and he was right. He's lucky because he doesn't get nauseas on any rides.
I feel embarrassed not going on anything now. Even the gentle rides make me dizzy if they spin slightly. I love theme parks. What can you do when you take all the right supplements for vertigo and still get nauseas? :cry:


Aww. But I fully understand as I get the same.


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Raphael F
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08 Oct 2019, 2:04 am

Joe90 wrote:
I can't really have much fun in my life. It does make me feel like an 80-year-old.

This is a very poignant comment. I don't sleep much, so although your post was not keeping me awake in the night, it was among the things I was thinking about during the night, as well as listening to the owls.

The only other vaguely positive thing I can think of is that it is possible to take pleasure in small things, and in a way the A.S.D. mind is good at this: we're often told that we're getting too anxious or upset about a small thing, but the other side of that coin is, we can also take more delight in a small thing than an NT person seems to. Such as listening to the owls, in my case.

If I can manage to boil an egg, that makes a very positive start to my day. My concentration is terrible, so my success rate with boiled eggs is not high. I'm just waiting for my egg to cool down so I don't know yet whether I've got it right or not. But if I have, that'll give me more pleasure than it would probably give a normal person.

Hopefully you can find some equivalent of owls and boiled eggs so that your life is not utterly devoid of pleasure. But I do agree A.S.D. plus other comorbid conditions can be very limiting.


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08 Oct 2019, 9:29 am

I can't go to many rides either and have even been forbidden by my doctors from going to ones that go upside down... I just learned to deal with it as a kid, though it was annoying to have to always wait on a pench when others were having fun. I wasn't allowed to go off on my own back then, but of course if I went to a theme park with other people now I could just wander around a little while others stand in line and use the ride.

Don't feel too quilty about ruining your brother's day; it's not like you did it on purpose and since he's your brother, I'd assume he knows at least on some level about you having health problems. That would mean that he accepted the risks when he agreed to take you along.



Joe90
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08 Oct 2019, 3:40 pm

Fireblossom wrote:
I can't go to many rides either and have even been forbidden by my doctors from going to ones that go upside down... I just learned to deal with it as a kid, though it was annoying to have to always wait on a pench when others were having fun. I wasn't allowed to go off on my own back then, but of course if I went to a theme park with other people now I could just wander around a little while others stand in line and use the ride.

Don't feel too quilty about ruining your brother's day; it's not like you did it on purpose and since he's your brother, I'd assume he knows at least on some level about you having health problems. That would mean that he accepted the risks when he agreed to take you along.


Well, I don't think me or him thought I would be this bad with dizziness. I couldn't even go on what was my favourite ride, because I knew it would really make me dizzy and headachey. But some Aspies are known to have too much empathy, so being so my brother is mildly on the spectrum maybe he felt disappointed for me which made him feel upset. Also it takes a lot to please my brother, so if anything doesn't go the way he expected, he gets depressed (he has depression anyway). And I know how much he loves theme parks, so I guess he wanted me to have a good time too and enjoy the rides with him.


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