motion sickness at the cinema

pulliptears

I posted about a similar issue on the tech forum yesterday.....

I get gaming sickness. I can happily sit and play guitar hero for hours, but any games with movement, especially first person shooters leave me heaving after 20 minutes. Even simple little games like the lego series have me clammy and sick within half an hour.

I'm told to cure mine I need to build a tolerance to the problem (and yes it is a problem for me because I'd love nothing more than to be able to sit down with a game for an hour occasionally) so I've bought myself a pack of Kwells and I'm aiming to try and play daily over the Easter School hols to try and overcome the issue.

I'm ok with Cinemas though 3D has me heaving as well. Ironically aside from boats I don't get motion sickness!

Steve059

All I can add is don't go to see "Where Eagles Dare" in Cinerama. You probably won't make it through the titles ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XKGhG0W0LQ

It's the only time that I've felt airsick.

Maureen43

I have permanent damage to the balance function in one ear (bear with me as there is a point to this!). This can sometimes give me "spinning vertigo" (where I feel drunk, the room spins and I am sick). Most frequently I get "dizzy spells" which I have learned to cope with.

I can get this turning over in bed or even just walking on sand!

My consultant said that the brain relies on ALL your senses to form a consistent opinion of "where you are", and if those senses conflict (as in my case where my ears are sending different messages to the ones my eyes are sending) then feelings of "motion sickness" ensue.

I will bet your symptoms are down to the darkness in the cinema combined with the loud noise and intense visual stimuli. Your brain is confused!

pulliptears

I read that motion sickness is a primitive response in the brain when it thinks we are being poisoned. The brain sees the eyes unable to focus and dizzy and so makes us sick in response to this to rid ourselves of the ingested poison.

Fascinating if that is true.

NoAngel

What Maureen43 said is likely to be the cause. In order to balance you rely on signals from your eyes, ears and muscles and joints. If there is any damage to one or both of the balance organs in the inner ears, your brain 'recalibrates' to learn to use the signals it does have. This may mean that you rely more on the messages from your eyes, I.e., you are visually dependant.

This can lead to unsteadiness when in the dark as your eyes are getting less reliable information about your balance. Add to that the movements on the screen and your brain can feel like you're moving when you're not, hence the dizzy feeling.

Do you get unsteady anywhere else? At home in the dark, in the supermarket?

Ladyhawk

Nope - dont get the feeling anywhere else... Except after scuba diving when I have on occasion had to lie flat on the bottom of the boat as we waited for the other divers to surface. I now take seasickness tablets before I dive. It starts as soon as I sit down (trailers have always begun by then) and slowly gets worse. I've never actually been sick but feel like I've come close.

I haven't always been like this. Though I felt ill in Schindlers List l was fine for a number of years after that an I went to the cinema most weeks when I was a student in the late 90's. maybe it's just something to do with Cineworld in Stevenage which is the only cinema I've been to for years!

middlewife

Maureen43 wrote: »

My consultant said that the brain relies on ALL your senses to form a consistent opinion of "where you are", and if those senses conflict (as in my case where my ears are sending different messages to the ones my eyes are sending) then feelings of "motion sickness" ensue.

I will bet your symptoms are down to the darkness in the cinema combined with the loud noise and intense visual stimuli. Your brain is confused!

^^
This and other reply. You're fine at home in the dark because your brain is in familiar territory and can compensate. I have started to have problems in smaller supermarkets where I'm pushing the trolley one way but turning to look for products, larger supermarkets where I can take it more slowly and see things clearly not so much of a problem. You sense through your eyes, ears and feet, so if leaning back in the seat you might feel better with feet on the floor to reassure your panicked brain There is training you can do vestibular rehabilitation, you need a physio or GP who knows what they're up to, then persevere.

catkins

I can't watch 3D films because they make me feel really sick and give me a migraine. I also cannot sit too close to the screen or I start to feel sick.

I do go to the cinema quite a lot but I have to sit on an end of a row or else I start feeling sick and panicky - same in a concert or theatre. I never used to feel like that but I suffered panic attacks about 20 years ago and ever since don't like feeling hemmed in.

Sometimes if the camera is jerky it can make be feel ill but not always. Went to see one of the Bourne films with OH and I had to go out about 30 minutes before the end as I felt so sick and had a migraine coming on. OH stayed to the end and then came and found me!

Callie22

pulliptears wrote: »

I posted about a similar issue on the tech forum yesterday.....

I get gaming sickness. I can happily sit and play guitar hero for hours, but any games with movement, especially first person shooters leave me heaving after 20 minutes. Even simple little games like the lego series have me clammy and sick within half an hour.

I'm told to cure mine I need to build a tolerance to the problem (and yes it is a problem for me because I'd love nothing more than to be able to sit down with a game for an hour occasionally) so I've bought myself a pack of Kwells and I'm aiming to try and play daily over the Easter School hols to try and overcome the issue.

I'm ok with Cinemas though 3D has me heaving as well. Ironically aside from boats I don't get motion sickness!

I get this! I'm find with 'flat' and slow games but anything that has a lot of movement sends me reeling. OH likes driving games but I find it hard to even be in the room when he's playing them as if I watch the screen I start to feel giddy and queasy. Burnout Paradise is one of his favourites but I can't stand it. I'm wondering if those seaband things you get for motion sickness might help.

marisco_2

I use to feel faint when going to the cinema. That had more to do with the cost than the environment though. Especially for 3D films which are extortionate, then they have the nerve to charge for the 3D specs on top :eek:

Cinemas are always way too hot, floors slope and the dark disorientates you. Add to that all the sickly sweet confectionery and it is no wonder people feel nauseus.

Do you ever feel this way or get these sensations at any other time?