Why do roller coasters make me nauseous?

What causes motion sickness? Your brain receives signals from motion-sensing parts of your body: your eyes, inner ears, muscles and joints. When these parts send conflicting information, your brain doesn't know whether you're stationary or moving. Your brain's confused reaction makes you feel sick.



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Motion sickness occurs when your brain can't make sense of information sent from your eyes, ears and body. Lots of motion — in a car, airplane, boat, or even an amusement park ride — can make you feel queasy, clammy or sick to your stomach.

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Motion sickness is a fairly common illness that is caused when some type of travel motion disturbs the inner ear. This disturbance can cause uneasiness, fatigue, nausea, and sometimes even vomiting.

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And, experts believe that those at the fear-end of the spectrum often have an underlying fear of either heights, or closed spaces, or vertigo, or simply, even vomiting, that makes roller coasters scary to them.

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People with high blood pressure and/or heart conditions are warned not to ride roller coasters because of the way they tax the cardiovascular system. The adrenaline rush that roller coasters give you causes a rapid spike in your heart rate and blood pressure.

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Support. Another thing you can do throughout this process and at the moment of actually riding a roller coaster for the first time is to surround yourself with people who can support you. Having friends or family with you can be very reassuring and can help you feel less nervous or worried about facing your fear.

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Do eat a small, healthy meal a couple of hours before riding. But don't overeat, and avoid coffee, tea and fruit juices, which increase stomach acidity. Based on the research and medical-professional recommendations, eating a light meal before riding a roller coaster is not a bad idea.

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Choose “safe” foods before and after your park visit. You want something in your stomach to keep it settled, so choose bland foods like plain cereal, toast and crackers or scrambled eggs with nothing else in or on them.

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A. Airtime – A favorite term for roller coaster enthusiasts! It's used to describe the feeling created by negative g-forces which gives riders the sensation of floating on a roller coaster. Airtime or negative g-forces are most commonly experienced on a drop or at the crest of hill.

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As people age, they may feel the bumps and drops of a roller coaster more strongly or take longer to recover from dizziness after having been spun at high speeds. They may just not enjoy the thrill as much as they did as a kid.

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