Relief Band

When someone suggested I would be grateful to pay about £100 to ‘electrocute' myself with the help of a Relief Band I did find myself somewhat sceptical. The suggestion was from my fiancee, Rob, who has a vested interest in me overcoming my debilitating seasickness, as he is a very keen yachtsman who likes nothing better than a “good blow” while out for a sail. Of course this suggestion was particularly pertinent as I am a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy who suffers from seasickness so badly, that after five years in, I am now awaiting my discharge for “Chronic Seasickness”. As you can imagine, as an Officer of the Watch who drives ships for a living, this affliction has been career limiting and trust me I have tried everything from the ‘home remedies' such as ginger and pressure bands through to prescription drugs without any real solution. In the end I was reduced to walking around with a bucket and finally decided on calling a halt when the only option left open to me was an experimental new drug on the market, which I would have to inject into my own leg as it wasn't yet in tablet form, and the long term side effects were unknown. Well can you blame me?

What a surprise! The trial is still in relatively early stages yet but there is such a difference. I've become so used to dealing with seasickness that normally I just become very focused and ‘huddle down' waiting until it's over or if sailing just turning back. Now it's changed. The first time I put the band on was when I noticed it was getting a bit too lumpy and within minutes I realised that I no longer felt nauseous. This was particularly odd as quite honestly I wasn't expecting it to work which of course, made me think about how lumpy it was which set me off just dwelling on it and waiting for the worst. It never came. Apparently it wasn't as effective on combating the fatigue, I'm told I slept well later, but being able to get on with it without the fear of being sick, and for a good couple of hours, was an incredible relief for both of us.

Since then, I tried it in different situations and in spite of the peculiar sensation of the very small current running through your hand it hasn't let me down yet. Different situations require different settings and it's all just trial and error to find out what works best for you. Of course it's not perfect. I've not yet found a way to overcome the fatigue; though I'll admit this may be exacerbated by my ‘conditioned' and perhaps understandable response of becoming quite tense in bad weather in an attempt to fight my extreme reaction. Also I'm not convinced that I can totally rely on the Relief Band to go back and accept the responsibility, day or night whatever the weather, for the 180 crew and £180 million worth of asset as an Officer of the Watch of a Type 23 Frigate, but who knows time may tell.

In short, the Relief Band is not only worth the money, I'm so delighted with the result I'd be more than happy to talk to anyone about my experiences to convince you to give it a try rather than just giving up on sailing. Please also bear in mind that this endorsement is a big hurdle for me as I often read endorsements with a huge amount of cynicism and lets be fair when I struck the deal I was expecting my money back! In contrast, at the moment Rob and I are looking forward to planning trips further afield without our previous painstaking concern for my reaction to the weather, and I can also tell you it's going to be newfound fun to be able to plan a romantic weekend away on Scamla and not have to be concerned about the unromantic thought of post-passage scrubbing down of either myself or our boat!

Finally, the answer is no, I didn't know I'd be as bad when I decided to join the Navy. As a recreational sailor if it wasn't ‘nice' I didn't go.

Enjoy your newfound freedom!

 

‘CT'

Lieutenant Royal Navy